THE EXCEPTIONALS – Photo / Resume Request
Merrimack Repertory Theatre (Lowell, MA)
LORT D; $555/week minimum (theatre states it pays above minimum)
Artistic Director: Charles Towers
Director: Charles Towers
Writer: Bob Clyman
Casting: Harriet Bass
1st rehearsal: 1/11/11. Runs: 2/13 – 3/6/11.
NYC auditions will be held on November 29, 2010, by appointment only.
Seeking submissions from Actors' Equity Members only for these particular auditions.
For consideration, mail picture and resume to:
Harriet Bass Casting
648 Broadway #912
New York, NY 10012
Attn: The Exceptionals – NYC appointments – AEA self submit
Synopsis: Two mothers from very different backgrounds must make some tough decisions regarding their uniquely gifted sons, products of a donor insemination program designed to create “exceptional” children. TheExceptionals asks “how far would any parent go to ensure his or her child has every possible opportunity to succeed?”
Please note: Bob Clyman’s writing consists of many short, rapid phrases and half-phrases, and a very precise use of cut-offs and punctuation. Actors should be comfortable with this style of writing and willing to engage in a process where textual accuracy is held in equal regard to honest characterization and emotional specificity. We are looking for clear, crisp voices to engage in a battle of words.
Seeking:
Gwen:
Female, 30s, Any Ethnicity. Divorced mother of a 5-year old son (the product of artificial insemination), a research scientist by training, a teacher by profession and an intellectual snob. Her surface character is judgmental, entitled, superior, patronizing and brittle. She is hypersensitive to perceived slights or injustices, high-strung and intense. This covers her inner feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness. She is really intensely needy; needing to be loved and needing to be right; very insecure and terrified of being rejected.
Allie:
Female, 30s, Caucasian. Married mother of a 5-year old son (the product of artificial insemination.) A full-time wife and mother, she is loud, brassy, brash, irreverent, and full of attitude. She speaks without self-consciousness or self-editing, expecting the same from whomever she meets. She is friendly in an expansive, in-your-face way, with large comedic energy. She is blue-collar “Jersey girl” and proud of it, with a taste in reading that leans toward Danielle Steele. She also possesses a very high intelligence which she hides because it doesn’t fit her self-image or her background.
Tom:
Male, 30s – early 40s, Caucasian. Allie’s husband; A salesman of technical devices, but he’s from a blue-collar upbringing and proud of it. He is gregarious and loud, with big comic energy, boisterous and overly-friendly, with natural charm. He considers himself a born raconteur, so he often speaks without editing his thoughts. He won't tolerate being patronized and has a hair trigger temper that goes from zero to 60 in a second, but he can't stay angry for long.
Claire:
Female, 40s, Any Ethnicity. Program Director of the donor insemination research program and a specialist in advanced education techniques. Extremely intelligent, compelling and enigmatic, she has a strong sense of mission, of which she never loses sight. She is a master of persuasion and control. Depending on the need of any given moment, she can be warm, logical, imperious, commanding, encouraging or empathetic. She also bears her own private grief over never having a child herself.
Videos
