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Breakdown
MOSAIC THEATER COMPANY 2016-17 SEASON
SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF
By Terry Teachout
Dir: Eleanor Holdridge
1st reh: 8/1/16. 1st Preview: 8/25
Opens: 8/29. Closes: 10/2
This is a one-person show and the role has been CAST.
Louis Armstrong ROLE CAST.
________
MILK LIKE SUGAR
By Kirsten Greenidge
Dir: Jennifer L. Nelson
1st reh: 10/3/16. 1st Preview: 11/3. Opens: 11/7. Closes: 11/27
seeking:
Annie
16, African American. Independent, but susceptible to peer pressure. She seeks some sense of belonging and struggles with where to find counsel or connection, be it among her friends, her mother, or in Malik. Throughout the play, she seeks a meaningful tattoo.
Talisha
16, Annie’s friend, ethnicity can vary. She is the queen bee of her clique. She likes getting what she wants and isn’t afraid of using those she cares about to get it. Despite this, she is afraid of being all alone.
Margie
16, Annie’s friend, ethnicity can vary. Not the brightest of the group, she can be naive and this trickles into her view of the future. She’s hip to gossip and particularly enjoys material goods.
Antwoine
23, African American. An aspiring tattoo artist deeply involved in his craft. A current grocery store bagger, he is very thoughtful and is often made fun of for this. He too is seeking connection.
Malik
16, African American. Smart and earnest, he is desperate to get out of the hood and will consider doing whatever it takes to do so.
Myrna
35, Annie’s mother, African American, tired from life, yet she continues to work constantly. She loves to write and in another life, she may have been a novelist. She has rejected religion and is used to relying on herself.
Keera
16, Annie’s friend, African-American. The new girl at school, she loves the Word and can be very evangelical but at the same time hungers for inclusion and material desires.
_________
CHARM
By Philip Dawkins
Dir: Natsu Onoda Power
1st reh: 12/5/16. 1st Preview: 1/4/17. Opens: 1/9. Closes: 1/29
Seeking:
MAMA DARLEENA ANDREWS
67. African American. Male-to-Female Transwoman. A former nurse, Chicago born and raised. She is of a certain era now long gone. She somehow manages to be classy and charming even in six inch gator skin heels. She’s got class and she’s got sass, both in equal proportions. And opinions, she’s got those too. She’s not afraid to tell it how she sees it. Retired now, she could use a little community of her own, and she thinks the tacky, uncouth kids at the Center could benefit quite nicely from her company.
D.
Late 30’s. Any ethnicity. The administrator of Youth Programs at the Center. D’s gender assignment at birth was female, but now claims no gender, and uses They-pronouns. They care deeply about the kids at the Center, but are also swamped down in the politics of the organization. D is super vocabularied, highly studied and grad-schooled. A social worker steeped in queer theory and good intentions.
ARIELA
33. Puerto Rican American. Male-to-Female transwoman. She is a stunning woman. What she lacks in conventional good taste, she makes up for in natural beauty. No high school education, Ariela has spent most of her life turning tricks on the streets of Boystown, and she knows how to take care of herself. A definite chip on her shoulder about being lumped into this group with so many kids, still she attends Mama’s Charm Class voluntarily, mostly to see Mama. She has a vicious tongue, and don’t you dare cross her. There’s a reason she’s still alive after more than twenty years on the street. She survives. She’s recently made an active decision to turn her life around, and is in the process of getting out of The Life, and making healthier choices.
JONELLE
19. Pronounced “John L.” Any ethnicity, not white. More comfortable expressing herself in feminine terms, Jonelle is a male-bodied person who wears women’s clothing (quite well), and uses “She” pronouns. She’s experimenting with her gender expression, and hasn’t yet landed on one over the other, if in fact she plans to at all. She’s smart –sometimes flaunts it – and is currently finishing her first year at a community college in Uptown. Dry, sardonic, already over it. She comes from a rough background, but finally found her way into a supportive foster home that helped her get out of a bad situation. Now her life is on track, but she can “turn street” at the drop of a hat, and gladly. Over the course of this play, she’ll start to discover that she’s a natural nurturer/caregiver.
