AVT announces auditions for HUNGER FOR PARADISE, by local writer Eric M. Martin. The play will have its premiere production run AUGUST 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28.
Auditions will be TUESDAY, MAY 24TH from 6pm to 8pm at AVT’s garage blackbox studio. Please arrive as close to 6pm as possible. A prepared monologue is not necessary, though you may prepare one if you’d like. All roles for all AVT productions are cast by open audition.
For any further questions, please contact the director, Jessie Hassan, by emailing jessie@avthespians.org.
HUNGER FOR PARADISE
by Eric M. Martin
Producer Nalin A. Ratnayake
Director Jessie Hassan
Winner of the 2010 AVT New American West Play Competition
Produced by arrangement with Eric M. Martin, Quartz Hill, CA.
AVT is pleased to bring to the stage the premiere of this new, character-driven drama by local playwright Eric M. Martin. The history of the American West is replete with nostalgia and stories of the migration westward to a promised land of opportunity in California, Oregon, and the bounty of the western frontier. Many of these settlers built new lives and made transformative changes to themselves, our society, and to the land itself. But what about those for whom the promise failed to deliver? Set in the modern day, this play explores the hunger for something new that often drives us to break for greener pastures… only to discover that, sometimes, the emptiness inside from which we run cannot be filled so easily. Rather, it pursues us despite all superficial remedies — and instead of looking forward in the way we hoped, life sometimes leaves us to wonder might have been.
Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm.
Jose: 30, male, hispanic. Lower-middle class, college drop-out who was persuing a major in criminal justice. Often very political and has large dreams but very little ambition. Just recently had an incident with his cousin, stabbed him and fled the scene. He later hears from another cousin that he recovered. Loyalty is the center of his morals. To Jose, there is only the present moment and this is fun for him.
Allison: 22, female college graduate. Moved from the midwest and quickly found work. She is self-reliant but still looking for herself. Her father died when she was young, leaving Allison and her mother alone in the house. There was no second marriage or siblings. She is suprised to find herself in a relationship with Tuba and doesn’t think it will last although she is intrigued by him.
William: Tuba’s older brother. Found himself as a college professor after spending many years in school, undecisive of what he wanted to do. An underachiever who used to get in a lot of trouble as a young man. He has relationship problems from never being able to accept responsibility for anything.
Robert: 35, male from Oklahoma. Deaf in one ear. Has a son in Oklahoma that he hasn’t seen in about 7 years. His step-mother tricked him into moving to california by saying his father was sick and Robert never went back. The mother of his son refuses to accept Robert as the father even though there are no alternatives. As a child he was passed around by family members and when he was 18 tried to enlist but was denied because of his ear. Robert wants to lead a simple life and settle down with someone like Allison. He isn’t the brightest bulb in the pack but not stupid.
Tuba: 24, male from Iowa. Having no luck after college, he moved west under the suggestion of William. As kids, William was the irresponsible “bad child” and Tuba was the behaved “good kid.” After Tuba moved west and met his new friends, the roles reversed. He writes poetry and reads poetry novels. The only apparent artistic outlet that Tuba has are his webcasts. He makes these video monologues, in part, as a way to bring together his life with the life of the work he consumes.
Noboyuki: Late Twenties, Male who moved from Japan to US as a student. He studied long enough to recieve a bachelor’s but doesn’t produce any degree. He is kicked out of the appartment near the college that he no longer attends and is taken in by Jose. Noboyuki is arrested and deported under the hand of his ex-landlord. Noboyuki is belligerent, humorous, and just a bit dim.
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