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Unsafe Boston Audition Information
A Psychological Thriller
By Jim Dalglish
Co-producers
Cotuit Center for the Arts and Boston Public Works
Two Show Runs / Two Locations
March 31 – April 10, 2016 at Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, Massachusetts
April 14 – 30, 2016 at the Plaza Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts
Important Note on Casting
Ideally we would like to cast the same actors for both the Cotuit and the Boston runs of the show. However, if it proves difficult to cast a particular role with the same actor in both locations, we may be double casting that role - one actor for Cotuit and one for Boston.
Synopsis
As a mid-winter blizzard blankets Manhattan under three feet of snow, a troubled young man with nowhere to go crashes his widowed stepmother’s 40th birthday party. His arrival triggers a flurry of memories - fond, painful and frightening – and unwittingly exposes his family to the danger that haunts him on the abandoned, snow-covered streets below. This psychological thriller was selected as a semifinalist at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
Boston Audition Date
Saturday, December 19, 10:00am at Boston Playwrights Theater (Back/Proscenium Theater)
Performances
Cotuit Center for the Arts: March 31 – April 10, 2016
Boston Center for the Arts (Plaza Stage): April 15 – 30, 2016
Rehearsal Schedule
Rehearsals will be held at Cotuit Center for the Arts and will begin in mid January.
Compensation
Actors will be compensated for traveling expenses incurred during the Boston run of the show. Actors will receive a small remuneration for the Boston performances of the show as well.
Roles
3 Women, 7 men.
Character Descriptions
Lisa: Actress who can play the part of a 40 years old. Mother of 8-year-old Georgie. While she is a concert pianist, expertise in playing the piano is unnecessary. Lisa is a widow who lost her husband when the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. She has had a difficult time adjusting to the loss of her husband and has difficulty leaving the Tribeca loft she shares with her daughter. She has stopped seeing her therapist and has decided her anti-anxiety medication is useless.
Yvonne: Lisa’s mother. Actress who can play mid 60s. She is an upper-class woman who knows her way around New York. She lives in a very nice brownstone on the Upper East Side. She is sophisticated and worldly and more than a little self-centered. She is largely self-invented – having to create her persona from a middle class Jewish upbringing in Newark, NJ. She is a complicated woman who has a complicated relationship with her husband, daughter and granddaughter.
Guy: Lisa’s father and Yvonne’s husband. Mid 70s. Retired from the diplomatic corps, he was an upper level government employee who spent much of his working life at the UN. He is a gentleman with an iron core. Lisa adores him. Yvonne adored him at one point too. But their relationship has been a rocky one. He is most comfortable in a well-tailored suit. He is not emotionally effusive, but you can tell he is a loving, patient man. He has a history of coronary problems.
Georgie: Lisa’s daughter. Actress who can play 8 – 10 years old. Georgie has Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder caused by the deletion of 26 genes in the long arm of chromosome seven. Williams People tend to be socially garrulous and musically gifted, yet have over-sensitive hearing and cognitive difficulties with spatial relationships and numbers. They have facial features often described as “Elfin” and tend to have heart disorders. If you were to meet Georgie for the first time, it might take you a little while to realize that she has a developmental disorder. She is a very good pianist and can play tunes that she hears almost instantaneously. For more information on Williams Syndrome.
Nathaniel: A Neurologist. Mid 30s – early 40s. He is the author of a best-selling book concerning the role of the senses in the perception of reality. He is currently conducting research for a new book on genetic disorders. He’s brilliant with neuroscience, yet awkward with people. He is extremely handsome – just as handsome as the photo on his book jacket cover. He wants to help Lisa by being a private tutor to Georgie. He also wants to write a book about his experiences.
Will: Actor who can play early 20s. Will is a charismatic storyteller. There is also something dangerous about him. He has a history of drug abuse and he has disappeared since 9-11. He is the son of Lisa’s dead husband. Georgie adores him. Lisa has missed him. Yvonne senses that he is trouble. Yvonne has excellent instincts.
Wild Boys: 4 young men ages 18 – 25. They are the young men you see loitering around public parks, subway stations and on street corners. They don’t have a permanent place to live and spend a lot of their time trying to find a place to crash for the night. They sell drugs or hustle for money. Sometimes they find a situation that lasts for a few days or weeks, but they are soon out on the street again. They are present at the beginning of the play and they change set pieces during the play. Their speaking parts occur at the end of the play during an important flashback scene.
Setting
Place - Manhattan. Lisa’s loft in Tribeca. Yvonne & Guy’s Upper East Side co-op.
Time The play begins on the evening of February 5, 2003 – the day that Colin Powell testified before the United Nations about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It ends six months later.
Audition Format
Monologs (optional) / Reading from the script.
Script:
Download: Unsafe: a psychological thriller
Sides:
Lisa & Georgie
Will Monologue
Yvonne Monologue
Lisa Monologue
Will & Lisa
Nathaniel & Lisa
Will & Georgie
Yvonne & Will
Nathaniel & Yvonne
Yvonne & Lisa
Guy & Nathaniel
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Complete the information below and click SUBMIT. This will help me schedule the audition on Saturday, December 19, 10:30am - 3:00pm at Boston Playwrights Theater.