FutureFest 2019 auditions begin at 7pm each evening on May 20 & 21. Auditioners are encouraged to arrive at the Dayton Playhouse in advance of the auditions to fill out the Audition Form. Theatre resumes are encouraged, but not required; auditioners need to be prepared to list all conflicts between the audition date and the final performance of the production.
FutureFest 2019 will hold open auditions for all six finalist plays on Monday May 20 and Tuesday May 21, starting both nights at 7:00 PM. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the scripts. Three plays will be auditioned each night. This year’s finalists present an enticing range of roles. In total 39 actors are needed (27 male, 12 female). See the synopses below for play descriptions and casting requirements.
Monday, May 20, 2019 – Staged reading plays
Drone
Directed by Craig Smith
Performance: Saturday July 20 @ 10:00 AM
Former fighter pilot, Mike Powell, gives up his wings to be with his family. He becomes a drone pilot near Las Vegas. He never imagined the toll this would take on him, his wife, a physician’s assistant, and his 16-year-old soccer-playing son. His first assignment is to surveil Salar Khan, who’s suspected of being a Taliban insurgent, and his family-which includes a similar soccer-playing son-in northern Pakistan. In the process, Mike watches members of the family having tea, dancing, praying, and even making love. The daily observation leads to a voyeuristic identification and admiration of the Khans, despite the warnings of his trigger-happy, gung-ho co-pilot, Tonya. The daily surveillance and Mike’s participation in bombing a school and a hospital have devastating moral and psychological effects on both families. The eventual order to strike down Salar leads to an unprecedented crisis.
[Accents needed for Khan Family roles.]
Farishta Khan. The grandmother and revered family matriarch.
Arman Khan. A 16-year-old soccer-playing grandson.
Diwa Khan. Arman’s mother. Late 30s. A constant worrier.
Salar Khan. Arman’s father. A mine worker. Late 30s.
Lt. Mike Powell. Late 30s. A drone pilot. A man of integrity. A true patriot.
Sgt. Tonya Spanger. Mid-20s. Tough-talking drone sensor who revels in her work.
Voice of Colonel Troy Andrews. Commander. Does not appear.
Robbie Powell. Mike’s 16-year old son. Star soccer player.
Kristin Powell. Mike’s wife. Late 30s physician’s assistant.
Which Way the Wind Blows
Directed by Abe Bassett
Performance: Saturday July 20 @ 3:00 PM
Marty O’Neill is a good cop with an ordinary life. A captain with some thirty years on the force, he is content in his job and his marriage. But, O’Neill’s contentment is shattered when he is faced with a decision that challenges everything he has always believed.
Marty O’Neill, late fifties
Thalia Whetstone, late twenties/early thirties
Gerald Freeman, late fifties
Carol O’Neill, fifties
*Paul Travis, age 11
Young Marty, age 11
Paul Travis, age 18
Peggy O’Neill, forties and eighties
*Peter Freeman, age 11
*these roles should be played by the same actor
Fall With Me
Directed by Dawn Roth Smith
Performance: Sunday July 21 @ 10:00 AM
J.J. and Bithiah Johnston are quietly surviving the Great Depression, while doing what they can for their neighbors. When J.J.’s brothers—other veterans from The Great War—arrive in search of a leader for their latest fight, one that hold the U.S. government accountable to for what’s owed them after their sacrifice, the smell of former glory intoxicates J.J and threatens to derail what little his family actually has. Bithiah pleads with J.J. to stay home and continue to work at the mill; a luxury few can claim. J.J. insists his service to his country and his commitment to those he fought alongside is incomplete, if he doesn’t join the frontlines again. In the end, he must decide what fight is truly his to win and which one is worth the risk, should he lose.
Jasper (J.J.) Johnston (mid-30s. Male. African-American.) the once charismatic captain of the 369th Infantry Regiment (a.k.a. the Harlem Hellfighters, known for their distinct bravery) during World War I; over time has become more routine and knows it; an employed steelworker who struggles with the mundanity of civilian life; continually sleepless over his seemingly singular success during a depression; loves learning and his family.
Bithiah Johnston (mid-30s. Female. African-American.) J.J.’s wife; the primary caretaker of their only daughter Bessie (8); keeper of the household finances. Bithiah is a brilliant woman and the backbone of the family; still madly in love with her husband after many years.
