Posted in theater by the Artistic Director, Kaliyuga Arts
Where: Hudson, NY
This casting notice was posted on auditionsfree.com
Type: Theater
TRUE LOVE LIES
by Brad Fraser
Performs May 9-19 at Stageworks in Hudson, NY. Submit picture and resume for auditions on Saturday, Feb 23.
In 1997 Kaliyuga Arts presented the San Francisco premiere of Brad Fraser’s POOR SUPER MAN in a production that went on to win multiple awards. More than a decade later (after we’d re-located to New York), Brad sent us a draft of a new play he’d just completed called TRUE LOVE LIES. It follows the further adventures, about 15 years down the line, of POOR SUPER MAN’s main character, David McMillan. Still alone, still adrift, and now entering his 50s, he has returned to the Toronto of an even earlier play in which he appears, UNIDENTIFIED HUMAN REMAINS AND THE TRUE NATURE OF LOVE, to open a new restaurant. There he unintentionally re-encounters Kane, with whom he once had a two-year relationship that did not end well. Kane is now married, and he and his wife Carolyn have two kids – Madison, a brash and self-assured 20-year-old and Royce, a withdrawn, somewhat geeky teenager. Almost against their wills, these characters get sucked into one another’s orbits, old wounds get re-opened, old lies are exposed, sparks fly, and all of them are forced to re-evaluate everything they think they know about love, marriage, and family. There have now been multiple productions mounted in the UK, Canada, and the U.S., and the play has been hailed as probably Fraser’s finest thus far.
Brad Fraser’s plays are invariably controversial, on-the-edge, in-your-face. They’re also scabrously funny, brilliantly observed, and deeply moving. And while TRUE LOVE LIES is certainly no exception, critics have almost universally noted a new note of maturity, compassion, and (dare we say it?) hope in its writing as well. Still, it’s not one you’ll want to bring the kids to.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:
Madison Sawatsky – 20 years old. Brash, self-assured, sharp as a tack. She’s also a little adrift in the world – still living at home, unsure of what she wants to do with her life (though she’s very good – and very determined – at going after and getting things she decides she wants). Her mother keeps nagging her to go back to university, but her rejoinder is, “What’s the point of paying for an education if you don’t know what you want to do?” She’s also a bit slutty. She herself says, “I just have this thing where I have to fuck every guy I meet.” She also acts as a major catalyst in forcing the adult characters to confront the lies they’ve told themselves and those around them.
Royce Sawatsky – 17 years old. An insecure, sullen, somewhat geeky teen-ager. Uncomfortable in his own skin. Bullied at school (from 1st grade on). Convinced he’s ugly and a loser. Struggles seriously with depression. When asked what high-school stereotype he falls into, he replies, “Angry outsider with a gift in cyber.” Computers are his bitch. He also has a sharp, cynical, sardonic wit which he uses to keep the rest of the world at bay, but which is most frequently turned on himself. Feels it’s his destiny to be one of those guys who live in their parents’ basement till they’re 40. And as much as he insults all of them, he’s also the one who’s the most terrified when it feels like his family is beginning falling apart.
Payment: Paid
City or Location of call: Hudson, NY
Please submit to: john@kaliyuga.com