SURVIVING THE SH*TSHOW CASTING CALL
Written by Dorinne Kondo
Directed by Nicole Hodges Perseley
Staged Reading at the ATHE Conference at the
Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center
Performance: Friday, July 29 at 7pm.
THE PLAY
A world premiere staged reading of a new one-act play by Dorinne Kondo puts reparative creativity into practice. Veering from realism to absurdism and masque to kabuki, the semi-autobiographical play centers on a Japanese American professor wrestling with art, academia, and anti-Asian violence during the pandemic. Kondo asks larger questions about what kinds of interventions we can make as scholar-artists.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
KEI - 60-something Asian American woman
BROTHER - Asian American man -also plays Delivery Person / Reporter/ Bonecrusher Bob/ Doug / Karen/ Nurse
KUROGO 1 - BIPOC, male or non-binary -also plays Duke / Mentor / Group Leader / Moderator (Convener) / Department Chair / Therapist
KUROGO 2 - BIPOC, female or non-binary -also plays Daphne / Colleague/ Abolitionist
RED DEATH - any age, BIPOC, any gender, non-speaking physical movement throughout staged reading
***
( TONE INFO FOR THE DOUBLED CHARACTERS BELOW)
DUKE: African American man (Regé-Jean Page from Bridgerton)
DAPHNE: White woman (Phoebe Dynevor from Bridgerton)
MENTOR: White man
REPORTER: White man, woman, or NB
GROUP LEADER: White man
DOUG: White man
COLLEAGUE: Asian American woman, late thirties or early forties
NURSE: BIPOC
MODERATOR/ CONVENER: White man
DEPARTMENT CHAIR: White woman
KAREN: White woman
THERAPIST: BIPOC
ABOLITIONIST: BIPOC
KUROGO are the “invisible” stagehands in Kabuki theater. They wear hoods and black masks. (Director will assign masks and ask actors to bring black hoodies for staged readings.) The noun KUROGO is both singular and plural in Japanese. This may be confusing when“they” appears instead of the gendered pronouns “he” and “she,” but please try to judge from the context.
KEI should be cast appropriately in terms of race, gender, age, if possible. Cross-gender casting is encouraged.
White characters are BIPOC actors with white masks: Middle-aged, graying white man; blond, middle-aged white woman; younger white man; younger white woman
RED DEATH dances throughout. Wears a red, hooded cloak. Non-speaking role. (Director will assign red masks and ask the actor to bring red hoodie for staged reading.) Characters will be assigned to wear red, white, and black masks as they shift between characters for the ATHE reading.
***
TONE and AESTHETIC REFERENCES
Stylistically, a mash-up of Beckett’s Happy Days, Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death,” Von Trier’s Dogville, Kabuki theater, and the scene of movers dancing with boxes from Blindspotting.
REHEARSAL and PERFORMANCE
6 hours of rehearsal
COMPENSATION
-Actors will be paid $200
AUDITIONS
Submit an audition tape to director Nicole Hodges Persley via email.
Audition tapes are due by June 26, 2022.
ASSOCIATION FOR THEATRE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
P.O. Box 922 | Santa Cruz, CA 95061 | Phone: 628.222.4088
Manage Email Preferences: http://www.athe.org/members/EmailOptPreferences.aspx?id=24381775&e=donatellagalella@gmail.com&h=a3ed343d63c132efa446efd949a9c6097cf0305a
View in a Browser: https://www.athe.org/view.aspx?messageId=b5b522f9f0ea4e30a4b151bcd3f05651
Ann Folino White, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Theatre Studies and Directing
Head of Theatre Studies and Management
Department of Theatre, Michigan State University
Editor, Theatre Annual: A Journal of Theatre and Performance of the Americas
Written by Dorinne Kondo
Directed by Nicole Hodges Perseley
Staged Reading at the ATHE Conference at the
Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center
Performance: Friday, July 29 at 7pm.
