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Breakdown
The Tony-winning star of Kinky Boots and Angels in America, Billy Porter, is also a fine playwright. This newest work explores coming of age in Pittsburgh amongst a bevy of fascinating and strong-willed women. Tony nominee Sheryl Kaller (Next Fall, Adrift in Macao) directs this World Premiere.
SEEKING:
MAXINE
(To play 40s - 60s) African-American. Intensely Religious. Strong-willed. Maxine suffers from a degenerative nerve disorder that will eventually leave her completely dependent on others for assistance with the mundane activities of life. However, as her body deteriorates, her humanity evolves beyond the unspoken limitations of her complicated history; and religious fanaticism transforms into spiritual enlightenment before our very eyes.
EVA
(40s) African-American. Sexy. Sassy. Irreverent. Eva has a secret. And she’s afraid that her sometimes pious best friend, Maxine, won’t be able to stand by her side when the truth comes to light. She’s suffering with a life threatening disease and fighting for her life with everything she has.
GERTRUDE
(To play 60s - 80s) African-American. The Matriarch of the family with a quiet strength and stillness. As Maxine’s mother, she’s a fixer who is in the process of accepting the reality that she can’t be in control of all things. Her journey is one of truly learning to let things go with forgiveness and grace - ultimately giving it over to The Almighty.
DOLORES
(To play 60s - 80s) African-American. Gertrude’s older sister, and the antithesis of her in every way. Dolores is ornery and acerbic. She holds on to the pain of her past like a vise, and is in no way concerned about how her bile destroys all that lie in her wake. She comes to learn that forgiveness is, in the end, for her own growth, healing and peace of mind.
TONYA
(18+ to play early teens - 30s) African-American. With her older brother leaving and her father dying; Maxine’s daughter has learned that the only way to make it in life is to be independent. She grows resentful of being the only one left to care for her mother in deteriorating health. In spite of all these obstacles, she manages to carve out respectable life for herself.
CALVIN
(18+ to play late Teens - 40s) African-American. Defiantly individual and flamboyantly truthful. Calvin and his mother Maxine have opposite views of what it means to live an honest and forthright life. Not willing to live a lie, Calvin chooses his own sanity over his family and sets off on a journey that keeps him away from home for over a decade. When the prodigal son returns for his familial rapprochement he discovers that his absence has had more of an effect on those he left behind than he ever thought.
VERNON / UNCLE ARTHUR
The same actor will play VERNON and UNCLE ARTHUR.
- VERNON: (50s) African-American. Maxine’s second husband. Tonya’s biological father. Calvin’s stepfather. Vernon harbors a secret that no longer can stay hidden in the closet; metaphorical or otherwise. When the details of his questionable behavior comes to the fore, the pressure proves too much for him to bear.
- UNCLE ARTHUR: This character will be heard but not seen. He will either be played from offstage by the same actor who plays Vernon, or it will be a voice over. (50s) African-American. A war hero. A recluse. Uncle Arthur is a mysterious enigma that lives in a bedroom on the second floor of the “Big House” behind closed doors. His sanity is in question, along with his true connection to the family.
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