SEEKING VOICE ACTORS FOR THE NEW COLOSSUS
The New Colossus written by Tamara Kissane is a new audio drama inspired by Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull. Originally staged in 2016 at Manbites Dog Theater and produced by Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern, Tamara has adapted the stage version to audio.
A family of frustrated, attention-starved artists flocks to the seashore. One of them has a gun…what could possibly go wrong? A darkly comic reboot of Chekhov’s classic, this rollicking tale examines the pitfalls of making art and making love in modern day America.
CAST: 4 W, 4 M
TIMELINE: TBD. Likely late Fall 2019. We will have the calendar confirmed and available when you are offered the role. Actors must be local to the Triangle-area of NC for a limited rehearsal period and for recording days. Deadline to submit voice audition is August 23, 2019. See below for more details.
PAYMENT: These are paid, but not highly paid roles. We will have the budget confirmed and payment information available when you are offered the role.
CHARACTERS:
IRINA ARKIN (W, 40-50’s) – KONRAD’s mother and TRIG’s lover. A passable starlet since childhood on stage and screen, you’d probably recognize her if you saw her in a cafe. A performer. A survivor. *The actor in this role must be able to sing a show-stopping number. Ideally she is a composer/musician, as well.*
NINA (W, 20’s) – KONRAD’s longtime neighbor and childhood sweetheart; TRIG’s trifle. No one helps her to grow up and she doesn’t quite know how. She is the Seagull, of course.
PAULINA (W, 40-50’s) – MASHA’s mother and KONRAD’s neighbor. She is in love with SORIN. Her husband (off-stage) is a blowhard idiot and her daughter makes her sad. She bakes and eats cake.
MASHA (W, 20’s) – Deeply infatuated with KONRAD’s tormented artistic soul; she settles for a life as MEDDIE’s wife. The only one with real talent and soul, she writes songs and accompanies herself on the piano or the guitar. She drinks. *The actor in this role must have strong singer-songwriter experience.*
KONRAD ARKIN (M, 20’s) – Crazy-in-love with NINA. Desperate to please his Mommy, IRINA. A frustrated writer with anarchist leanings, he always carries a gun (except when it’s confiscated by his mother). He’s too broken to be the genius-bad ass-artist he aspires to, but he has charm and great potential. *The actor in this role must have facility with spoken word poetry and/or rapping.*
SORIN – (M, 40-50’s) Brother of IRINA; uncle of his ward, KONRAD. Wheelchair bound and dying thru the course of the play, SORIN is the wise fellow that his family ignores.
TRIG O’RYAN (M, 40-50’s) – Lover of IRINA and eventually NINA. TRIG is a best-selling author of the easy-to-digest fiction paperbacks that you’d find in airport bookstores. He used to be a really good writer, now he is a charismatic lech who tries not to think too much about how he’s disappointed himself. Everyone wants to sleep with this guy, but no one knows why. Emotional vampire. *Note: this role contains a scene of simulated (solo) sex.*
MEDDIE (M, 20’s) – Relentless pursuer of his love, MASHA; KONRAD’s neighbor and reluctant friend. He’s a martyr and a school teacher. Basically a good guy. He feels sorry for himself.
TO AUDITION:
Deadline: August 23, 2019
- Record your voice using the scripts below and send your audio audition to artistsoapbox@gmail.com by August 23, 2019. In the heading of the email, please include the title and the name of the character you are auditioning for. Example: THE NEW COLOSSUS: MASHA. (See below for more info related to the audio recording.)
- Along with your voice recording, please send a resume or a short bio if you don’t have a resume ready.
RECORDING YOUR VOICE:
You don’t need a fancy mic as long as it clearly captures your voice in character, so your phone or computer mic will do. If you have a pro vocal reel, I’d be happy to listen to that as well, but the scripts are mandatory. As you’ll see below, I cut as much of the other characters’ dialogue out as I could, but I left some in for context and to give you something to react to. Don’t feel you need to read their parts too, just leave space for them. If you have a friend who wants to read the other parts with you, that would be fine too, but not necessary.
IRINA & MASHA & KONRAD AUDITIONEES:
For these roles, please include an example of your acting+ abilities. IRINA and MASHA: include a recording of yourself singing. If you have links to your music-related performances, send those too. KONRAD: include recording of yourself reading poetry, performing spoken word, or rapping. *Note: Do not let this extra step dissuade you from auditioning. Please send me what you have — I want to hear you!*
QUESTIONS? Email artistsoapbox@gmail.com
