Tag Archives: CenterStage Players of Ohio

CenterStage Players is happy to announce auditions for their February show, THE SECRET LIFE OF GIRLS by Linda Daughtery, directed by Karen Vanover.

Auditions: 

• Friday Sept 22, 2017  6:30-8:30 pm
• Wed. Sept 27, 2017 6:30-8:30 pm

The director is looking for 7 young ladies who will be 12-17 as of Jan 1, 2018 and 3 women (stage age: 35-50).

Read through and company meetings will be held in November.

Rehearsals will start January 5, 2018 and run Mondays-Fridays. (no weekend rehearsals).

Performances: February 16-18 and 22-24, 2018.

All rehearsals and performances will be held at Lockland Sr. High, 249 W Forrer, Cincinnati 45215.

Complete the audition form by September 20:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc55KnNRGqv8KcNuvaC4oWqF6OjXAwjefFF3RqRQnCUL6KMuA/viewform?usp=sf_link

“Take every female you know to see this play, then go somewhere and talk. It is a candid, stark, and artistically brutal look at bullying, peer pressure, self-abuse, and finding one’s own value. … shocking and boldly written.” -Better Than Broadway.com

If you have a daughter under 18, you need to see this show. And if she’s over 11, you need to take her with you. Linda Daugherty’s powerful script …[is] what many say the theater should be—a moment for reflection about what’s true and, in this case, dangerously hidden.” -People Newspapers

In this honest and unflinching dramatization, a window is opened into the tumultuous and destructive world of bullying. Abby seeks to gain acceptance as the newest member of the school championship volleyball team. As she and her teammates struggle to find a friend, a place in the group and themselves, their jockeying for position is sometimes humorous and often heartbreaking. Invitations are extended or withheld, individual friendships sacrificed to collective judgments, and alliances formed and changed daily as they careen from exclusion to isolation to acceptance and back again. Bullying in the form of gossiping, keeping secrets, using friendship as a weapon, name-calling, exclusion, spreading rumors, backbiting, clinging to cliques and manipulation become a prelude to dangerous behaviors such as depression, cutting, eating disorders, and premature sexuality. The adults in the girls’ lives are either unable or unwilling to change their behaviors. Though desperately concerned, Abby’s mother is unable to make contact with her daughter, while the volleyball coach and team mom enable rather than work to effect change. When faced with the consequences of their actions, these young women ultimately resolve—one by one—to change their behaviors. Based upon interviews with girls on the giving and receiving end of bullying, the play highlights the impact of “cyberbullying,” the facilitation of mean-spirited behaviors through the use of cell phones, text and instant messaging, e-mail and chat rooms. The portrayal of the sobering reality of these girls’ lives can start a conversation in homes, schools and communities, providing the opportunity to reveal the secrets and address the complexities which dominate the lives of many young women.

Centerstage Players and director Richard Zenk  announce auditions for TRIBES by Nina Raine at CenterStage Players in Lockland.

Audition Dates/Times: November 14th at 6:30pm.

Location: Lockland High School, 249 W Forrer, Cincinnati, OH 45215 – Park in the back parking lot and climb the stairs at door #10​.

Rehearsals: January 21 – March 22, 2018

Performance Dates: ​March 23-25 and 29-31, 2018 ​

Audition process:

1. Complete and save the fillable PDF audition at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZGFQM_PHkaYvOWclI1WD_6wS8AXux2Kp22DcXLOpA2qyBVw/viewform?usp=sf_link.

2. Further information on the audition process will be emailed to those who send an audition form.

Synopsis
The play focuses on a comically dysfunctional family, made up of the parents Beth and Christopher and three grown children living at home, Daniel, Ruth and Billy, the last of whom is deaf, raised to read lips and speak but without knowledge of sign language. When Billy meets Sylvia, a hearing woman born to deaf parents who is now slowly going deaf herself, his interaction with her (including her teaching him sign language) reveals some of the languages, beliefs, and hierarchies of the family and the “extended family” of the deaf community.

Characters

• Billy (20-30) is deaf since birth. Brought up Oral. Wears hearing aids. He meets Sylvia who teaches him to sign, opening him up to a world he never knew before. He is sheltered, considerate, and a gentle spirit.

• Sylvia (20-30) was born with hearing but now rapidly going deaf. While she hasn’t wanted to let someone in, she falls for Billy. While Billy might see her as a vibrant new light in his life, the rest of the family sees her as “nice and funny”. Experience with ASL is a requirement and experience with the piano is a plus.

• Daniel (25-35) is Billy and Ruth’s brother, a pothead, emotional, and uncomfortable with change. He has always defined himself in reference to being Billy’s big brother. Once Billy starts to find himself, Daniel is unable to cope with the loss and his depression and childhood stutter return.

• Christopher (50-65) is Billy, Ruth and Daniel’s father. He would probably like to think of himself as liberal or at the very least “open-minded”, but in reality things are very black and white to him. He’s a writer and an academic. He loves his children, but wants all of them to be things they aren’t. He has spurned the deaf community.

• Beth (50-60) is the wife of Christopher and mother to Billy, Ruth & Daniel. She is sensitive and empathetic to the complexities of her children’s lives, but oblivious to the real issues. She enjoys having adult children whom she can relate to, but she could have possibly always treated them as adults. She is attempting to redefine herself as a mystery writer.

• Ruth (25-35) is Billy’s older sister. Like the rest of her family, she is struggling with self-identity. She is a typical middle child and is self-aware; perhaps the most self-aware of the entire family (in a way only a 20-something can be). At present she thinks of herself as an opera singer.