Silver Summit Theatre Co. announces auditions for Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead by Bert V. Royal. Auditions will be held on Sunday March 3, 2013 at 2 PM at the Midvale Main Street Theatre located at 7711 S. Main Street (700 W.) in Midvale. Call backs will be held immediately following initial auditions.
We are looking for non-union actors and actresses between the ages of 18-30. Those wishing to audition should prepare a one-minute monologue or one of the sides from the play posted at the bottom of this notice. A current head shot and resume is appreciated if available. Please have all scheduling conflicts available and completely accounted for on your audition form.
A complete copy of the script can be made available upon request. Please note the character descriptions below. All roles EXCEPT Van’s Sister are available. All roles are unpaid. A portion of proceeds from this production will be going to the Utah Pride Center.
Rehearsals begin in April and performance dates are June 21-30. If you have additional questions or requests for more information please email [email protected].
Synopsis:
Described as an “unauthorized parody,” this daring and at times shocking play takes characters from the popular comic strip Peanuts and turns them into teenagers dealing with drug abuse, bullying, suicide, eating disorders, teen violence, rebellion, sex and sexual identity. When CB’s dog contracts rabies and must be euthanized after ripping Woodstock to shreds and nearly biting CB, he begins to question the existence of an afterlife. A chance meeting with Beethoven, an artistic kid and also the target of his group’s bullying, offers CB peace of mind and sets in motion a friendship that pushes teen angst to the very limits. Does everybody have a role to play? How does what we do, or fail to do, make a difference in the lives of others? In our own lives? Dog Sees God asks these and many other questions and was one of the breakout hits of the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival, winning the Excellence Award for Best Overall Production, as well as Theatermania’s Play Award of 2004, the GLAAD Media Award for Best Off-Off-Broadway production, Broadway.com’s 2006 Audience Award for Favorite Off-Broadway Production and the 2006 HX Award for Best Play.
Character Descriptions:
*Kisses/is intimate with someone of the same sex on stage
**Engages in implied sexual activity/affection with the opposite sex on stage
*CB: He is reasonably popular with the kids in his high school. He’s constantly asking questions and trying to figure out why things happen. He doesn’t have a firm grasp on his identity, but rather relies on his friends to define him. It’s only after he becomes friends with Beethoven that he starts figure out who he is.
*BEETHOVEN: He has been ostracized by his peers after events that occurred in their childhood. Having had some bad things happen to him, he finds solace in his music, particularly by playing the piano. He doesn’t like talking much with his classmates and although he is used to being bullied (in particular, he is constantly called “queer” and other such terms), there still seems to be some fight in him.
**MATT: Although he was a dirty child, he is now a complete germaphobe, carrying his hand sanitizer with him at all times and chiding people for poor hygienic practices. He is a womanizing jock, extremely homophobic, and is the main instigator of bullying Beethoven. He has a very nasty temper seems always on the verge of snapping; whatever you do don’t call him by his childhood nickname. Pigpen. He hates that. His outer dirtiness is now internalized.
**VAN: He is a pot-smoking Buddhist and has taken on the role of philosopher in his group. Despite the fact that his brain is often clouded by his prolific use of marijuana, he is often the only one with a grasp on reality, generally staying out of the craziness that his friends seem to get tangled in.
CB’s SISTER: She is younger than CB but shares the search for an identity with him. She differs from him though in that she experiments with different influences: this week she is goth. Last week she was a die-hard Baptist. She is a bit of a free spirit and artistically inclined, avoids conforming to social norms, and is very committed to her individuality.
VAN’S SISTER: She is currently in a mental institution after setting a classmate’s hair on fire. She will always listen to people’s troubles (for a fee) and, although she will freely share her opinions, she casts very little judgment on her friends. She welcomes change.
**TRISHA: As a child she was your classic tomboy, but as a teen she has become one of the most popular and attractive girls in school. She likes to party and hook up. She is a social climber and enjoys the power she has over others. She is also repressing a key aspect of her true self.
**MARCY: She is always by Trisha’s side and acts very similarly to her. It’s obvious she worships Trisha. She is actually very intelligent, but goes to great lengths to hide that so she can fit in better with her chosen group of friends. She is a Christian, but only when it’s convenient.
Audition Sides:
CB: Dear Pen Pal. I know it’s been a few years since I last wrote you. I hope you’re still there. I’m not sure you ever were. I never got any letters back from you when I was a kid. But in a way it was always very therapeutic. Everyone else judges everything I say. And here you are: some anonymous person who never says “boo.” Maybe you just read my letters and laughed or maybe you didn’t read my letters or maybe you don’t even exist. It was pretty frustrating when I was young, but now I’m glad that you won’t respond. Just listen. That’s what I want.
VAN: Buddha believed that one of two things happens. Either you are reborn or you dissolve into nothing. Oddly enough, the former is punishment and the latter, reward. We Buddhists believe that the corporeal body is the source of all suffering and a liberation from the body into nothing, or nirvana, is the fuckin’ way to go.
MATT: Aw man! Don’t chew with your mouth open! That’s disgusting! Look. There are germs all over your hand, so when you put your hand in someone else’s food, you contaminate that person’s food. And when you chew with your mouth open, little pieces of gnashed food, mixed with your saliva in turn fly out of your mouth and onto other people’s plates. It’s gross. And now I can’t eat this.
BEETHOVEN: Fuck you, CB! I’d rather you day “we beat the shit out of you because we can’t stand you” than to say you’re just “messing” with me! That implies light teasing or slightly opprobrious behavior. I haven’t had lunch in the cafeteria in two and a half years for fear of going home with some part of it smeared across my shirt! I haven’t been in a bathroom on campus since the time my head got slammed into a wall. I believe you were there.
CB’S SISTER: Metamorphosis. Transformation. Evolution. Change. Evolution. Change. Changing evolution. I am a teenage caterpillar. I know of these things. For soon, I’ll spin a cocoon. And from the silklike craft that I will create, a magnificent creature will emerge. No. Not a butterfly. For butterflies are a dime a dozen. Destined to flit about for a day or so, then drop dead. Or have its wings ripped off by a demented child. Or have its body pinned to a piece of cheap foam core and matted underneath a cheap frame and hung in the bathroom of an elderly woman who reeks of Preparation-H and Vicks VapoRub. (Beat) This will not be my fate. This CANNOT be my fate. I will become a platypus.
VAN’S SISTER: I was pregnant. (beat) Don’t worry. It wasn’t yours. I had just gotten an abortion the day before and the next day in biology, we were ironically learning about reproduction. I’m listening to Miss Rainey talking about fallopian tubes, the uterus, eggs and I’m feeling sick to my stomach already. Trying to zone out on anything I can. So I start reading a note over Miss Puritanical Princess’ shoulder and she’s telling her friend “how happy she is that she’s a virgin and that she’s going to stay that way until she gets married and how repulsed she is by all of the whores in our school.” Without thinking, I reached into my pocket for my cute, little red Bic lighter and lit her cute, little red hair on fire.
MARCY:
You’re cordially invited to the party of the year.
My folks all went to Bali and left my ass here.
So what better way to get my revenge,
Than throwing a shindig that would make them both cringe?
We’ll have some kegs, so chip in some cash,
Or else just bring some from your parents’ stash!
I’m sure that someone will bring some grass,
Remember the rule: puff, puff, pass!
Anyone who plans on dropping E,
Will have to bring a pill for me.
And anyone up for a little “phys ed,”
Well, you can use my parents’ bed!
So, Mommy and Daddy I’m sure will regret,
I’m throwing a party you’ll never forget.
Post expires at 12:00am on Monday March 4th, 2013