Late Night Theatre Co. Auditions: “Surfacing”
February 11 & 12, 6:30-8:30
Studio S, accessed through the back door of UHM Kennedy Theatre
AUDITIONS for SURFACING by Mike Poblete
The Play:
Marissa, a young artist living with depression, has attempted to take her own life, and her sister, Chelsea, has come from the Midwest out to New York City to take care of her. Unable to connect with each other, they both turn to the insane and hilarious world of Tinder to find a connection, and in the process rediscover a familial bond. Sort of. Surfacing is a funny and gut wrenching story about family, sex, life, death and starting over in 2020.
Content warning: This play contains references to mental health and suicide and contains sexual themes
Preparation:
Please bring a short (30 second-2 minutes) personal story about a connection you have to dating apps, sibling irritation, the struggle of existing in 2020, depression, or any other theme that you feel relates to the play.
Sides from the play will be distributed at the audition for cold readings.
All ethnicities and genders will be considered.
Performances will be April 25 and May 1, 2 at 11:00 pm, and April 26 at 7:30 pm
Email the director Tyler Haugen for a copy of the script at: thaugen8@hawaii.edu
CHARACTERS
MARISSA, 31: A talented painter, originally from Iowa, she has worked as a gallery assistant in the Lower East Side for the last few years before she lost her job, was priced out of Brooklyn and moved to Hoboken, New Jersey. Two and a half months ago she tried to kill herself by stepping in front of a garbage truck and now needs a cane to walk. The recovery process is long and painful. She’s bitter, angry and depressed; yet she also has a sense of humor and wants attention. Along with the self-loathing there is also a certain performative quality to a lot of her lines, the actor playing Marissa shouldn’t be afraid to have fun with her.
CHELSEA, 22: Marissa’s little sister. A recent college grad, eight weeks ago she moved in with Marissa to take care of her. Real life came crashing in on her expectations of the world when she got the call about her sister, now she’s desperately trying to keep up a waitressing job and being the guardian of her older sister. The stress strains her normally bubbly and optimistic personality.
ATTICUS, 28: Originally from Vermont, Atticus is a curator of a New England poetry blog. He moved to Hoboken three years ago, gets help with his rent from his parents, works part time as a barista and never outgrew the phase of learning about life from poetry instead of living in the real world. His concepts of socializing are more theoretical than practical, his education and culture outpacing the realities of how his awkwardness limits him. In a vain attempt to meet more people, he embodies some of the worst aesthetic aspects of a hipster. He is lonely, at times lovely but also a bitter person.
JED, 33: A Houston transplant, Jed has thrived in the fast paced, app socializing lifestyle of New York. He was raised with a certain image of what makes a successful man, and has done well in achieving those goals, but a more sensitive person lies beneath. He comes across as a jerk, and he has acted like one for so long that might now really be one, but his bravado defends a wounded, perceptive interior. He lives in Hoboken because his view is spectacular. He moved out east after college and has lost his Texan accent, though the cadence sometimes still appears.
Current UHM students have casting priority.
Dept. of Theatre + Dance
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