Audition
AUDITIONS FOR BLACKBIRD’S 2013-14 SEASON
Blackbird Theater is pleased to announce auditions for its 2013/2014 season, including the regional premiere of Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw and a world premiere stage adaptation of the John Updike novel Roger’s Version.
Auditions
Generals:
Monday, June 24 from 7:00pm-9:30pm
Tuesday, June 25 from 7:00pm-9:30pm
Callbacks:
Saturday, June 29, 10:00am-4:00pm
Auditions will be held in the University Theatre black box on the Lipscomb University campus (building 30 on this map). Contact Greg Greene to request an audition time.
Actors will bring a current headshot and resume, and will prepare a dramatic 1-minute monologue and a comedic 1-minute monologue demonstrating an English accent.
We will consider a limited number of Equity contracts for either production. Contact Greg Greene for more information.
Productions
Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Beki Baker
Rehearsals: Beginning mid to late December
Performances: January 23-February 2
A forceful comedy of ideas, mixing social satire with Shaw’s profound philosophical vision, Man and Superman follows the romantic interplay of political firebrand and confirmed bachelor John Tanner and Ann Whitefield, the charming and scheming woman who intends to marry him.
Character Breakdown
Most roles require an English dialect. Some are standard RP and some are Cockney. Two roles are American.
Jack Tanner/Don Juan (age 30-40) is prodigiously fluent of speech, restless, excitable, and possibly a little mad. He is sensitive, susceptible, exaggerative, and earnest, with a healthy sense of humor. He longs to rise above the common man’s state, and use his strength of will and philosophizing to resist the ‘Life Force’ that seems to draw all men toward love. He has discovered his role as guardian to Ann, the one woman he’d like to avoid above all. In the hell dream sequence, Tanner plays his distant relative Don Juan.
Ann Whitefield/Ana (age 25-35), an enchantingly beautiful woman, is perfectly ladylike, graceful, and charming. She is the type of woman who makes men dream. Respectable and self-‐controlled, Ann is also frank and impulsive, ensnaring both men and women into her confidence with ease. Tanner calls her a ‘boa constrictor.’ In the hell dream sequence, Ann plays Ana, a former lover to Don Juan and devout Catholic.
Roebuck Ramsden/Statue (age 50-65), a man of means, is a highly respectable and stately pillar of society. He believes himself an advanced thinker and fearlessly outspoken reformer, though he despises Jack Tanner’s Revolutionist’s Handbook. Ramsden shares guardianship of Ann with Tanner, much to his chagrin. In the hell dream sequence, he plays Ana’s father, a man sent to heaven after losing a duel to Don Juan.
Octavius Robinson (age 20-30), an uncommonly nice-‐looking fellow, is an artist and poet who loves to be in love. The object of his affection is Ann Whitefield. He is sensitive and dramatic, prone to bursts of both weeping and declamations of ardor. He and Tanner were schoolfellows, engendering a certain level of trust between them. Octavius is a hopeless romantic on every level.
Violet Robinson (age 20-25) is an impenitent and self-‐assured young lady with a haughty crispness of speech and trimness of carriage. She is as formidable as she is pretty. She is not a siren, like Ann; intelligence and pride restrain her. She has secretly married Hector Malone, Jr., but keeps the news secret for fear that he might lose his inheritance. Violet is Octavius’ sister.
Mrs. Whitefield (age 45-60) always carries an expression of muddled shrewdness and a squeak of protest in her voice. As Ann’s mother, she does not fall for Ann’s charm, though she lacks the strength to assert herself effectually. At the beginning of the play, she is in mourning for her husband’s recent death.
Miss Ramsden (age 50-65), Roebuck’s sister, is a hardheaded old maiden lady who wears enough rings, chains, and brooches to show that her plainness of dress is a matter of principal, not poverty. She clings to propriety at every occasion, and is determined to vacate her home of anyone who appears less than virtuous.
Henry Straker (age 35-45) is Tanner’s chauffer. He always has a vigilant eye on Tanner and his friends, though he keeps a cool distance. He speaks slowly and with a touch of sarcasm, seemingly proud of his lower class background. He likes to drive Tanner’s motorcar very, very fast.
Hector Malone, Jr. (age 25-30), an American, is undeniably pleasant and enlivening with an engaging freshness of personality. There is, however, nothing intellectually new to be got out of him, which is why he gets along well with romantics like Octavius. He has secretly married Violet, though fears the news of his attachment will disinherit him.
Mendoza/Devil (age 40-55), the chief of the Sierra Nevada scoundrels, is a tall, strong man with a Mephistophelian affection that comes across fairly imposing. With a fine voice and ready wit, Mendoza is his gang’s favorite orator. In the hell dream sequence, Mendoza transforms into the Devil, who carries much of the same traits.
Hector Malone, Sr. (age 45-60), an American with Irish roots, is a man whose social position needs constant and scrupulous affirmation. He heartily disapproves of his son’s secret marriage until he sees how it might benefit him. He is surly and obstinate, and looks vulgar in his fine dress. He demands to be taken seriously.
Other roles (may be double cast): Anarchist, Frenchman, Rowdy Social Democrat, Sulky Social Democrat, Maid, Goatherd, Officer, Soldier
Roger’s Version by John Updike, adapted for stage by Wes Driver
Directed by Wes Driver
Rehearsals: May 2014
Performances: early June 2014
This stage adaptation of the critically acclaimed novel by John Updike follows Roger Lambert, a bad-tempered divinity professor who finds his staid academic life and complacent faith challenged by the passionate ideas of Dale Kohler, a grad student who seeks to prove God’s existence through computer technology.
Character Breakdown
Roger (50s) - intelligent, contentious divinity professor
Dale (25-30) - bright, passionate, zealous computer wiz
Verna (18-25) - Roger’s vulgar, wayward niece
Esther (40s) - Roger’s clever, bored wife
Richie (12ish) - Roger’s sweet, though uninspired son
Kriegman (50ish) - brilliant biologist, academic blowhard
Cast also includes 3 other academics and a medical doctor - of varying ages, gender, and ethnicities.