Audition Listings

Three full-length plays, each running for one week:  The Creases in my Sari,  November 9 to 13, Inked Heart, November 16 to 20, and Motherland, November 23 to 27.  Rehearsals begin October 3.
 
 THE CREASES IN MY SARI, by Sindhuri Nandhakumar. 
Two young Sri Lankan immigrants from warring factions want to marry.  Will they find their place – and their love – in the midst of the political turmoil that threatens to drive them apart, even in Toronto?  A perceptive and poetic light on Toronto’s Sri Lankan community.
 
Maheshwari (Mahesh) – Early 20s.  South Asian (Tamil,) born in Sri Lanka, grew up in West Toronto. Self-confident, well-spoken and educated. Close to her single mother (Rani) who raised her alone, but at odds with her mother over cultural memory. Mahesh is coming of age and searching for her  roots.
 
Rani – Mid-40s.  Mahesh’s mother.  South Asian (Tamil), left Sri Lanka with her infant daughter for a new life in Canada. Determined and strong-willed, she insists that she and her daughter assimilate  to Canadian culture. Still she hasn’t let go of her past quite so much as she would have Mahesh believe. She holds a deep secret.
 
Chanaka – Mid-20s.  South Asian (Sinhalese) newly arrived from Sri Lanka. Holds a post-doctoral fellowship at U of T. A bit bewildered by North American culture, he is well-spoken and romantic. Though somewhat oblivious to his privileged position in Sri Lanka, he is sensitive and devoted to Mahesh.
 
Praveen – Early 20s.  South Asian (Tamil). A longtime friend of Mahesh and a master’s student, He has the energy and dedication of the new activist, and sees the world in black-and-white . Charismatic and passionate, potentially a powerful political leader.
 
Actors may be asked to do a movement/mime sequence, so please wear comfortable clothes and shoes.
 
 
INKED HEART, by D.J. Sylvis. 
Ed, a tattoo artist who aspires to greatness as a painter, struggles with the breakup of his marriage, spars with his sassy goth-girl apprentice, who has her own story.  Will he be able to create his art for his upcoming gallery show surrounded by the complicated folk who bring their own secret agendas to hang out at his tattoo parlour?
 
Ed – 40s.  Owner of a tattoo parlour, heavily inked himself.  A tough exterior, sharp tongue and ready wit mask his sensitivity and the pain of his disintegrating marriage.  Aspires to be a painter.
 
Josie – 20s.  Ed’s apprentice, smart, sassy.  A blunt, take-no-prisoners sharpness and wit hide her longing for connection and affirmation.
 
Bette – 60s.  Fit, intellectually and emotionally youthful.  Josie calls her a “hippie grandma”.
Has her own reasons for hanging out in the tattoo parlour.
 
Angela – 30s.  Assistant at the art gallery where Ed’s work is to be shown.  Needs the show to be a success, for Ed and for herself.  Shy, but with a sense of style with which she masks and defies her demons.
 
Guy – 20s.  College student, has won a tattoo on a bet.  Awkward, entitled, tends to blunder into situations of which he’s completely oblivious.
 
 
MOTHERLAND, by Kristine Greenaway. 
A young Armenian actor-musician struggles to make a life for himself as an artist.  Will the free-spirited young French woman who believes in him give him the strength to break free from the mother who desperately plots to keep him tied to her?

Davit – 25-35.  Gifted Armenian actor-musician, lives with his mother to whom he’s tied economically and emotionally.  He earns a precarious living by juggling a string of small jobs – voice-over artist, usher, composer, actor.  He longs for his own home and freedom to be a man. He should be able to sing.  (An ability to play an instrument is an asset)
 
Ana – 45-60.  Davit’s mother, clever, charming, needy.  A librarian who lost her job because of her outspokenness and demands for respect. She now sits at home and smokes. Her life revolves around Davit. She fears being left alone and will stop at nothing to keep her son with her.
 
Line – 25-30.  French, colourful, free-spirited, ambitious.  A business-school dropout, she’s an aspiring project manager at a film bureau.  When she meets Davit, she falls for him both romantically and as an actor whose career she wants to manage.
 
Arman – 20-30.  Perceptive, sardonic, dismissive of traditional values. A business school student and  Line’s friend, he’s outspoken about his gayness.
 

Auditions for all three shows will be held from September 6 – 10 at the Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley Street (at Adelaide).  Callbacks with take place from September 12 – 17 and will be conducted separately for each play.   Candidates selected to audition will be contacted.
 
The scripts are available at the Toronto Reference Library, 5th floor, Performance Desk, 789 Yonge Street.
 
To request an audition please email:     FWauditions@gmail.com 

Be sure to include your RESUME, HEADSHOT, AGE RANGE and PHONE NUMBER.  If possible indicate which play/character you wish to audition for.  Candidates chosen to audition will be asked to prepare a 2 to 3 minute contemporary monologue.  Directors from more than one play may be present at the audition. 
 
Alumnae Members will be given priority consideration.  The Alumnae encourages diversity in its membership and casting.  This is a non-paying non-union engagement.

www.alumnaetheatre.com