Auditions & Submissions

AUDITION INFORMATION FOR THE INAUGURAL HUDSON VALLEY THEATRE FESTIVAL:
MARCH 28 (6pm-9pm) and MARCH 30 (1pm-3pm).
*Auditions will be held at the Spencer Family Theatre at Oakwood Friends School*
22 Spackenkill Road – Poughkeepsie, NY
See below for more information!

Auditions will take place on Thursday, March 28, 2024 from 6:00pm-9:00pm. Below you will see the time slots for specific plays along with a synopsis and character breakdown for the parts that are being cast. We are also offering time to audition on Saturday, March 30, 2024 for any actor who cannot attend 3/28, an actor who is interested in any part, and for any call backs requested from directors from the first audition date.

Please note – the presentation of all the plays will be done as a readings.


*SIDES FOR AUDITIONS WILL BE POSTED SOON*

Please review the following carefully:
MARCH 28, 2024

6:00pm-7:00pm

All The Young Punks by Jeff Roda
Teens grapple with a spate of recent suicides, UFO sightings, absentee parents and one another while hanging outside a small-town nightclub in 1984.
CHARACTERS
The characters are all 13-15 years-old and to be played by actors of any race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or disability.
Peter
Missy
Kira
James
Shelby
Brad
Lanky
Amy
Frankie (Off-Stage Voice Only)

Control the Dirt by Louise Schwarz
In this tragicomic play, grieving widow Vanessa is trying to kick her late wife’s nightmare-ish burden of a sister out of her apartment. When an easy way out presents itself through one of her therapy clients, she has a difficult decision to make between her own well-being and that of her patient.
CHARACTERS
VANESSA 50-ish Black woman, mental health counselor at a small liberal
arts college, usually a very measured and controlled demeanor
SELINA mid-to-late 40s White woman, very scattered and high-energy demeanor KIT 19-year college student, woman
FIELDING early-60s man, Kit’s father
GILLIAN 40-something woman, events coordinator at the college

Dig We Must by Paul Allman
“Dig We Must” plays on the rhythms of domestic comedy, but as layers are removed, a uniquely American form of anguish is revealed.  A powerful female character attempts to hold her world together, through familiar ritual repetitions, in the aftermath of an unimaginable tragedy sparked by her only son, who is on Death Row awaiting execution. Blindsided by every aspect of this development and besieged by the media, Sarah and her husband Kenny are shunned, shamed, and torn by what has become a profound dilemma: should they still hold their annual Christmas party? “Dig We Must” explores the repercussions felt by the parents of those who commit these crimes, in terms of their guilt, doubts, and regrets, while also exploring the depth and limits of empathy. The larger question for everyone is: how do we move forward?
CHARACTERS
Sarah: In her early forties.
Kenny: In his early forties.
Su-Yen: In her early twenties.
Luis: Of college age.
Grandpa: Sarah’s father, now deceased, voice only (can be pre-recorded).
MaryBeth: A schoolteacher, in her twenties.

Like Kissing Moonlight by Stacey Upton
*Play synopsis coming soon*
CHARACTERS
BERRY LEE:(42) youngest of the Lee siblings, caregiver to their
dying mother. Round and artsy, tart.
DALE LEE: (48) Berry’s older brother, a big man who works the
family’s apple orchard. Uneven temperament but a big heart.
MONICA LEE:(52) The oldest of the Lee siblings, thin and driven,
the one who got out.
JUNE NAVE:(18) The Lee’s adopted cousin, the only survivor of a
car wreck that killed her family, including her twin brother.
JEM NAVE:(14) June’s twin, a ghost. June is the only person who
can see and hear him.
CRYSTAL GRANT:(24) Brash, pretty gal from a local holler.
PASTOR BOB:(60’s) Gentle man of God who has known these people
all their lives.
EUPHAZINE LINDSOR:(60’s-70’s) Local midwife, strong and active.
TALTON DEMEREST:(30’s) Sharp-dressed man, glib representative of
a land acquisition group. Has an eye for Berry.

