Website Subtext Studio Theatre Company
New Plays. New Voices. New Ideas.
Subtext Studio Theatre Company is seeking video audition submissions for their inaugural new play festival this June. Each play is slated for a 16-hour workshop process, with a director, dramaturg, and aided by a lead producer. Rehearsals are scheduled throughout June and the staged readings are at the end of June and early July. To note, actors may be cast in more than one project.
To apply, please fill out the following form.
Material to Prepare:
The form will ask for the following: (1) your availability, (2) a resume or bio reflective of your performance and/or new play development career, (3) a headshot or a nice photo of yourself, and (4) a self-tape from a previous audition, or any other video that can help us get a sense of you as an actor.
Actors interested in participating in Abuela’s Follies will be additionally asked to upload a short video of themself speaking two sentences in Spanish with a Puerto Rican accent: "Muchacha, no joda', que yo escuche ayel que a Abuelo le dio un patatú cuando vio el recibo despue' de il a Taco Maker. Ese cabrón no suelta chavo pa' na'."
Time Commitment:
Rehearsal dates for the festival are primarily but not exclusively on weekends, including June 7, 8, 14,15, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, and July 2, 3, and 5. The public readings for The Deep See and Touch Me My Exodus are scheduled on Saturday, June 28 and Saturday, July 5 for Hero Gero and Abuela's Follies. The rehearsal and performance schedule may be slightly adjusted.
Locations for rehearsals and in person performances are TBD but will most likely be the Coach House at 2955 N Spaulding, the Fine Arts Building downtown, and Greenhouse Theater Center in Lincoln Park.
Character Type/Restrictions:
Character descriptions are taken directly from the play and are the playwright’s conceptual idea of the character types.
THE DEEP SEE
Synopsis: A young writer named Isaac, who has never been on a boat, seeks inspiration for the ending of his pirate-adventure novel. Encouraged by a strange man named Herman (Melville?), Isaac joins an old, ornery, and eccentric fisherman called “Captain”, and sails directly into the eye of a storm. They struggle with their inability to live up to and fit in with societal expectations of gender, strength, and masculinity when caught between the crossdressing woman pirate of Isaac’s novel, their own nightmarish childhood memories, a hyper-masculine Captain, and the wrath of the ocean herself.
ISAAC – early 20’s AMAB nonbinary or genderqueer, comfortable presenting as a young man for most of the play.
JOANNA – early 20’s woman, a protagonist in a pirate novel who cross-dresses as a man. Trans women, trans feminine and femme-presenting genderqueer actors are strongly encouraged for this role.
CAPTAIN / SALTWASH / MICHAELS - man, plays characters age 40’s-50’s.
HERMAN / DAD / GHOST / AL / WALRUS / RUMBLETONGUE / HELMSMAN / PILSNEY / GOD – man, plays characters age 20’s-60’s.
TOUCH ME MY EXODUS
Synopsis: This roaring mystic afro-prophetic intertextual Ode of a play weaves Biblical Mythology, Rap Musicology, & Afro-Cultural Diffusion together, whilst unrelentingly colliding spiritual warfare with the need of a people to survive. Touch Me My Exodus is Moses with blood swallowing his hands, leading his people to the Red Sea, but wondering if he, too, will drown. It begs to ask the question: how does a community break intergenerational curses when those now curses, were once the same tools they used to survive?
NOTE: Actors in this workshop need to be comfortable and confident with AAVE dialogue and performing with a southern accent.
RYA – 18, Gay, Black. Male. He feels 25, and the world sees him as such. Also voices DADDY.
DEMARCUS “BOBO” – 23, DL, Black. Male. He feels 30, and the world sees him as such. The typa’ dude to place his arms around you in a hug shaping his hands as a fist. Also plays PREACHER – Ageless, Back In My Day We Didn’t Have…., Black. Male. Big, Loud, A Pentecostal Revival.