VICTORIA
23. African American. Heterosexual, cisgender female. Homeless. Mother of two young kids who live with her grandma. She’s kind, gregarious, energetic, and generous even though she has nothing. In a relationship with her babydaddy, Donnie. She isn’t bright, but she’s loyal and a hard worker. Victoria is overweight and has trouble with hygiene. Victoria will always put other people’s needs before her own, to a fault.
DONNIE
21. African American. “Mostly” heterosexual, cisgender male. Homeless. Victoria’s babydaddy. He has no education or job and no desire to change his situation. Defensive and overly sensitive, he can dish it out but can’t take it. Mostly, he dishes it out to Victoria. Donnie is threatened by anyone he perceives is trying to show him up. Likes to clown around.
BETA
20ish. African American. Male-identified. Nobody knows that he is a transman (female-to-male). A gangbanger. Thuglife from head to toe. Dresses all in black with dark sunglasses a permanent fixture on his face. He’s quiet and mysterious, the last flame in a scorched field. A dark mystery to most people. His intentions for coming to Charm are unclear, but his history of violence and his association with danger are well known to everyone.
LADY
Early 20’s. Any ethnicity. A Female-identified person. Assigned a male gender at birth, Lady is having a really hard time expressing her gender to the world successfully. Her long hair is confounded by the fact that she is going rather quickly and badly bald on top in a typically “male” way. She’s not conventionally attractive, and has trouble sifting through the Goodwill bin to find something that helps her male-shaped body look remotely feminine. Lady is a person living with autism as well as other undiagnosed illnesses. She has run away from her assisted-living situation in another state to come live in some awful, public housing for people with mental disabilities on the far West Side of Chicago. She has no friends, no family, and nowhere to go outside of her public housing and the Center.
LOGAN
18. Any ethnicity. Cisgender gay male, but very androgynous. A pretty kid. Comes from money and privilege and reeks of it. He’s been told he is smart. A lot. He’s lacking in charm in his own myopic way, but he recognizes on some inexplicable level that he belongs in Mama’s Charm School. At the same time, there’s almost nowhere he could possibly be more out of place.
________
HOODED: OR BEING BLACK FOR DUMMIES
By Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm
Dir: Serge Seiden
1st reh: 12/26-27/16. 1st Preview: 1/26/17
Opens: 1/29. Closes: 2/19
seeking:
Marquis/New Black Kid
14 years old, black male. Hails from the suburb of Achievement Heights, Maryland. He is eager to learn, yet is afraid to abandon the attachments of his current life and break the status quo. Adopted by white parents and somewhat of a mama’s boy. Adores the work of Friedrich Nietzsche.
Tru
14, black male. He is shaped by the streets of inner-city Baltimore. His mother works the graveyard shift, so he’s learned to operate on his own and be street smart. Loves hip-hop, especially the work of rapper Tupac Shakur. Seeks to guide Marquis/New Black Kid and educate them on their “blackness.”
Officer Borzoi/Apollo
black male 35-45. Officer Borzoi is a police officer who takes his job very seriously. He is intimidating and seems to take enjoyment in disciplining young black boys. Apollo, Greek God of the Sun, bears the weight of a powerful secret.
Clementine
14, white, female. A classmate of Marquis. Sweet, warm, pretty, she has a crush on him. She is the least self-absorbed of her friend group. Attended Calorie Camp for weight loss. She struggles with understanding her own privilege.
Meadow
14, white, female, The leader of her friend group and arguably the most self absorbed and judgemental. In love with Instagram. Has prejudices that she’ll project yet knows when the joke has gone too far. Has a crush on Hunter.
Prairie/Debra
14, female, 35-45 white/Marquis’ mother white. Prairie is definitely a follower; not as self absorbed as Meadow but not nearly as earnest as Clementine. Debra is very domineering. The head of her household. She sees herself as a savior to “cultured” children.
Hunter/Headmaster Burns
14, white, male/ white male 35-45. A student at Achievement Heights and friend of Marquis and Fielder. Hunter is the most outwardly confident in his friend group but this can easily slip into arrogance. Wants to be black, or ascribe to whatever he thinks “blackness” is. Headmaster Burns is very authoritarian and clearly bears his own prejudice.
