Kentwood Players announces open auditions for
NATIVE GARDENS
A Comedy by Karen Zacarias
Saturday, November 27 and Sunday, November 28, 2021
At the Westchester Playhouse
Kentwood Players will hold open auditions for NATIVE GARDENS, a comedy by Karen Zacarias, on Saturday, November 27 from 11:00am to 3:00pm and Sunday, November 28 from 6:00 to 9:00pm. Callbacks will be held on Monday, November 29 at 7:00 by appointment only. This is a non-equity, non-paid production directed by George Kondreck and produced by Kathy Dershimer for Kentwood Players with rights secured from Samuel French, Inc.
Performance dates are January 21 through February 13, 2022 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. Auditions and performances take place at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045.
In this brilliant new comedy, cultures and gardens clash, turning well-intentioned neighbors into feuding enemies. Pablo, a rising attorney, and doctoral candidate Tania, his very pregnant wife, have just purchased a home in the suburbs of Washington D.C. which is a bit of a fixer-upper. However, Tania is a botanist who plans to transform the yard with native plants. Their new neighbors Frank and Virginia are a well-established D.C. couple with a prize-worthy English garden. An impending barbeque for Pablo’s colleagues and a delicate disagreement over a long-standing fence line soon spirals into an all-out border dispute, exposing both couples’ notions of race, taste, class and privilege.
Those auditioning must be fully vaccinated and wear a mask when indoors except when onstage auditioning. They should read the play before auditioning to become familiar with the characters. Please allow time to sign-in and complete paperwork during scheduled audition times. Please bring a current headshot and resume as well as your calendar as a rehearsal schedule will be posted at auditions and you will be asked to note any conflicts. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the production team at NativeGardens@kentwoodplayers.org.
Character Breakdown
Tania Del Valle Late twenties/early thirties. Latina/Latinx/Hispanic preferred. Tania is a pregnant doctoral candidate who is determined to fix up her fixer-upper with a native garden. Bright, energetic, naturally optimistic, passionate and highly energized, she wants to co-exist with the neighbors but is fiercely protective of her ideas and values.
Pablo Del Valle Late twenties/early thirties. Latino/Latinx/Hispanic preferred, Spanish speaking required. Pablo is an ambitious and successful attorney trying to make partner by “fitting in” and hosting a BBQ for the entire firm in his unkempt backyard. Originally from Chile and educated in the U.S., he is smart, argumentative, generally tolerant and willing to overlook a lot until he is pushed over the edge by the Butleys.
Virginia Butley To play sixties to mid-seventies. Any ethnicity. Virginia is a female executive working for a large defense contractor in the DC area. Smart, likeable, friendly, civil, assertive and direct, her opinions are well engrained and she will fight ruthlessly to protect her turf.
Frank Butley To play sixties to mid-seventies. Any ethnicity. Frank is a gentle and sensitive soul, likeable, caring and excitable, who has devoted himself to his pristine English garden in his retirement. He wants to get along with the neighbors but cannot embrace a native garden next door.
Surveyor, Landscapers and Building Examiner: Any age. Any ethnicity. Non-speaking roles who double as crew to help change the set during the short vignettes between scenes.
Please note: Everyone who enters the Westchester Playhouse must show proof of vaccination and properly wear a face mask while indoors (unless performing onstage). Free street parking is available on 83rd Street and in the adjoining neighborhood, but not on Hindry Avenue, with left turns now restricted on the corner of Hindry and Florence due to the new Metro train station crossing. So please read all traffic and parking signs carefully.
Kentwood Players is a nonprofit theatre group dedicated to enriching, educating and entertaining our community through the transformative power of live theatre while creating an environment for inspiring human potential. As a 501C3 organization, donations to Kentwood Players are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
For more information about Kentwood Players including our current production and upcoming auditions, please visit the Kentwood Players website at www.kentwoodplayers.org. You can also find Kentwood Players information on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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Many thanks for listing this open auditions announcement in your print and online editions. Once the production is cast, tickets and press seats will become available for performances January 21 through February 13, 2022 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm at the Westchester Playhouse.
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