Long Wharf Theatre is seeking Non-Equity performers for its upcoming Next Stage production of Still Life With Iris, by Steven Dietz, directed by Artistic Resident Elizabeth Nearing.
Auditions will take place Feb. 16 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Actors should bring a headshot and resume and be prepared to read from the script. Appointments are suggested and can be made by calling 203-787-4282.
Callbacks will take place by invitation on Feb. 21 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Still Life With Iris is the first play for young audiences to receive the Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays Award. Still Life with Iris is a fantastical adventure which centers on a little girl's search for the simplest of things: home.
“One of the most important things to be me during the selection process is that we wanted to stay away from anything that talked down to children. We wanted to celebrate their imaginations,” said Sarah Chanis, company management resident and production manager of the play. “The play is set in a wonderful, magical place, but there is quite a bit of reality there.”
“The most important themes of the play touch on memory, preservation of a sense of self, and understanding that perfection isn’t essential. Flaws can be a good thing,” Nearing said.
Iris lives with her mom in the land of Nocturno—a magical place in which the workers make, by night, all of the things we see in the world by day, a world where memories are kept in the pockets of everyone’s coats. The rulers of Nocturno, the Great Goods, are determined to have the "best" of everything on their island—and therefore take Iris away from her home and bring her to Great Island to be their daughter. To ease the pain of this separation, they remove her memories, leaving her with no recollection of her home or her family. Using a single clue, Iris joins with friends she meets on her journey—Annabel Lee (a young woman from the sea) and Mozart (the composer, age 11)—and frees herself from the Great Goods. She returns to Nocturno, having found her past, and her home.
Nearing is seeking flexible, playful actors with a sense of adventure and a sense of being able to communicate with a young audience.
The Next Stage program is a program for early career theatre professionals. For more information, call 203-787-4282 or visit www.longwharf.org.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
- IRIS- (under 25) a young girl. brave and precocious, quirky, fun and fearless in that way only kids can be. The Great Goods decide she is the BEST girl so she is taken to their island where she begins her great adventure to find home.
- MOM/ MISS OVERLOOK (30+) Iris' mother. Warm and loving, a great mom. Her memory is taken away from her when her past coat is stolen. She then becomes MISS OVERLOOK and is forced to work for The Great Goods on Great Island.
- MAN/ MISTER MATTERNOT (30+) A mysterious man sent to capture Iris and take her to the Island of The Great Goods. Conflicted about the work he does for the Great Goods, he looks after Iris.
- LEAF MONITOR/ ANNABEL LEE (20s)- no-nonsense mother of Hazel and Elmer. / half pirate half sea, ANNABEL LEE is a girl, not much older than Iris, who is in search of her ship. She joins forces with Iris to find home.
- HAZEL/GRETTA GOOD (20s)- Elmer's sister and Iris' classmate. / GRETTA is a comically snobbish and elitist woman, greedy and obsessed with acquiring the best one of everything. Inseparable from Grotto.
- ELMER/GROTTO GOOD (20s)- Hazel's brother and Iris' classmate. / GROTTO is Gretta's other half in every way. Also comically snobbish and elitist, greedy and obsessed with acquiring the best one of everything.
- FLOWER PAINTER/MOZART (20s)- responsible for giving all the flowers of our world color. / a 11 year old MOZART desperate to find the conclusion to his melody. Smart, dedicated, but more open about his fears than the other children. Mozart teams up with Iris and Annabel Lee.
- MEMORY MENDER / MISTER OTHERGUY (any age)- Stern but quietly caring man in charge of maintaining the past coats for the residents of Nocturno / OTHERGUY is a memory-free henchmen who for Gretta and Grotto Good.
Sides from the show will be provided at the audition. Bring picture and resume