Delia Reddy (mid-30s. Female. African-American.) the best friend of Bithiah; a former singer; grateful recipient of the Johnston’s financial support; J.J. and Bithiah’s upstairs neighbor; as friends, Delia has long been the adventurous foil to Bithiah’s more pragmatic life choices.
Lenny Leventhal (mid-30s. Male. White.) a soft-spoken, very nervous veteran of World War I; Jewish; progressive-minded; influenced by and empathetic toward a variety of worldviews; willing to follow; indebted to Harry for his actions at the camp.
Harry Thompkins (early-40s. Male. African-American.) J.J.’s most boisterous “war buddy”; a bachelor who very distinctly only needs to be concerned with himself; lives with many regrets from throughout his life. Wants change but is also excited to relive his “glory days.”
Nurse #1 & Nurse #2 (mid-30s. Female. African-American.)* fast-acting caretakers of the Bonus Marchers.
Voices of Vivian (any) & Bessie (8 years-old) **
*Nurses should be doubled by the actors playing “Bithiah” and “Delia.” **May be a pre-recorded or off-stage voices or a well-staged doubling.
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 – Fully staged plays
The Princess at Midnight
Directed by Dorothy Michalski
Performance: Friday, July 19 @ 8:00 PM
Jacob Simon, a tailor in Detroit in 1851, is about to open a factory when he and his wife Rachel are approached by abolitionist friends to help in a dangerous rescue. They are asked to help a mute runaway slave—known as the Princess—across the Detroit river to Canada. Because of a misjudgment by Jacob’s brother, the well-meaning tailor is put in an ethical dilemma as he considers the choice between helping a slave or turning her in. Based on a true story.
Jacob Simon: A dressmaker. Late 20’s-early 30’s.
Rachel Simon: Jacob’s wife, obviously pregnant, 20’s.
Benjamin Simon: Jacob’s younger brother, 20’s.
Michael Sullivan: A merchant from Charleston, 20’s-30’s.
William Caldecott: An activist, African American, 30’s.
The Princess: A fugitive slave, mute, 20’s.
On the Horizon
Directed by Annie Pesch
Performance: Saturday, July 20 @ 8:00 PM
In 1912 the British steamship the SS Californian set out from London to cross the Atlantic Ocean toward Boston. In the midst of their journey they encountered a loose ice field and stopped for the night, thinking it would be a quiet evening. But then in the not so far distance, the crew saw eight distress rockets fire from a ship within ten miles from them. The crew tried to rouse Captain Stanley Lord from sleep to heed the call, but he refused to believe there was imminent danger. Even after the crew watched the lights of the ship flicker and then go black, Captain Lord refused to engage. It was in the early moments of dawn when the wireless operator started his shift that they realized they were the ship that watched Titanic sink.
[All roles require a British dialect.]
Captain Stanley Lord, M 30-40s
George Stewart, Chief Officer, M 30-40s
Herbert Stone, 2nd Officer, M 30-40s
Charles Groves, 3rd Officer, M 20-30s
Cyril “Sparks” Evans, Wireless Operator, M 20s
Jimmy Gibson, Crewman Apprentice, M 20s
Men Overboard
Directed by Janet Powell
Performance: Sunday July 21 @ 3:00 PM
A Bar Mitzvah in New York City brings together three Jewish brothers (a politician, a therapist, and a Buddhist monk), their fading but forceful father, the politician’s 13-year-old son (who doubts he’s ready to become a man), and the boy’s Bar Mitzvah tutor (a woman who loves the boy and possibly one of his uncles). As the boy is torn between obedience and defiance of his father, tensions grow and affect everyone in the family, until anger becomes abuse and it becomes clear that the family’s status quo is no longer an option.
ERNIE SILVER, an old man, father of three, 70’s or older
DOUG SILVER, Ernie’s middle son, a psychotherapist, mid-40’s
JAY SILVER, Ernie’s youngest son, a Buddhist monk, early 40’s
ROBERT SILVER, Ernie’s oldest son, a Congressional candidate, late 40’s
ABRAHAM SILVER, Robert’s son and Ernie’s only grandchild, 13
EVA FUZESI, Abraham’s Bar Mitzvah tutor, from Hungary, mid-30’s
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 