Producing Org TBD,
Equity actors for roles in BUTTERCUP (See breakdown). This is a World Premiere. Local Bay Area actors are encouraged to submit.
Please submit your headshot, resume, and video material for consideration. The video material may consist of a short work sample (e.g., a reel or any taped monologue or side). Fill out the following form:
Link to Form. Deadline: 11/05/2024
Produced by Ken Savage / Intercontinental Drift Written by JD Murphy Directed by Nancy Carlin
Possible in-person callbacks in Berkeley, CA, October 29-30. First Rehearsal: March 4, 2025 Tech Begins: March 28, 2025 Previews Begin: April 3, 2025 Opening: April 5 or 6, 2025 Closing: April 13, 2025 A sample production calendar may be found here:
Link to Calendar.
Venue: Marin Shakespeare's new 165 seat indoor theater - 514 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA. Contact buttercup.the.play@gmail.com with any questions. Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.
BUTTERCUP - A New Play
Inspired by Guy de Maupassant’s 1880 short story, Boule de Suif, J.D. Murphy’s Buttercup reimagines this Franco-Prussian war fable with a healthy dose of mirth and absurdity. Motivated by apparitions of her heroine Joan of Arc, French courtesan Buttercup escapes the convent and vows to reunite with her lost infant daughter. Buttercup finds herself in a caravan of misfit refugees including a mysterious nun and snobbish bourgeoisie couples. Fate reveals its heartwarming and ridiculous heads in this critical romp about class. This is a world premiere production, and actors should expect the script to evolve accordingly. As with any new play process, re-writes will be part of the journey. The acting company, in collaboration with the playwright and the director, will play a significant role in shaping this work. There will also be a one-week script development workshop in January/February 2025. Dates will be confirmed following the casting of the company. Notes from the director: The style of this play is somewhere between a French farce and a Brechtian fable, with a smidge of Looney Tunes. Looking for actors with physical comedy in their bones and a song in their heart. The bourgeoisie characters should be grotesque in their entitled pomposity. This production features bawdy comedy and sexually suggestive interactions between characters, which will be developed with the support of an intimacy choreographer. Please reach out to buttercup.the.play@gmail.com with questions or concerns. Unless specified in the character description, roles are open to performers of all races, abilities, and gender identities.
- **ROXANNE “BUTTERCUP” LA FEVER** - 20s, she/her. A force of nature. French courtesan in search of her daughter, who was taken at birth because she was an unwed mother. Indomitable. Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of the pre-sainted Joan of Arc. - **VALENTIN BISQUET** - 50s, he/him. Voracious industrialist. Entitled member of the bourgeoisie. - **MARJORIE BISQUET** - 40-50s, she/her. Wife of Monsieur Bisquet. Entitled member of the bourgeoisie. [Doubles as WOMAN]. - **HENRI ALLONDE** - 50s, he/him. Wine wholesaler. Entitled member of the bourgeoisie. [Doubles as GUARD, PRUSSIAN PRIVATE]. - **CECILE ALLONDE** - 40-50s, she/her. Wife of Monsieur Allonde. Entitled member of the bourgeoisie. [Doubles as BUTTERCUP’S MOTHER]. - **MAXIMILLIEN METZ** - 30s, he/him. Prussian Captain. Vain, prudish, self-important. A Dudley Do-Right. [Doubles as HIGHWAYMAN]. - **JEAN-JACQUES** - 40s, he/him. Innkeeper. Immigrant from Senegal, West Africa. A voracious reader. Senegalese accent. Becomes an ally of Buttercup. - **ALBERT** - 20-30s, he/him. Father of Buttercup’s child. Coach driver. Immigrated as an infant from Dahomey, West Africa. Charismatic, bemused. Our hero, along with Buttercup. - **SISTER WALTER** - [ROLE HAS BEEN CAST] 30-40s, she/her. A Sister of the Lamentable Poor. Strict, conflicted, repressed. Our narrator.
**J.D. Murphy (Playwright)** has authored and produced the award-winning—Worldfest Houston, Boston International Film Festivals—feature film Valley of the Heart’s Delight, starring Pete Postlethwaite, Gabriel Mann, and Bruce McGill based on the 1933 lynching of two white men in present-day Silicon Valley after the then governor of California promised to pardon anyone convicted of their lynching. J.D. authored and illustrated the satire Working Within the System is Like Milking the Cow When the Barn is on Fire; Mission Forsaken; The University of Phoenix Affair with Wall Street; and American Incendiary Populism detailing the consequences of political populism still in lethal play in contemporary American politics. J.D. founded and directed the award-winning—Mental Health Association of California—mental health project Community of Communities after California closed its mental hospitals, and subsequently developed and implemented one of the nation’s first accredited online degree programs.
**Nancy Carlin (Director)** has directed and performed extensively in regional theater including the American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, Aurora Theatre, Shotgun Players, Jewel Theatre, Marin Theatre, Marin Shakes, Center Rep, Cal Shakes, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. A former company member of A.C.T. and associate artist with California Shakespeare Theater, Carlin is also a writer, producer, dialect coach, script doctor, and acting teacher. A theater arts lecturer with San Jose State University and UC Berkeley, she holds a BA in comparative literature from Brown University, an MFA in acting from the A.C.T. Nancy is a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and SDC.
www.nancycarlin.com
**Ken Savage (Producer)** is a queer, first-generation, Asian American producer and director originally from San Francisco and now living in Napa. Ken was the Associate Producer at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and American Conservatory Theater where he has produced and/or directed over 50 productions and new scripts. Other theaters: Ars Nova, NY Theatre Barn, CalShakes, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, The Public Theater, Arena Stage, Playwrights Foundation, Crowded Fire Theater, Feinstein's at The Nikko, Z Space, Manchester International Festival. New musicals in development: Gravity: A New(tonian) Musical (O’Neill Finalist, 2017) and Rachel Lark’s Coming Soon: A New Rock Musical. Education: Stanford University. Currently, he is the Director of Events for Festival Napa Valley, bringing together his love for food, wine, and music.
Kensavageproductions.com
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