SpeakEasy Stage Company
REVISED
E-mail address added to request scripts from StageSource.
CONTRACT
NEAT $546 weekly minimum (Cat 6)
SEEKING
Equity actors for four plays in SpeakEasy Stage Company's 2021-2022 Season: SOUND INSIDE, BLKS, PEOPLE PLACES & THINGS, THE INHERITANCE
For pre-cast roles, auditioning performers will be considered as possible (emergency) replacements, should any become necessary. No understudies are being cast.
For these auditions, no nudity or any form of sexual contact will be required as part of an actor’s audition. We will not ask prospective participants to perform violence or sexual contact as part of an audition without disclosing this expectation in the audition notice or invitation. SpeakEasy Stage Company seeks to foster an environment of communication, safety, respect, accountability, and the health, safety, and well- being of institutions and its participants.
INSTRUCTIONS
SEE PREPARATION IN BREAKDOWN. Email your Equity status, full name, contact information, the shows for which you would like to be considered, your headshot/resume as a PDF titled LAST NAME, FIRST NAME (2020), and your video submission link. For your submission, please use a private link on a streaming service or website such as YouTube or Vimeo (not an attachment) and send the link via email. Video submissions will be accepted from Monday, July 12th 2022 – Saturday, July 31st 2022.
Deadline: Sat, Jul 31, 2021
SUBMIT TO
PERSONNEL
SOUND INSIDE by Adam Rapp, directed by Bryn Boice
BLKS by Aziza Barnes, directed by Tonasia Jones
PEOPLE, PLACES, & THINGS by Duncan Macmillan, directed by David Gammons
THE INHERITANCE by Matthew Lopez, directed by Paul Daigneault
Reviewing auditions will be: Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault
OTHER DATES
SOUND INSIDE: Rehearsals begin August 30, 2021; Performances run September 24 - October 16, 2021 (Possible Extension to October 23, 2021)
BLKS: Rehearsals begin October 4th, 2021; Performances run October 29 – November 10, 2021 (possible Extension to November 27, 2021)
PEOPLE, PLACES, & THINGS: Rehearsals begin December 13, 2021; Performances run January 7 - February 5, 2022
THE INHERITANCE: Rehearsals begin March 14, 2022; Performances run April 22 - June 11, 2022
OTHER
Actors of color are strongly encouraged to audition, and all roles are open to inclusive casting. SpeakEasy Stage Company shall conduct all auditions/interviews in a manner that promotes fair consideration to persons of all races, ethnicities, national origins, genders, sexual orientations, ages, and ability statuses. SpeakEasy Stage Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
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
PREPARATION INFORMATION:
Submissions should be no longer than 5 minutes. Actors may read one or more scenes from the season's plays, perform one or more monologues, or prepare a combination of scene(s) and monologues(s) from other sources. SpeakEasy suggests, if not performing scenes, to choose two contrasting monologues. Production scripts can be accessed by contacting Stage Source at info@stagesource.org.
Actors of color are strongly encouraged to audition, and all roles are open to inclusive casting. SpeakEasy Stage Company shall conduct all auditions/interviews in a manner that promotes fair consideration to persons of all races, ethnicities, national origins, genders, sexual orientations, ages, and ability statuses. SpeakEasy Stage Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
SOUND INSIDE
BELLA: Female Identified. 50s
Yale University undergraduate creative writing professor. Middle aged. Recently diagnosed with cancer.
CHRISTOPHER: male Identified. 20s Brilliant but enigmatic. Entitled, lonely. Wants to be a novelist. [The role of Christopher has been cast. Actors will be seen for this role as replacements only.]
BLKS
OCTAVIA: Female Identified. Queer. 20s Black/Mixed Black/1/2 Black.
Deeply awkward, weird introvert super dork black girl. Black with a white dad from Cornwall, England who don’t get it. A short story writer. Dates Ry. Drinks too much & can’t hold it as well as Imani. No filter. Speaks thoughts as they exist in her head because the world is her head. Nerdy white boys build shrines to her for her genuine love of Japanese anime, Harry Potter and Octavia Butler, the woman after whom she is named. Her adoration of Star Trek is astounding and she can quote Blaxplotiation movies off hand. She loves other worlds, would rather live in them than this one. She's beautiful and makeup confuses her. Her uniform is sweatpants paired with large heels or boots, for her love of comfort and hatred of being short. She hasn’t told her parents that she's queer.
