YES WE CAN Submission - Down Payment Productions Auditions

YES WE CAN - Photo/Resume Request

Down Payment Productions Showcase (approval pending)

Playwright: Daniella Shoshan

Dir: Alec Strum

Casting: Megan Larche Casting

1st reh: 5/16/11. Runs 6/17-7/3 at Walkerspace. Performers must be available nights and weekends.

NYC appointment auditions are coming up.

To be considered, send photo/resume and brief cover note ASAP to

info@meganlarchecasting.com

“A new New York play”. A racially-charged incident on a New York City bus totally upends the day-to-day normal of a handful of “ordinary” New Yorkers. Hurtling from the pedestrian to the preposterous, the play confronts the politics of self-search and shared-narrative, the antics and intricacies of stereotype, and forces us constantly to ask – to answer, to accept – who are we when we say “we”?

The piece plays frequently with stereotype and the distinct kinds of speech that accompany it. It asks actors and audience to accept as true things that seem utterly impossible in the world as we understand it. However, though it is obviously not a work of naturalism, the best course of action is to absorb these facts, accept what the play presents as true, and play as honestly as you can.

Seeking:

Notes from casting personnel: “YES WE CAN calls for a young, energetic, diverse ensemble to portray characters of all ages. Though the breakdowns are listed only for a handful of principal roles, all actors will play a variety of smaller supporting roles additionally. YES WE CAN explores the ways we perform identity. The use of a young ensemble is a device meant to serve the play's thematic goals, not an attempt to discriminate against actors based on age.”

LeJean:

Seeking actress in her 20s to play 30s-40s. LeJean is an African American woman. Though in every way she appears to us to be African American, she has, inexplicably, never given any thought to her racial identity, and when she’s finally forced to confront it, her whole world is turned upside-down. She is smart, competent, cultured and composed. Not cold, but very guarded, probably in part because of the gaping blind spot in her sense of self.

Rabbi Q:

Seeking actor in his 20s to play 50-60. Rabbi Q is an African American man. Spirited leader of a well-to-do Upper West Side synagogue. Spectacular performer who is at once a schticky spiritual adviser steeped in centuries of rabbinic scholarship and a rousing Baptist-style evangelist. Mel Brooks meets James Brown. But his performance is just that – in his heart of hearts, he’s reaching desperately for an understanding of himself and meaningful relationship with God and his fellow men.

Shin:

Seeking actor in his 20s to play 40-50. Shin is a Chinese immigrant with a thick accent. Owner of a small business. Has seen his neighborhood decay, rebuild and gentrify several cycles since he arrived. Frustrated with the experience of having lived in New York long enough to raise American children, but still feeling like an outsider. If Chris Rock were Asian, less cocky and more dryly cynical. Shin’s frank discussion of race seems harmless and funny, until it reveals a rage that really isn’t.

Raj:

Seeking actor in his 20s to play age 11. Raj is Indian American, Middle Eastern or Latino. Born and raised in NY, Raj is the fully Americanized son of immigrant parents. His sense of entitlement is thus mostly modeled on his friends’ rather than native to him.