KILLING MOM - Ridgefield, CT EPA
ACT of Connecticut
AUDITION DATE
Sat, May 18, 2019
11:00 am - 2:00 pm (EDT)
APPOINTMENTS
AEA members may email for an appointment to: actconnecticutcasting@gmail.com
CONTRACT
SPT SPT Staged Reading; salary TBD.
SEEKING
Equity actors for various roles in this Staged Reading.
PREPARATION
Please prepare a contemporary one-minute monologue. Sides from the play will be available at the audition as needed. Bring picture and resume.
LOCATION
ACT of Connecticut
36 Old Quarry Road
Ridgefield, CT 06877
PERSONNEL
Director: Tim Howard
ACT Artistic Director: Daniel C. Levine
ACT Music Supervisor: Bryan Perri
ACT Executive Director: Katie Diamond
OTHER DATES
Rehearsals July 21-27, one presentation on July 27 at 3pm
OTHER
An Equity Monitor will not be provided. The producer will run all aspects of audition.
Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to attend every audition.
Always bring your Equity Membership card to auditions.
BREAKDOWN
Actors for a Staged reading of a new play, KILLING MOM by Megan Smith-Harris.
Think of all the times you’ve argued with your mother and thought,
“Arghh! I could just kill her!”
What if one day, she asked you to do exactly that?
Marion Wolcott has invited her daughter Cassie, and granddaughter Kat, to visit her Martha’s Vineyard home. Cassie, a frazzled single mother, is thrilled with the opportunity for a break from the monotony of her life—and from dealing with her sullen, uncommunicative teenager. But Cassie soon learns she’s not in for a relaxing seaside vacation when her mother delivers life-shattering news. Marion has a terminal disease and is counting on Cassie (“the Strong One”) to help her die with dignity when the time comes. Complications arise when Cassie’s sisters—Beth, a charming thrice-married narcissist, and Joanne a dour mega-church devotee—arrive for a weekend visit. When Marion’s end-of-life bombshell accidentally explodes, the disclosure triggers a drunken evening along with a series of revelations, accusations, and unexpected consequences.
Joanne is spits holier-than-thou platitudes and damns Cassie for even considering their mother’s request. Her mission is to bring Marion to the Lord before it’s too late—even if it means kidnapping her. Beth, indignant at not being asked to join “the kill team,” is busy doing a furtive inventory of her mother’s personal effects. Cassie just wants everyone to get along and to leave her the hell alone. And Kat? Harboring a troubling secret of her own, she is trying very hard to remain invisible. But her grandmother has other plans.
Killing Mom is a moving and funny family drama that touches upon issues that confound us all: aging, our own mortality, and the eternal quest to be the favorite child.
TIME: The Present
PLACE: Martha’s Vineyard
SETTING: The beautifully weathered New England home of MARION WOLCOTT. The house is situated on a bluff with a view of the ocean. A few apple trees dot the front yard along with a wisteria-covered arbor. Exquisite climbing roses grow on a trellis attached to the house. A wrap-around porch offers an array of comfortable wicker furniture and an inviting porch swing. A decorative screen door leads to the kitchen. Inside the home, a high-ceilinged great room features a combined living, dining, and kitchen area. The space is decorated in an understated, beachy style. All action takes place within these two areas.
CHARACTERS (in order of appearance)
MARION WOLCOTT: (79) Patrician, wry, savvy. Mother to JOANNE, CASSIE, and BETH; Grandmother to KAT. Faces life’s challenges with WASPY pragmatism and dry humor. Never seen without her trademark triple strand of pearls.
CASSIE WOLCOTT: (Mid to late 40s) An elementary school art teacher whose secret dream of being a successful artist remains unfulfilled. Creative, empathetic, frazzled. Single parent to 15-year-old KAT. Finds her uncommunicative teenager a challenge. Yearning to meet a life partner but close to giving up hope. Takes Xanax when needed—which is a lot.
KAT WOLCOTT: (15) High school student, daughter to CASSIE, granddaughter to MARION. Sarcastic, taciturn, angry-at-the-world. KAT is passionate about her art but struggles with self-esteem issues and hides her talent. She feels a special connection with her grandmother, has abandonment issues with her mostly absent father, and is in the midst of a fractious period with her mother.
BETH: (Early to mid 40s) Youngest of the three Wolcott sisters. Well-dressed, vivacious and pretty, BETH spends a lot of money and energy on personal grooming. She is kind-hearted and fun loving, but also materialistic and essentially shallow. She knows this and accepts herself for who she is. Married for the third time, currently to BLAKE, a rich blow-hard.
JOANNE: (Late 40s to early 50s) Eldest of the three Wolcott sisters. Rigid, anxious and sanctimonious without realizing it. Married to GARY, a fundamentalist minister who oversees a mega-church in Kentucky. JOANNE longs for respect from her mother and siblings and remains concerned that they have not accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts.
LUKE: (40s) A home hospice nurse caring for MARION WOLCOTT and other patients on Martha’s Vineyard. An old soul; dignified, kind, and enigmatic, Luke is handsome black man (in a conventional or unconventional way), who is also unmarried, fit, and straight.
Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to audition.
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