7:00pm-8:00pm

After by Mike Ackerman
AFTER is the story of middle-aged, married couple Daisy and Hank and the administrator tasked with orienting them, as they prepare to enter the afterlife. When Daisy is initially rejected from entry, the three must work together to determine what she must accomplish back on Earth in order to join her husband. Through this process, Daisy learns about herself, her marriage, and she is tasked with making more difficult decisions than she initially anticipated. 
CHARACTERS
DAISY: 40s/50s, Female, humble, tries not to take up space or impose
HANK: 40s/50s, Male, large, gruff, with moments of deep warmth
ATTENDANT: 40s/50s, Male, frenetic creative tech type, trying hard to tamp down that
energy and present himself as professional
MR. YAZBEK: Older male *Played by same actor who portrays HANK

Beauty by Gary Blackwell
Moliere, who is struggling with his new play, finds an unexpected source of inspiration in his young housekeeper.
CHARACTERS
Moliere, 45
Madeleine, 20

Charlotte’s Letters by Jennifer O’Grady
A fresh new take on the Brontës, CHARLOTTE’S LETTERS intertwines novelist Charlotte Brontë’s two years as an unpublished young woman at a Belgian school–where she became increasingly close to her married tutor and employer, Monsieur Heger–with biographer Mrs. Gaskell’s struggle to salvage Charlotte’s posthumous reputation and feminist novels. In Victorian England, the novels of recently deceased author Charlotte Brontë are now widely banned for being too passionate and therefore “improper.” Her literary friend Mrs. Gaskell has been commissioned by their mutual publisher to write the first biography of Charlotte, intending to prove that Charlotte was innocent and her reclusive life, blameless.
CHARACTERS
Charlotte Brontë Mid-20s
Monsieur Heger Early 30s. Belgian. Professor of literature. (Ay-ZHAY)
Mrs. Gaskell 46. A novelist.
Meta Gaskell 19. Her daughter. (MEE-ta)
Emily Brontë Early-mid-20s. Charlotte’s sister.
Madame Heger Late 30s. School directress and Heger’s wife.
Woman Late teens-early 20s. Plays Belgian Maid, Servant, Pupil’s Voice, Louise

Madness Most Discreet by Donna Hoke
Summoned by Vivien Leigh’s final companion, Jack Merivale, Sir Laurence Olivier rushes to the apartment where his one-time love has been recovering from a bout of tuberculosis. Viv and Larry’s love story was as legendary as the careers they forged on stage and film – until devastating mental illness tore them apart. Is it too late for them to make amends?
CHARACTERS
Viv: Female, 53, star of stage and screen
Larry: 60, star of stage and screen

8:00pm-9:00pm

Ex-Gay Bar by David Simpatico
Comic drama set in a sports bar for the ex-gay crowd. Three ex-gay friends in a bar meet up with a young survivor of an ex-gay conversion therapy concentration camp. Part satire, part modern day horror show, Ex-Gay Bar explores the shame and conflicting impulses that threaten to rip the heart out of the gay community. 
CHARACTERS

  • DOROTHY: 30s, female; affable, big-boned bartender; ALSO PLAYS:
    • JEAN, a teen boy trapped in mid-transition to female at New Horizons conversion camp
    • MOTHER, Todd’s mother
    • STACI, Todd’s best friend
    • STRAIGHT WOMAN, the female voice in a straight porn flick
    • FATHER DOMINICK, a Catholic priest
  • BUD: 30s, male; hipster alpha dog with issues; ALSO PLAYS:
    • FATHER, Todd’s Father
    • SIMON, alpha teen at New Horizons conversion camp; bully with a lisp
    • OLDER GAY MAN, a dominating voice in a gay porn flick
  • JACK: 30s, male; seen some rough road but has made it through; ALSO PLAYS:
    • ATTENDANT 1, representative/strong-arm for New Horizons conversion camp
    • SEBASTIAN, a teen undergoing conversion therapy
    • YOUNGER GAY MAN, a submissive voice in a gay porn flick
  • COSMO: 30s, Latinx, male; well-coordinated newbie; ALSO PLAYS:
    • ATTENDANT 2, a representative/strong-arm for New Horizons conversion camp
    • ORLANDO, a Puerto Rican teen at New Horizons;
    • STRAIGHT MAN, a voice in a straight porn flick
  • TODD: 20s, male; a loner; trying to rebuild his life after suffering excruciating torture at an ex-gay conversion camp; a college senior, trying to win people to his cause, and save men and women from ex-gay conversion therapy; smart, funny, broken and keeps on fighting; tries to control his temper; gets nauseous when embraced
  • DOCTOR DOCTOR: 40s: leader of the Ex-Gay Conversion Therapy camp; strong, solid man of authority; driven to help confused young men find the right path.

