Hovey Players has been producing provocative and timely theater since 1936. Located near the historic Moody Street in Waltham, MA in the Abbott Memorial Theater, Hovey is among the most intimate performance spaces in New England. Neon lights guide the patrons downstairs and into our 50 seat blackbox; reminiscent of a 1920’s speakeasy.
Hovey Players Audition Notice
Hovey Players is thrilled to announce auditions for the last show of its 2023/2024 season:
APPRORIATE by Branden Jacob-Jenkins, directed by Michelle Aguillon
More information about each show can be found below. Actors are invited to audition for one or both productions. All auditions and callbacks will be held at the theater, located at 9 Spring Street in Waltham, MA.
Please note that Hovey Players is committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive community: on our stage, through our creative and technical teams, and in our house. The audition notices include brief descriptions of the characters as they are depicted in the script. Actors of all genders, races, and/or ethnic backgrounds are welcome to audition for any role that they are interested in portraying.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
APPROPRIATE
by Branden Jacob-Jenkins, directed by Michelle Aguillon
Production Dates: January 19 - February 3, 2024
Audition Dates: Sunday & Monday, September 10 at 6-10 pm and September 11 at 7-10 pm. If needed, callbacks will be held on Wednesday, September 13 at 7 pm.
Schedule Your Audition: Email the director to schedule your audition appointment theplaysthething22@gmail.com.
Where: Hovey Players, 9 Spring Street, Waltham, MA
Auditions:
-
Sides are available here. Memorization is not required, but familiarity with the sides is highly encouraged.
-
Director will be looking for connection, tension, relationships, history between characters
-
Auditions will be in groups of 8-10 actors in 1-hour blocks.
-
Audition form, headshots and resumes (4 options):
Warning:
The play contains adult and racist language, mature situations, and sensitive content.
ABOUT BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS (PLAYWRIGHT)
Appropriate (and his other play An Octoroon) is the 2014 Obie Award winner for Best New American Play. His plays Gloria and Everybody were finalists for the 2016 and 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, respectively. He graduated from Princeton University in 2006, with a major in anthropology, and earned a Master's degree in Performance studies from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2007. He has taught playwriting at the Tisch School and also at Princeton. He graduated from the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwrights Program at the Juilliard School. Jacob-Jenkins worked at the New Yorker where he edited and wrote reviews. Appropriate was produced Off-Broadway in 2014, and was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play.
SYNOPSIS
The Lafayette Clan descend on their generations-old Arkansas homestead, an old slave plantation, after their patriarch recently passed away. The family is haunted both literally (a slave cemetery is on the property) and figuratively (awareness of the family's dark history and legacy). The Lafayette’s argue over dividing up the estate. Tensions rise as they go through their father’s things. They discover years and years of his hoarding of Jim Crow-era mementos, overdue debt, and misplaced nostalgia over family heirlooms. They argue over their homestead’s grim and criminal history. Appropriate is reminiscent of tension-filled/family drama classics by August Wilson (Fences), Lorraine Hansberry (A Raisin in the Sun), Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman), Tracy Letts (August: Osage County), and Sam Shepard (True West).
ROLES
Actors of all ages and genders are welcome to audition for any role as long as they can portray what’s described here. Ages and genders, and some descriptors, were lifted from character descriptions from the script.
ANTIONETTE “TONI” LAFAYETTE: Female, Late 40s-Early 50s, white. The oldest sibling. Tough, smart, used to being in charge, yet she is compassionate with a good sense of humor. She’s also tired.
RHYS THURSTON: Male, 18, white. Toni’s son. According to his mother he is a, “f**k-up of a son”. Seems to be following in the footsteps of his estranged Uncle Franz.
BEAUREGARDE “BO” LAFAYETTE : Male, late 40s, white. The middle sibling of the Lafayette family. Has all the appearances of a successful life in New York. He is caught between the needs of his wife and the unreasonable demands of his sister and failing to balance the two.
RACHAEL KRAMER-LAFAYETTE: Female, late 40s, white. Bo’s wife. Jewish. Feels like a constant outsider whenever the family reunites in Arkansas. She would rather have stayed home in New York than deal with the family issues that are resurfacing.
FRANCOIS “FRANZ/FRANK” LAFAYETTE: Male, late 30s-early 40s, white. The youngest sibling of the Lafayette family. Has been estranged from his family for the last 10 years. He has never quite grown up or learned to take responsibility for himself or his actions.
RIVER RAYNER: Female, early 20s (but looks younger), white. Franz’s fiancée. Naïve to Franz’s past, she believes people can change and that Franz is here to apologize and make amends.
CHILD CHARACTER ROLES
CASSIDY “CASSIE’ KRAMER-LAFAYETTE: Female, early teens, white. Bo & Rachael’s older child. Cassie wants to be taken seriously as an adult. She has a crush on her older cousin Rhys.
AINSLEY KRAMER-LAFAYETTE: Male, 8-10, white. Bo & Rachael’s younger child. Hyperactive young child. Does not have any lines.
The roles of Cassidy and Ainsley may be precast. Actors interested in these roles should contact the director.
Email the director with any questions you may have at theplaysthething22@gmail.com.