IMANI: Female Identified. 20s Haitian
Haitian. Very Haitian. Matter fact, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone more Haitian. A budding alcoholic by American standards. Does a first rate impression of Eddie Murphy from his “RAW standup/movie & is always striving to perfect it. Single. Constantly gets fired from the same job at Nuyorican Poets Cafe on E. 3rd Street between Avenue A and B for jumping on the mic in the middle of her bar tending shift & doing her Eddie Murphy impression. Her dad passed away when she was 13. Pancreatic cancer. “RAW” is what they watched most often together when he was in the hospital. The last days. (Also plays AUNTIE SHIRLEY)
JUNE: Female Identified. 20s Black
Dates a dude named Jamal has dated a dude named Jamal for 5 years, since she & Octavia were in high school. Octavia is June’s ace boon & roll dogg. Don’t leave the house without her. She is the only responsible drinker among the 3 housemates. Knows how to hack into databases of collegiate universities to access free J Store accounts. Plays a lot of “Call of Duty.” Is most at home in front of a screen. She is studying to be an accountant. She sells weed & is very professional about it. She comes from bougie black folks who have had money in the family for 2 generations. Did Jack & Jill, LINKS, the whole 9. Jamal was her dates to cotillion. Light skin black girl. Hair always straight and long without weave. She is very proud of this. A prude, in a way. Cold, sometimes. Nah. Cold often. Usually unemotional. Makes pancakes for her house mates hangovers.
RY: Female Identified. 20s Black
An employee at blink fitness. Wears ugly Christmas sweaters ironically. Loves to laugh @ tells a good joke. Occasionally is insensitive, but doesn’t have a bad heart. Immature, mostly. From Oakland. Says, “breh,” at the end of most thoughts &/or sentences. Has been trying to land an internship with Terrance Nace for 2 years. Doesn’t drink. ii. Pronounced/noticeable OCD. Odd numbers, not Even. Goes to Pride every year. A fantastic chess player. Puerto Rican. Whole family Catholic. Only queer woman in her family. Ry is 25 & a part time film student. Over-watches Aaron McGruder’s THE BOONDOCKS until the April 21st 2014 hijacking of the show from Aaron McGruder, which broke her heart completely.
JUSTIN: Male Identified. 20s Black
A lovesick. Watched Shakespeare in Love to often as a child & thru his parent’s divorce. Says things like “I want to make love to you,” & “I want to rub your feet” & means them. You’d think he’d get all the ladies. He doesn’t & hasn’t for quite some time. Plays up-right bass in a jazz band & acoustic guitar in his apartment. His favorite song is Barry White’s “I’ve Got So Much to Give.” He believes in love & fate & whiskey, always with love as the first and most important, the other two changing depending on the day. Possesses some stalker tendencies, such as over-calling, over-texting, etc. but we use that word too liberally in this country. Let’s call him an obsessive. Passionate. He talks to his mom on the phone every morning. He works at Sunshine Cinema & sees a lot of couples on dates. JUSTIN’S parents are from Trinidad and Tobago. They are extremely reserved. He is the family oddity, even from his brother, who is his polar opposite in all things. (Also plays SOSA, PEDRO, and DOMINICAN DUDE)
THAT BITCH ON THE COUCH: Female Identified. 20s. White
Is the only white person in this play. She's from Westchester, New York. Incredibly wealthy, like old money white folk WASP and all that. Incredibly white. Went to Exeter Academy for high school type shit. Did cotillion and founded her boarding school's Black Student Union. It was confusing. (Also plays DRUNK WHITE WOMAN)
PEOPLE, PLACES, & THINGS
*The roles of Emma, Paul/Dad, Foster, Mark, T, Jodi, Shaun, and Laura have been cast. Actors will be seen for these roles as replacements only.
EMMA: Female-identified. 30s-40s. Any Ethnicity.