MLES2GO by Michael P. Adams
19-year-old Jordan Belner is in the middle of an identity crisis. He isn’t quite sure wherehe falls on the sexuality spectrum and circumstances in his home life are less than ideal. In an attempt to find himself, Jordan sets out on a crosscountry hitchhiking journey. At the play’s outset, Jordan enters a home following an accident that has left him physically broken. It is not his home, but that of a family (husband Kyle, wife Steph, and nine-year-old daughter Maisy) who picked him up on the road and have invited him to stay while he recovers from his injuries. Moments with the family are interspersed with flashbacks of Jordan’s experiences with a series of eccentric drivers he encountered on the road. All of this leads to a confrontation that pits figures from Jordan’s past and present against the potential of his future.
CHARACTERS
Jordan Belner: Male, 19, in a sexual identity crisis.
Kyle Weir: Male, 40s, husband/father.
Steph Weir: Female, 40s, wife/mother.
Maisy Weir: Female, 9, Kyle and Steph’s daughter.
Denny Anderson: Male, early 20s, Jordan’s first driver.
Claudette Struthers: Female, 40s, off-duty cop.
Pretzel Man: Male, 50s, truck driver.
Ralph Russell: Male, Black, 50s, free spirit.
Nora Carmody: Female, 19, pregnant.
Peter Johnson: Male, 19, loverboy.
Olivia Belner: Female, late 30s, Jordan’s mom.

Mutability by Straton Rushing
A horrific crime gets committed in a rural, desolate corner of west Texas and the lone survivor is left to tell her story.
CHARACTERS:
Mary Hooper – Mexican-American and white Anglo woman, early 20s
Frank Hooper – white Anglo man, 40s-60s
Araceli “Cheli” Hooper – Mexican-American woman, 40s-60s
Rusty Romero – Mexican-American man, late 30s
Young Man – white Anglo man, late 20s

The Maple Street House by Melissa Matthews
**Play synopsis coming soon**

Cast of Characters
FIRST: 22 years old. Dating SECOND. They are using SECOND
as the subject of their Psychology final project. It is unclear
whether or not their attention-seeking behavior is part of
the experiment. They should not come across as entirely
unlikeable. They despise THIRD.

SECOND: 22 years old. A tenant of the house. THIRD and EIGHTH’s
roommate. Dating FIRST. They enjoy giving FIRST a hard
time, and they are used to being in control. They are
extremely grounded and rational.

THIRD: 22 years old. SECOND and EIGHTH’s roommate. An
extreme procrastinator. They are clearly pushing through
the day after an all-nighter. They have a secret crush on
FOURTH.

FOURTH: 22 years old. FIRST and SECOND’s friend. Constantly
plays with their hair. They have only come to the house to
pick up FIRST and SECOND and leave. They are glad of
the opportunity to hang out with THIRD.

FIFTH: 21 years old. A close friend to SECOND, THIRD, SIXTH,
SEVENTH, EIGHTH, and NINTH. They are an amateur
Wii Sports player and a pseudo-intellectual philosopher.
They are easily distracted and quickly irritated.

SIXTH: 21 years old. A close friend to SECOND, THIRD, FIFTH,
SEVENTH, EIGHTH, and NINTH. A “professional” Wii
Sports player. They are unflappable and manipulative.

SEVENTH: 21 years old. A close friend to SECOND, THIRD, FIFTH,
SIXTH, EIGHTH, and NINTH. An instigator but also kind.

EIGHTH: 22 years old. SECOND and THIRD’s roommate. A close
friend to FIFTH, SIXTH, SEVENTH, and NINTH. They
spend nearly the entire play asleep on the loveseat and are
oblivious to the comings and goings of the apartment;
though, they have a rich dream-life.

NINTH: 20 years old. A friend to SECOND, THIRD, FIFTH,
SIXTH, SEVENTH, and EIGHTH. In the midst of a
cannabis-induced paranoid crisis, they have intentionally
locked themself in the bathroom. 3

REFLECTION: The sometimes antagonistic, sometimes supportive
mirror-image of NINTH. REFLECTION need not look like
NINTH, but should wear the same or similar clothes.

OLD MAN: Roommate to SECOND


New Work Submissions:

The New Deal Creative Arts Center is excited to open submissions for our 4th 10×10 Fest on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Here’s what you need to know:
* Submission of 10-minute plays will be accepted from playwrights living in the Hudson Valley Region of New York State only.
*Hudson Valley Playwrights may submit up to two (2) pieces for this festival.
*There will be a cap of 50 submissions accepted.
*All playwrights will be notified June 2024.
*The 10×10 Fest will take place September 27 & 28, 2024 in Poughkeepsie, NY for a total of 3 performances.
*Please complete the submission application in its entirety (a link will be posted on March 1, 2024)

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR 10-MINUTE PLAY!