WATER BY THE SPOONFUL - Second Stage Theatre Auditions

Roles are available unless otherwise specified:

[ODESSA/HAIKUMOM] Female, Latina, mid 40s – early 50s. ELLIOT’s birth mother, still living in North Philly. Ex-addict who created and runs a chat room for other ex-addicts under the handle HAIKUMOM. A little more “street” than the rest of her family. Warm, irreverent, funny, kind; fierce temper. Having walked a hard road filled with temptations, disappointments, and lost chances, ODESSA endeavors day-to-day to maintain her own sobriety while also trying to offer hope/help to those with similar struggles. 

[YAZMIN] Female, Latina, late 20s – early 30s. ELLIOT’s cousin and close confidante. An assistant professor of music at Swarthmore College; she’s the cool “hip” teacher with whom all the kids want to take class. Super smart, articulate, educated, and level headed. Bears the weight of her family’s struggles on her shoulders, but with a divorce pending and at a career crossroads, YAZMIN is not without struggles of her own.

[CHUTES&LADDERS *] Male, African American, late 40s – 60. Ex- addict. Average-looking, probably out of shape; drives a beat-up Tercel and should kind of look like it; the dude with TP stuck on his shoe. Works a middle management position in the IRS that he’s had for decades. Struggles with and is succeeding at keeping his life simple, pursuing simple pleasures, so as not to fall back into destructive patterns. A warm, steady, sardonically funny and no-nonsense member of ODESSA/HAIKUMOM’s cyber-community; develops a particular rapport with and concern for fellow chat room member ORANGUTAN. (* CHUTES&LADDERS is his cyber name; given name is CLAYTON.)

[ORANGUTAN *] Female, Asian American, late 20s – early 30s. Another ex-addict who is a part of the chat room; not an optimist by nature. Recently clean and sober, she has moved to Japan to teach English and to start a new life away from her old habits; fiercely independent and strong-willed, she is nonetheless searching --- for her birth parents, for ways to clean her slate and keep it clean --- and perhaps most importantly for ways to understand the darkness she feels inside of herself. (*ORANGUTAN is her cyber name; given name is MADELEINE.)

[FOUNTAINHEAD *] Male, Caucasian, late 30s – early 40s. The newest addition to the chat room and only a few days sober. A super-smart, very successful and financially secure entrepreneur/alpha-guy; a ‘soccer Dad’ whose wife and two kids do not know about his addiction, or that when he leaves the house to buy groceries he sometimes buys and smokes crack in a public park. His swagger and self-deprecating wit mask the shame and despair he feels about himself and his addiction; fighting sobriety and those in the chat room at every turn, even as his life is spiraling out of his control. (* FOUNTAINHEAD is his cyber-handle; real name is JOHN.

[PROFESSOR AMAN/ GHOST] Male, Middle Eastern, 30s. GHOST is the soul of a man who ELIOTT killed during his time over seas. PROFESSOR AMAN is YAZMIN’s colleague at Swarthmore College. Smart and worldly – he knows his stuff. 

[ELLIOT] CAST. Auditioning performers will be considered as possible (emergency) replacements, should any become necessary. Male, Latino, mid 20s. Soldier having recently returned from duty in the Iraq war, now running a Subway sandwich shop in North Philly. His hard, tough exterior masks his huge heart and giving soul. Haunted by what he did and saw in war, Elliot is struggling to reconcile his past with his present.