THE PLAY
A world premiere staged reading of a new one-act play by Dorinne Kondo puts reparative creativity into practice. Veering from realism to absurdism and masque to kabuki, the semi-autobiographical play centers on a Japanese American professor wrestling with art, academia, and anti-Asian violence during the pandemic. Kondo asks larger questions about what kinds of interventions we can make as scholar-artists.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
KEI - 60-something Asian American woman
BROTHER - Asian American man -also plays Delivery Person / Reporter/ Bonecrusher Bob/ Doug / Karen/ Nurse
KUROGO 1 - BIPOC, male or non-binary -also plays Duke / Mentor / Group Leader / Moderator (Convener) / Department Chair / Therapist
KUROGO 2 - BIPOC, female or non-binary -also plays Daphne / Colleague/ Abolitionist
RED DEATH - any age, BIPOC, any gender, non-speaking physical movement throughout staged reading
***
( TONE INFO FOR THE DOUBLED CHARACTERS BELOW)
DUKE: African American man (Regé-Jean Page from Bridgerton)
DAPHNE: White woman (Phoebe Dynevor from Bridgerton)
MENTOR: White man
REPORTER: White man, woman, or NB
GROUP LEADER: White man
DOUG: White man
COLLEAGUE: Asian American woman, late thirties or early forties
NURSE: BIPOC
MODERATOR/ CONVENER: White man
DEPARTMENT CHAIR: White woman
KAREN: White woman
THERAPIST: BIPOC
ABOLITIONIST: BIPOC
KUROGO are the “invisible” stagehands in Kabuki theater. They wear hoods and black masks. (Director will assign masks and ask actors to bring black hoodies for staged readings.) The noun KUROGO is both singular and plural in Japanese. This may be confusing when“they” appears instead of the gendered pronouns “he” and “she,” but please try to judge from the context.
KEI should be cast appropriately in terms of race, gender, age, if possible. Cross-gender casting is encouraged.
White characters are BIPOC actors with white masks: Middle-aged, graying white man; blond, middle-aged white woman; younger white man; younger white woman
RED DEATH dances throughout. Wears a red, hooded cloak. Non-speaking role. (Director will assign red masks and ask the actor to bring red hoodie for staged reading.) Characters will be assigned to wear red, white, and black masks as they shift between characters for the ATHE reading.
***
TONE and AESTHETIC REFERENCES
Stylistically, a mash-up of Beckett’s Happy Days, Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death,” Von Trier’s Dogville, Kabuki theater, and the scene of movers dancing with boxes from Blindspotting.
REHEARSAL and PERFORMANCE
6 hours of rehearsal
- 2 rehearsals over Zoom most likely 7:30-9:30pm Eastern Time during the week of July 5, 2022
- 1 tech/dress/load-in the afternoon of Friday, July 29th
- Staged reading performance on Friday, July 29th at 7:20-8:30pm Eastern Time- actor call time will be 45 minutes before the show unless they are on the program in another session
COMPENSATION
-Actors will be paid $200
AUDITIONS
Submit an audition tape to director Nicole Hodges Persley via email.
- Please use subject line “Surviving ATHE Audition”
- Please submit mp4s or link to you tube post of your self tape
- Please slate before you begin the sides. If you do not have someone to read with you, please record the other lines and play them back on your phone
- For improvised dance auditions–just record the lines for the scene and freestyle dance to the song listed in the sides.
- Content contains academic language–please google terms and authors before submitting self-tape
- If you are auditioning for KUROGO 1 AND 2, please note that you have two sets of sides.
- Please read the full script before submitting an audition tape.
Audition tapes are due by June 26, 2022.
ASSOCIATION FOR THEATRE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
P.O. Box 922 | Santa Cruz, CA 95061 | Phone: 628.222.4088
Manage Email Preferences: http://www.athe.org/members/EmailOptPreferences.aspx?id=24381775&e=donatellagalella@gmail.com&h=a3ed343d63c132efa446efd949a9c6097cf0305a
View in a Browser: https://www.athe.org/view.aspx?messageId=b5b522f9f0ea4e30a4b151bcd3f05651
Ann Folino White, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Theatre Studies and Directing
Head of Theatre Studies and Management
Department of Theatre, Michigan State University
Editor, Theatre Annual: A Journal of Theatre and Performance of the Americas
RSS Feed