Fielder/Dionysus/Concerned Citizen
14, white, male/white male 35-45. Fielder is a student at Achievement Heights and a friend of Marquis and Hunter. His father is racist and abusive; this weighs down on him. At the same time, he seems oblivious to to the effects of that racism. Dionysis, the Greek God of Wine and Festivities, hopes to distract from the great secret.
________
THE BLOOD KNOT
By Athol Fugard
Dir: Joy Zinoman
1st reh: 2/27/17. 1st Preview: 3/29
Opens: 4/2. Closes: 4/30
seeking:
Zachariah
South African, Morris’ half-brother, dark-skinned black man. While bitter over much of how his life has played out, he is also is optimistic and wishful about the relationship with his pen pal. He is quite infatuated with her. He secretly wants to kill Morris and is deeply jealous of him.
Morris
South African, Zachariah’s half-brother, light-skinned “colored” man. Level-headed and cautious, he appears to want to help Zachariah kindle his relationship with his pen pal. He secretly holds his brother in disdain and finds him inferior. Eager to pass as fully white and ascend in society.
________
A HUMAN BEING DIED THAT NIGHT
From the book by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
Adapted for the stage by Nicholas Wright
Dir TBD
1st reh: 3/20/17. 1st Previews: 4/10.
Opens 4/16. Closes: 4/30
seeking:
Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
South African lawyer, 30s, black. Served on the Human Rights Violations Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Very inquisitive and hungers for knowledge. She desires to understand how society ought to deal with individuals who have committed horrific atrocities. Claims to have no personal grudge against de Kock.
Eugene de Kock
“Prime Evil” an assassin from the South African police force, now in prison for political crimes committed for the apartheid regime. Has deeply suppressed his emotions resulting from being trapped in a prison made from his own past. Not overtly villainous, he still has the capacity for self-reflection and meditation. Is intrigued to be interviewed for his own reasons.
________
ULYSSES ON BOTTLES
By Gilad Evron
Dir: TBD
1st reh: 4/17/17. 1st Preview: 5/18
Opens: 5/22. Closes: 6/11
seeking:
Saul Izakov
a Jewish-Israeli man and the lawyer representing Ulysses. He is eager to present his case pro bono despite Ulysses stoicism. He legally supports the position of the State of Israel, yet admires his client’s passion. Finds himself torn between the whims of Ulysses, his wife Eden, and associate Horesh.
Yaniv Horesh
a Jewish-Israeli man and associate at the law firm operated by Saul. He sees the case merely as a means for becoming a partner at the firm. He is a social climber and does not have much regard for the morality of the case.
Ulysses
an Arab-Israeli man and literature teacher. Seeks to transport Russian literature to Gaza even in the face of an Israeli blockade via a raft of bottles. This attempt leads to his arrest. He is courageous if not a little idealistic. Holds freedom and fairness as his chief values.
The Spokesman
An apparent spokesperson for the Israeli government or a related state-run organization. They talk of issues regarding the humane and inhumane treatment of Gazans. They almost serve as a overt yet discreet layer of inner-consciousness for Saul.
Eden
a Jewish-Israeli woman and Saul’s wife. She is supportive of her husband but cares a lot about how they as a couple ought to look to those around them. Spends much of the play trying to involve Saul in a fundraiser and tries to appear as someone knowledgeable in certain things without actually knowing what she’s talking about.
________
THE RETURN (Sabbath Worker)
By Hanna Eady with Edward Mast
Dir: TBD
1st reh: 5/8/17. 1st Previews: 6/7
Opens: 6/11. Closes: 7/2
seeking:
Her
30-35, Israeli woman having recently moved back to Israel after a long absence. Very remorseful. She was in a committed relationship with “Him” but had thought he was Jewish. She is guilty for having falsely accused “Him” of rape after learning he was actually Palestinian and seeks to make amends.
Him
30-35, Palestinian man living in Israel and working as an auto-mechanic. A man with a facade of being put together, he bears suppressed anguish over what was done to him. He was in a relationship with “Her” while lying about being Jewish. After she found out, he was put in prison when she told authorities and the court that he had raped her. He has been living with a new identity ever since.
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