MAMA LINDA – 46, She Don’t Got Time For Sexuality, Black. Female. She feels 36 though the world doesn’t see her as such. Sinner On Saturday, Saint on Sunday.
COACH LISA – 46, She Don’t Make Time For Sexuality, Black. Female. She feels 46, and the world sees her as such. The type to enter a room saying “God Is Good” and expecting that intergenerational response. Also plays NANA SIMBI – 126 Years Old, Breaks The Bounds Of Sexuality. Black. Female.
JESÚS – 36, Straight, Puerto Rican. Male. He feels all of his 36 and doesn’t care what the world sees. A Good Man. All actors from actors from Latine backgrounds are more than welcome to apply for this role, with Puerto Rican actors strongly encouraged. IMMANUEL – 18, Don’t Tell Nobody, Puerto Rican & Colombian. Male. He feels 25, and the world sees him as such. All actors from actors from Latine backgrounds are more than welcome to apply for this role, with Puerto Rican and Columbian actors strongly encouraged.
HERO GERO
Synopsis: This is the tale of Gerry, an ordinary guy living with schizophrenia, and his young sister, Geanie, an ordinary eleven-year-old going through a “pot roast phase”. When an unavoidable choice throws their family life into disarray, Gerry is pulled into a world of haunting memories that reveal a truth that he may not be ready to face. What’sunusual about these living memories is that Geanie and her best friend Opal can see them too. In this adventure-based psychotic episode, Gerry, Geanie, and Opal team up with Gero to journey into The Homeland and stop the Clone Army from obliterating the realm. Part fight-scene montage, part comically identical evil spawns, and part pot roast cooking in the oven, this story explores themes of family, courage, heroism, and mistakes; both the mistakes that we make and the mistakes that make us.
GERRY WALTMAN – Black, an older brother, in his 30’s. Diagnosed with schizophrenia. Described as a blank slate and nondescript.
GEANIE WALTMAN – Black, a younger sister, this character is 10 years old but should be played by someone 18-30 who presents young. Geanie believes wholeheartedly in her brother and never runs from adventure.
OPAL EVEREST - Black, a best friend, this character is 11 years old but should be played by someone 18-30 who presents young. Opal is Geanie’s BFF and always has her back.
HELEN – White woman, a therapist, any age. This actor needs to be comfortable using a slight southern drawl onstage. Also plays the fantasy character, “Five-A,” the big boss of the clones.
GERO – Black man, any age, in search of the hero known to prophecy as “G. Waltman.”
FANTASY WORLD ENSEMBLE ROLES – actors of any race, and any age, must be comfortable switching between multiple characters in a scene. Roles will be double cast and include: onomatopoeic characters: “GARGLES,” "SLURMUR,” “CLAK,” along with the clones: “FIVE-B,” “FIVE-C,” “FIVE-D,” “FIVE-E.”
ABUELA’S FOLLIES
Synopsis: Abuela's Follies is an avant-garde play with music that takes audiences on a journey through the life of a Latina grandmother. Drawing inspiration from Sondheim’s Follies, this evocative production uses a blend of songs, stories, and disruptive memories to unravel the intricate dynamics of familial love and conflict. As it delves into the complexities of loving a difficult matriarch and challenges the deeply entrenched Latine cultural belief that "blood is thicker than water," Abuela's Follies offers a universal exploration of the love/hate relationships that many have experienced with their grandmothers. Through its unique and heartfelt lens, the show resonates with anyone who has grappled with the profound, often messy ties of family.
NOTE: Actors in this reading need to be fluent in conversational Spanish, comfortable speaking with a Puerto Rican Accent, and confident switching between multiple characters in a scene.
ENSEMBLE 1 - A Latine actor of any race and gender who can perform with a Puerto Rican accent.
ENSEMBLE 2 - A Black and Latine actor who can perform with a Puerto Rican accent, needs to be a man or comfortable with masc presentation.
ENSEMBLE 3 - A Latine actor of any race who can perform with a Puerto Rican accent, needs to be a woman or femme presenting.