Recovering drug and alcohol user; Has a hard time with reality; Guarded, reluctant; Unable to fully tell the truth, both to herself and others.
PAUL/DAD: Male-identified. 50-60s. Any Ethnicity.
As Paul: Member of The Group; A user who goes through different stages of recovery, including relapse; Eventually finds religion.
As Dad: Uncomfortable; He has no patience left for Emma, but he does still love her.
DOCTOR/MOM: Female-identified. 50-60s. Any Ethnicity.
As the Doctor: Fierce, but motherly. Believes in the system in place at the rehab.
As Mom: Defensive, unemotional, matter-of-fact; Cruel, but also caring in her own way.
FOSTER: Male-identified. 20s-40s. Any Ethnicity.
Former user; An employee at the rehab; Optimistic, grounded, and earnest.
MARK: Male-identified. 30s-40s. Any Ethnicity.
Former user and member of The Group; Cynical; A strong temper and former anger issues; Values honesty above all else.
CHARLOTTE/ENSEMBLE: Female-Identified. 20s-40s. Any Ethnicity.
Former heroin user and member of The Group; 10 years clean until an accident caused her to relapse; Sees herself in Emma.
T/ENSEMBLE: Any Gender. 20s-40s. Any Ethnicity.
Former user and member of The Group; Born to a methadone-using mother; Was in the foster care system since at least age 15, but probably much earlier; HIV positive; Has a lot to prove.
JODI/ENSEMBLE: Female-identified. 20s-40s. Any Ethnicity.
Alcoholic, former prescription pill user, and member of The Group; Has to make a difficult decision about her future life.
SHAUN/ENSEMBLE: Male-identified. 20s-30s. Any Ethnicity.
Former cocaine user and member of The Group; A high-powered trader before the financial crash; A perfectionist who is lost in the scope of the world.
LAURA/ENSEMBLE: Female-identified. 20s-40s. Any Ethnicity.
Alcoholic, former user, and member of The Group; Has hurt many of the people in her life, but is far enough along in recovery that she can see how far she has come.
THE INHERITANCE
MARGARET: Female-Identified. 60+. Any Ethnicity.
A haunted woman. The mother of a young man who died of AIDS in the mid-1980 and who she was estranged from, she has spent her life atoning for her personal failings. Flinty, pugnacious, no-nonsense. She is tasked with caring for Walter’s house and, by extension, all its secrets as well as some of her own. [The role of Margaret has been cast. Actors will be seen for these roles as replacements only.]
WALTER/E.M. FORSTER: Male-Identified. 50-59. White.
As E.M. Forster: The eminent British author of Howards End and Maurice. A spiritual and literary guide to a group of young men attempting to tell the story of their lives. Straight-laced. Proper. Occasionally playful and even joyfully wicked. Having grappled with his dishonesty and cowardice in life as closeted gay man fearful of exposure, in death he is a teacher who learns just as much as his pupils about life in the modern world.
As Walter Poole: Henry's gentle, honest, partner. A haunted man possessed of tremendous compassion but also tremendous emotional caution. He survived the AIDS epidemic by sacrificing himself to the needs of others and now he seems to be half in this world, half in the spirit world—in the process, it seems, of becoming a ghost. Note: As this doubling covers both British and American characters, the role(s) requires an actor extremely deft with both accents.
HENRY WILCOX: Male-Identified. 50-59. White.
A gay billionaire Republican real estate developer. Walter’s partner. Charming, fiercely intelligent and emotionally inaccessible. He survived the AIDS epidemic by closing himself off to the needs of others. In trying to ignore his trauma he has lived a life completely divorced from his emotions, from joy, from connection to others. But the desire for happiness does not come without cost—and he is forced to finally face his past.
YOUNG MAN 1/ADAM/LEO: Male-Identified. 20-29. Any Ethnicity.
As Adam: A charming wide-eyed child of privilege; physically attractive. naturally seductive. He hides these qualities beneath a veneer of innocence and inexperience but beneath the surface, he’s calculating and methodical. He’s too skilled a manipulator to ever be caught at it.
As Leo: A guarded, damaged young man aching for connection and kindness. Leo trusts no one because his life has taught him this is the only way to survive. Please note: nudity required.
