San Jose Stage Company
CONTRACT
Bay Area Theatre $562 weekly minimum (BAT 2)
SEEKING
Equity actors for roles in San Jose Stage Company's 2022-23 Season 40: MILESTONE (see breakdown).
Local Bay Area actors encouraged to submit.
San Jose Stage Company is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion in casting and uses a color and culturally conscious approach to casting. Actors of any race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation, age, and ability are encouraged to submit their materials and audition.
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare two contrasting monologues totaling no more than two minutes. Submit at https://zfrmz.com/2ZYzPorgXDBZaswXA2G8 .
Deadline: Thu, Jun 30, 2022
PERSONNEL
Viewing auditions:
Artistic Director: Randall King
Executive Director: Cathleen King
Directors: Jon Tracy, Kenneth Kelleher, Greg Homann, Allison F. Rich
OTHER DATES
See production dates in breakdown.
OTHER
www.thestage.org
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 submit.
BREAKDOWN
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields
This Olivier Award-winning comedy is a hilarious hybrid of Monty Python and Sherlock Holmes. Welcome to opening night of the Cornley University Drama Society’s newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. This 1920s whodunit has everything you never wanted in a show—an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines). Nevertheless, the accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences!
SEEKING:
ANNIE (30’s, female-identifying, any race, Lancashire dialect) is the company’s stage manager. She has the biggest journey of any character. She’s initially terrified by acting but is willing to kill for it by the end of the play. Her terror turns to joy, and then to fury. She starts small but grows and grows.
CHRIS/INSPECTOR CARTER (late 30’s/40’s, male-identifying, any race, RP dialect) is the director of the play-within-a-play Murder at Haversham Manor and plays the esteemed Inspector Carter. He is also the head of the Cornley Poly Drama Society. This is the biggest day of his life. He is rigid and uptight. The experience of performing the show is both nerve-wracking and exciting. His pain is evident and every time someone laughs, the pain deepens.
ROBERT/THOMAS COLLEYMORE (40’s, male-identifying, any race, RP dialect) wants to be Richard Burton, as evidenced by his presentational style. Not a parody of a bad actor, just unaware of others around him. He does not feel bad when things go wrong and never learns from his mistakes. There’s a power struggle between Robert and Chris to be president of the Cornley Poly Drama Society (a position that matters a great deal to Robert).
DENNIS/PERKINS (20’s/30’s, male-identifying, any race, RP dialect) has no real desire to be involved in the theatre; he just wants friends. He believes if he does well in the show, he’ll be more successful socially. Laughter from the audience is agony and a personal tragedy for him. He’s slightly oblivious but understands when he gets things wrong.
TREVOR (40’s, male-identifying, any race, Cockney or Northern England dialect) is the play’s curmudgeonly lighting and sound operator. He simply wants to get on with the show. He doesn’t like actors. He is easily distracted and does many things he shouldn’t, including talking to the audience. When things go really sideways, he is forced to act in the play.
JONATHAN/CHARLES HAVERSHAM (30’s/40’s, male-identifying, any race, RP dialect) is a bit bland personality-wise but sees himself as a James Bond-type. Excited and having fun. He technically has to drive the show. He cares about the play, but it’s mostly just for fun for him. The role of Charles Haversham is very physically demanding.
MAX/CECIL HAVERSHAM (20’s/30’s, male-identifying, any race, RP dialect) has never been onstage before. He learned his lines and does exactly what he’s told to do. He has zero connection with any of the actors, but when he gets a laugh he breaks the fourth wall and engages with the audience. Childlike and naïve. His mistakes are fundamental. He doesn’t think anything through.
SANDRA/FLORENCE COLLEYMORE (30’s, female-identifying, any race, RP dialect) is vain and has a huge ego. She wants to be loved. She has ambitions to go to Hollywood and will hurt anyone standing in the way of what she wants, but is smart enough to stay on the good side of someone who can help her (like the director). The stakes are high for her. Very physical role.
Frank Capra’s MEET JOHN DOE (New Adaptation by Kenneth Kelleher)
MEET JOHN DOE, based on Frank Capra's beloved film, is a story about media, politics and the American Dream. A reporter's fraudulent story turns a tramp into a national hero and unknowingly makes him a pawn of big business.
SEEKING:
ANN MITCHELL (ROLE CAST) 30’s, Female-identifying, any race. Smart, ambitious newspaper reporter with a burgeoning sense of justice and a heart of gold.
LONG JOHN WILLOUGHBY / JOHN DOE (ROLE CAST) 30’s-40’s, Male-identifying, African American. Down-and-out ex-baseball pitcher, tall, plain-spoken, easy to like, down to earth.
RICHARD CONNELL (ROLE CAST) 40’s, Male-identifying, any race. Hard-driving newspaper editor who doesn't suffer fools gladly. Doubles as an over-whelmed small town mayor, a clergyman, a radio announcer.
