The 2013 Centre Stage New Play Festival Presents:
(Character descriptions are below for auditions)
Event Date & Time:
Sorrow’s End (f/k/a Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow) by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer
Nathaniel Lachenmeyer is based in the Atlanta area and is a professional playwright and a published author of both children and adult books. His first book for adults, The Outsider received two book awards, was featured on NPR's Fresh Air and served as the basis for lectures Mr. Lachenmeyer presented in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia. His first full-length play, Damn, received a Puffin Foundation grant and led Mr. Lachenmeyer to be a 2012 playwright-in-residence at the 7 Stages Theatre Company in Atlanta. Sorrow’s End has received a 2013 Dramatists Guild Fund Grant.
Sorrow’s End is a contemporary drama full of suspense and the unexpected. The play concerns an exit counselor who helps people involved in cults leave the cult mindset and return to the outside world. His complex history with cults comes into question as he tries to help a family encourage their son to make new choices in this examination of family, faith, loss and responsibility.
Sorrow’s End Character Breakdown:
Eric Jackson- middle-aged. An exit counselor who has made a career of helping people involved with cults walk away from the trappings and dangers of life in a cult. He is looking to retire from this strenuous line of work but has one last job.
Laura Jackson- mid-20s. The wife of Eric, Laura is committed to her duties, husband and religion. But, she has definite ideas about which of those is most important.
Peter Walsh- middle-aged. Husband of Sue, father of Isaiah. Peter is a devout and stern man with a violent streak. He is a very good solider for the cause.
Sue Walsh- middle–aged. Wife of Peter, mother of Isaiah. Sue has been a good mother and dutiful wife, Sue is committed to her cause but doubts occasionally creep into her mind.
Isaiah Walsh- early 20s. Son of Sue and Peter, Isaiah is absolutely convinced of his beliefs. Sarcastic and sly, he is a cocky young man not afraid to make demands of those around him. But there is more to him than just the young, invincible man we first see.
Golden by Peter Manos
Peter Manos is based in the Cleveland area and has a PhD in History from the University of Akron. He teaches history, theatre and writing at John Carroll University, Cleveland State and Cuyahoga Community College. Mr. Manos is a professional playwright, actor and director and is a member of Actors Equity and The Dramatists Guild. His plays have been performed off-Broadway and regionally and have won numerous awards. His play about the Civil Rights movement, Walk, Don't Ride: A Celebration of the Fight for Equality, is published by Dramatic Publishing. Mr. Manos is artistic director of the Bodwin Theatre Company in Cleveland.
Golden, a comedy set in medieval Europe, involves a colorful bunch of characters including a nobleman, his servant, a rich widow, a scholar, a novice nun escaped from the convent, a Mother Superior and a mute. Misunderstandings run amuck as the mute is called into question for stealing a gold cup from the convent. Monty Python meets Shakespeare in this zany offering that asks the question, is silence Golden?
Golden Character Breakdown:
Archimedes – a mute young man who appears to be disengaged from the world
Renard – A mischievous and ambitious servant of Philip
Phyllis – A spunky, sometimes gender-bending, fugitive novice nun on the run from the convent
Dr. Adam – A Doctor of Ethics who strives to uphold society’s rules and the law of the land
Philip – A semi-impoverished widowed nobleman who is very concerned with his dwindling fortune and not very concerned that his daughter, Phyllis, has run away from the convent.
Mother Superior – A simple woman often dominated by those around her especially her biological sister Winifred
Winifred – Mother Superior’s biological sister. She is a rich, widowed noblewoman who meddles in the affairs of others, is not afraid to push people around and mourns for her long lost son.
Young Negress Stepping Out of the River at Dawn by Dean Poynor
Dean Poynor is a New York City based playwright and screenwriter. He received his MFA in Dramatic Writing at Carnegie Mellon University where he was a two-time recipient of the Shubert Foundation Fellowship. Dean was selected as a Kennedy Center / ACTF Core Member Apprentice at the Playwrights’ Center for the 2010 / 2011 season. His plays have been work shopped, developed and performed in New York City, regionally and internationally. His full-length drama Paradise Key was the winner of the 2010 Trustus Theatre Playwrights' Festival and his Losing Sleep was the winner of the 2008 Helford Prize in Drama, and produced Off-Off Broadway at the American Theatre of Actors. He is a Principle Artist with The Salvage Company (NYC), and a proud member the Playwrights’ Center and the Dramatists Guild of America.
Young Negress Stepping Out of the River at Dawn tells the story of Alyze and Martin, Rwandan immigrants living in New York City, as they make plans to marry but struggle with balancing their Rwandan traditions and their new American culture. Questions become even more complex with the arrival of Edmond, Alyze’s brother and a priest with the Anglican Church in Rwanda. This drama incorporates, Rwandan song, dance and poetry as it questions the need for tradition in a modern world.
Young Negress Stepping Out of the River at Dawn Character Breakdown:
Alyze- (pronounced al-EEZE) A 35 year old a Rwandan immigrant living in New York City. She hopeful and romantic despite the atrocities she has endured in her past.
Martin- (pronounced mar-TEEN) A 37 year old a Rwandan immigrant living in New York City. He loves Alyze very much but worries about their financial stability and future.
Edmond- 28 years old and newly arrived from Rwanda. He is Alyze’s brother and an Anglican priest. He is shaped by his past and stringent in his religious convictions even if it is to the detriment of his happiness.
Ronnie- A 38 year old vibrant woman from the West Indies living in New York City. She is a business sensible seamstress who runs a bridal shop but has the heart of a dreamer.
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