YOUNG MAN 2/JASON 1: Male-Identified. 30-39. Any Ethnicity.
A high school science teacher, bookish and sweetly nerdy. The kind of person who doesn’t speak at parties until they’ve had a couple of drinks and then you can’t shut them up. The peacemaker. Plays multiple other roles. Please note: nudity required.
YOUNG MAN 3/YOUNG HENRY: Male-Identified. 18-29. Any Ethnicity.
Appears as a memory of the adult Henry Wilcox. Traumatized by what he witnesses during the mid-1980’s, at the start of the AIDS epidemic, he moves through the world cautiously, with his emotional guard resolutely up. Plays multiple other roles. Please note: nudity required.
YOUNG MAN 4/YOUNG WALTER: Male-Identified. 18-29. Any Ethnicity.
Appears as a memory of the adult Walter Poole. At the start of the AIDS epidemic. A deeply feeling, intensely loyal, innately principled young man. Outwardly, he is as gentle as a cherry blossom. Inwardly, he’s steel-spined and indestructible. Plays multiple other roles. Please note: nudity required.
YOUNG MAN 5/TOBY’S AGENT: Male-Identified. 18-29. Any Ethnicity.
A budding young power agent at one of the big agencies. Thrives on protein shakes and hot yoga. Not without compassion for Toby but increasingly frustrated by his client’s erratic behavior. Knows how to gently pet with one hand and cut throats with the other. Plays multiple other roles. Please note: nudity required.
YOUNG MAN 6/TRISTAN: Male-Identified. 25-39. Black.
An ER physician who spends his days dealing with trauma of all kinds. He is calm under pressure and knows how to diffuse the most volatile situations. He can be droll and wickedly funny when he wants to (and he often does). He can also expertly dissect thorny, seemingly impossible problems with reasoned, blazingly intelligent thinking. Plays multiple other roles. Please note: nudity required.
YOUNG MAN 7/JASPER: Male-Identified. 30-39. White.
A “social justice entrepreneur,” who works in the political realm as a movement influencer. He is wickedly smart if also a little self righteous and blind to his own privilege. He has a good heart and good intentions. When we meet him, he’s an amiable doofus with boyish charm who hasn’t really matured past the age of 22, which is the average age of most of his boyfriends. The 2016 election hardens him in unhealthy ways. He becomes prone to pronouncements, over analysis, and develops an ideological rigidity and inflexibility that causes his relationships to fracture. Plays multiple other roles. Please note: nudity required.
YOUNG MAN 8/JASON 2: Male-Identified. 30-39. Latinx/Hispanic.
A first-grade teacher who often treats the world as if it were his classroom. Big-hearted, joyful, and deliriously idiosyncratic. The fact that he is able to coherently argue his somewhat baffling points of view is evidence not only of his fertile imagination but also his rock-solid intellect. Jason is a perceptive and compassionate man who possesses the ability to understand the emotional stakes of any situation—eventually. Plays multiple other roles. Please note: nudity required.
YOUNG MAN 9/ERIC GLASS: Male-Identified. 30-39. Any Ethnicity.
Deeply compassionate. Tender. Loyal. Undervalues himself and doesn’t realize how special he is. Tested along the way by heartbreak and loss, he uses these disappointments as fuel to build the growing fire inside him. Doesn’t know that he’s the lead of this play. Once he does and makes a decision to act bravely and decisively, he discovers he has the ability to change the world to an extent far greater than anyone knows. Please note: nudity required.
YOUNG MAN 10/TOBY DARLING: Male-Identified. 20-39. Any Ethnicity.
A raging whirlwind of ambition, sex appeal, self-regard, self-doubt, and ultimately self-destruction. Charming. Verbose. Funny. Sharp-tongued. A self-made man who charges through life as if he were indestructible—ultimately discovering that he is not. He knows the glory of tremendous heights and the devastating lows of self-annihilation. A star that burns too brightly and is extinguished too quickly. He can delight you and appall you, make you swoon one minute and break your heart the next. All of his bluster is to cover the fact that he is the most fragile character in the play. Please note: nudity required.
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.
Videos