THE COLONEL (ROLE CAST) 50-60's, Male-identifying, any race. Best friend and traveling companion of John Doe, a hobo philosopher, deeply misanthropic. Doubles as the Governor of the state and Barrett, a shady industrialist.
D.B. NORTON (ROLE CAST) 50's, Male-identifying, any race. Owner of the newspaper, politically ambitious, ruthless. Doubles as Pop, a newspaper editor, Angelface, a babysitter for John Doe, and a hobo.
BERT HANSEN (ROLE CAST) 30's, Male-identifying, any race) A small town soda jerk. Friendly, uncomplicated, a good guy. Also the Sound Effects Operator; Beany, a John Doe babysitter, Hammett, a shady industrialist, Mrs. Brewster, a society maven. Dancing experience useful.
ENSEMBLE (30's, Male-identifying, any race) a number of roles.
ENSEMBLE (50's, Male-identifying, any race) Sourpuss, a small town ex-curmudgeon, friend of Bert's. Also Spencer, a rival newspaper editor; Barrington, a shady industrialist; a hobo, a bartender, a policeman.
ENSEMBLE (50's, Female-identifying, any race) Mrs. Mitchell, Ann's compassionate mother; also a mayor, a hobo and an announcer.
ENSEMBLE (30's, Female-identifying, any race) Mrs. Hansen, Bert's cheerful, supportive wife. Also Mayor's secretary; Edie, a photographer and a friend of Ann's; Sound Effect's assistant; John Doe Fan; Radio Announcer
STRANGE COURTESIES, by L. Peter Callender
Citizens of South Africa are confronting a painful past through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which has heard thousands of reports about murders, tortures and other human rights abuses of the apartheid era. STRANGE COURTESIES explores the potential restorative power of truth telling; the significance of sympathetic witnesses; and the tasks of both perpetrators and bystanders in the TRC process. Can dignity be restored to victims and their families while offering a basis for individual healing, and promoting the reconciliation of a divided society?
SEEKING:
NOMSA [NOM-sah] KWANZI *This role has already been cast.* (36, female-identifying, Black/African/African-American) A Night nurse.
ROBERT STUURMAN, [STEER-man] (38, male-identifying, Black/African/African-American) a TV reporter; NOMSA’s boyfriend.
NKOSI [n-KOH-see] KWANZI (18, male-identifying, Black/African/African-American) NOMSA’s younger brother.
ZENZILE [zen-ZEE-lay] KWANZI (54, female-identifying, Black/African/African-American) Nomsa's, Nkosi’s and Fundani’s Mother.
FUNDANI “Fundi” KWANZI (Late teens/early 20’s, male-identifying, Black/African/African-American) Nkosi’s and Nomsa’s brother and Zenzile’s son. He is remembered
EUGENE VANWYK, [fan-VAKE] *This role has already been cast.* (55, male-identifying, White) former high-ranking member of the South African Defense Force.
COMMISSIONER (50’s, any gender, Black/African/African-American) Likeness to Desmond Tutu.
GRAND HORIZONS, by Bess Wohl
Fifty years into their marriage, Bill and Nancy want a divorce. While they seem unfazed by the decision, their two adult
sons are shaken to the core, forced to reexamine everything they thought they knew about their parents’ outwardly
happy lives. As the family grapples with their new reality, each must reckon with their own imperfect past and how their
collective love for each other might express itself in new and unlikely forms.
SEEKING:
BILL (60’s/70’s, male-identifying, any race) lives in Grand Horizons. Nancy’s husband (for 50 years). Grumpy and a little resigned. Former pharmacist. Working on his stand-up routine. Specializes in crude and dirty jokes. Notices more than he lets on. Deflects earnestness. Scared of dying alone.
NANCY (60’s/70’s, female-identifying, any race) lives in Grand Horizons. Bill’s wife (for 50 years). Kind, giving, and resourceful. Willing to speak her mind. Former librarian. Now the habitual caretaker of Bill. Eager to feel something, anything. Of late, very invested in the Syrian refugee crisis.
BEN (Late 30’s/40’s, male-identifying, any race) Nancy and Bill’s eldest son. Largely financially responsible for his parents. An attorney. Worried about his marriage/marriage in general.
BRIAN (30’s, male-identify, any race) Nancy and Bill’s second son. High school drama teacher. High-strung and lonely. Worried about the spring musical, Oklahoma!
JESS (Late 20’s/30’s, female-identifying, any race) Ben’s wife. Pregnant with her first child. Newly credentialed family therapist (and sometimes it shows). Strong-willed and outspoken.
TOMMY (20’s/30’s, male-identifying, any race) Brian’s late-night hookup. Flirty and blunt. A little freaky.
CARLA (60’s, female-identifying, any race) Bill’s new girlfriend.
Auditions for the SUMMER MUSICAL TBA (Smash hit musical to be announced) will be announced at a later date.
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 submit.
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