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Breakdown
BUTLER
by Richard Strand
Dir: Jason Cannon
1st reh: 11/17/15. Runs: 12/11-3/5/16
Civil War, 1861. An escaped slave seeks sanctuary, but laws of the land are unrelenting. With sharp wit & tongue-in- cheek humor, Butler takes us on a journey through legal loopholes that led to freeing of 10,000 slaves
Seeking:
Major General Benjamin Butler
45-55. Lawyer turned commanding officer; highly intelligent, self-assured, bordering on arrogant; does not have the crisp neatness associated with military men; in fact appears quite frumpy
Lieutenant Kelly
30s. Butler's adjutant; West Point graduate & career army man; Is all military & has earned his stripes; found few reasons to like or respect his new commander.
Shepard Mallory
25-35. Escaped slave. A collection of contradictions; brash but wary, respectful & flippant, humble yet arrogant in a moment, simultaneously scared & over-confident; his education is a blessing and a curse to him, as is his impassioned demeanor; argues relentlessly to save his life and the lives of his fellow fugitives; ultimately, his passion, intelligence & charm win out.
Major Cary
45-55, Confederate Army officer, Southern accent necessary; former head of a military academy for boys; is formal, dignified, showy; relies on spit & polish, but has ability to threaten; comes to the fort under the orders of his commander to reclaim the fugitive slaves & detests being sent to negotiate with Butler.
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OUTSIDE MULLINGAR
by John Patrick Shanley
Dir: Kate Alexander
1st reh: 1/12/16. Runs: 2/5 -3/26
Delightful gritty comedy set in rural Ireland. Between fading families, a bitter land feud, familial rivalries, two misfit neighbors will have to overcome their own fears to find happiness. Full of surprising humor & poetic prose, this tender-hearted portrait reminds us that what we’re looking for is sometimes right in front of us
All must have an excellent Irish dialect
Seeking:
TONY
70s. Sly, wily old Irish farmer who is hard on his son. Stern, unsentimental, thinks he knows it all, and right about everything. Has a dry wit; comes to see the error of his ways.
ANTHONY
42. Tony’s put-upon, good-hearted son. Realistic & self-defeating idealist & dreamer; a non-confrontational, misunderstood & sensitive man who feels things deeply. Painfully shy -secretly in love with Rosemary yet unable to take action. A misfit with a shameful secret & a philosopher’s soul
AOIFE
70s. Recent grieving widow, in bad health & not too much longer for this world. Blunt & highly opinionated, has some spunk left in her & calls things as she sees them
ROSEMARY
37. Aoife’s daughter. Stubborn, determined, feisty, practical; has a temper & determined to get what she wants once she sets her mind to it. Determined to have Anthony. Confrontational, proud & beautiful; a strong willed woman.
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ALABAMA STORY
by Kenneth Jones
Dir: Richard Hopkins
1st reh: 3/15/16. Runs: 4/8 - 5/28
1959 Montgomery, AL, the civil rights movement is flowering. A children’s book with a hidden message stirs the passions of a segregationist senator & a no-nonsense state librarian. Inspired by true events, this puts political foes, childhood friends, & one feisty author at opposite ends of clashing perceptions.
Seeking
Garth Williams
50ish. White writer & illustrator from the East Coast; also assumes the roles of OTHERS: including Alabama State Rep Bobby Crone, reporter Herschel Webb, segregationist columnist Henry Balch, a Radio Announcer and Passersby
Lily Whitfield
32. White woman from small town Alabama privilege
Joshua Moore
32. Middle-class African American man who left Alabama more than a decade ago
Senator E. W. Higgins
50s. White Alabama state senator in favor of segregation & censorship
Emily Wheelock Reed
50s. White librarian, the State Librarian of Alabama, born in North Carolina, raised in Indiana
Thomas Franklin
28. White reference librarian, Emily’s assistant, Alabama native
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BUYER AND CELLAR
by Jonathan Tolins
Dir: Jason Cannon
1st reh: 12/29/15. Runs: 1/22 - 2/20/16
Barbra Streisand has a shopping mall in Malibu home basement, featuring a doll shop, an antique clothing store and a sweets shop, complete with a frozen yogurt machine, as detailed in her 2010 book. Playwright Jonathan Tolins imagines a man who is hired to work in the basement of the mall-with Babs as his only customer. This tells the story of Alex More, a struggling LA actor who takes a gig working in the basement mall & develops an unlikely & hilarious friendship with Streisand.
Seeking
Alex More
30s. Underemployed LA actor. Gay, improvisational, witty, charming, self-deprecating, & passionate about life and the pursuit of celebrity.
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STALKING THE BOGEYMAN
Adapted by Markus Potter, Original story by David Holthouse
Dir: Jason Cannon
1st reh: 2/16/16. Runs: 3/11 - 3/26/16
Based on a true story, this follows renowned journalist David Holthouse’s secret pursuit of justice for a crime hidden for 25 years. Explores the dangers of vengeance, the power of forgiveness, & the strength of family.
Seeking
David
30-40. Narrator & protagonist. Investigative journalist & only child, grew up in Alaska. Plots the murder of the man who raped him when he was seven years old.
Bogeyman
40-50. Grew up the all-star athlete of a small town in Alaska & has ego to match. Never quite lived up to the hype that surrounded him as a teenager, lived with parents after high school into young adulthood. Goes through enormous range in the play from rebellious/disturbed 17 year old, to a remorse-filled and deeply sorry man at 43 years of age.
Nancy Holthouse/Neighbor #1
50-60. David's mother. Deeply committed to husband and son. Gentle with every motherly instinct, supports son in all that he does.
Robert Holthouse/Emmit
50-60. David's father. Easy-going, lively loving man. Deeply cares for son & wife, dotes on son, their only child. Considers himself a friend as well as a father to David. Becomes best friends with the Crawfords. Comes face to face with a deep family secret which he must painfully confront. Emmit is a gunsmith & owner of a Phoenix gun shop, former Marine and ATF employee.
Russ Crawford/Payaso/Coach Billy
50-65. Bogeyman's father. Blue collar, stern conservative, intelligent alpha male with unique sense of humor. Has high hopes & demands for son, becomes best friends with the Holthouses. Former athlete & college football star. Payaso is the leader of La Victoria Loca, the largest Chicano gang in Arizona. Coach Billy is the youth basketball coach for Alaskan Youth League. Teaches the kids how to shotgun beers and thinks that porn is a good idea at a team pizza party.
Carol Crawford/Dr. Sarah Leavitt
50-65. Bogeyman's mother. Tough blue collar house wife, not afraid to speak mind. Welcomes the Holthouse family to Alaska with open arms, becomes best friends with them. Dr Sarah Leavitt is a very distinguished, well-respected clinical Psychologist, expert on sexual abuse. Been in the profession for a long time, potentially past prime.
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GROUNDED
by George Brant
Dir: Kate Alexander
1st reh: 2/23/16. Runs: 3/18 - 4/16/16
Story of an ace fighter pilot whose career in the sky is ended early due to an unexpected pregnancy. Reassigned to operate military drones from a windowless trailer outside Las Vegas, she hunts terrorists by day & returns to her family each night.
Seeking:
The Pilot
25-35. A hot-rod, almost cocky F16 fighter pilot who gets along best with her male counterparts, but falls for one & in an unexpected pregnancy begins to lose control.
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CONSTELLATIONS
by Nick Payne
Dir: Kate Alexander
1st reh: 3/22/16. Runs: 4/15 - 4/30/16
Seeking:
Marianne
30s-40s. Any ethnicity. Physicist in the academic world.
Roland
30s-40s. Any ethnicity. A beekeeper.
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