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Overview
About Occupy Prescott 10 years ago this fall, activists gathered in lower Manhattan to peacefully occupy Zuccotti Park and to declare opposition to an economic system clearly inadequate for the majority of Americans, the 99%. Occupy Wall Street galvanized people around the world and inspired hundreds of activist occupations, big and small, united in a call to radically rethink the economic order. Playwright Andy Boyd hones in on Prescott, Arizona to follow five Occupiers in their efforts to change their town and the world. They broadly agree that the one percent is too powerful, but agreement breaks down as they search for specifics. Reaching consensus on what a better world looks like—and how to get there—is frequently frustrating and rarely glamorous. Never easy, but urgently necessary. On the 10th anniversary of the rallying cry heard round the world, we are thrilled to produce the prescient and hopeful play: Occupy Prescott. The Role we’re looking to fill We are looking for a woman-identifying-or-presenting actor, aged 30+, of east-Asian descent, to play Connie, whom the play describes as a Japanese American woman in her sixties. When Connie introduces herself to the group, she explains that... "I heard about acid and Mao and the Grateful Dead all in one day, ran away from home, and joined a commune." After recounting the disillusionment of the era she continues, "So I did what a lot of us did, us ex-hippies. Lit out for the territories, to the Berkshires or Taos or Austin or Prescott and hunkered down, tried to keep the fire burning until the next time America was ready to try out some new ideas. There's this line by Lawrence Ferlinghetti: 'I am perpetually awaiting a rebirth of wonder.' I have been waiting for forty years." Of everyone in the group, she has the most experience working to change the world. She has seen toxic interpersonal dynamics destroy promising coalitions, but she has also experienced the joy of true community. She relentlessly presses her compatriots to think more radically (meaning from the root) about what is wrong with this country. She presses the group to mean it, to be actually revolutionary with the world they're envisioning and fighting for. About the Audition Dates: Thursday, August 26th from 3:30-5:30pm. Location: ART/NY South Oxford Space: 138 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217 Please prepare a 1-2 minute monologue. You may be asked to stay and read a side, if time allows. Theater in Asylum seeks to make this audition as easy and friendly as possible. When you arrive, you can expect someone to greet you and show you to a waiting area. Once it is your turn, you’ll be met by Andy (the playwright), and Katie (one of the directors). We will all be on our feet and eager to work with you. Please prepare a short contemporary monologue (1-2 minutes). If you’re cool with it, we would love to play with it a little bit after you present it. We anticipate each audition taking between five and ten minutes. To Submit Please send a headshot and resume to [email protected]. About the Production Occupy Prescott will perform outdoors at Jalopy in Red Hook, Brooklyn. All performances will be matinees, with 3pm shows (additional 12pm shows possible), Saturdays and Sundays, October 16-31, 2021. In the event of a rained out performance, a 12pm show may be added on another show day. Occupy Prescott is written by Andy Boyd, and co-directed by Paul Bedard and Katie Palmer of Theater in Asylum. Producing work is shared by Andy, Paul, and Katie, as well as Theater in Asylum’s managing director Kathryn Appleton and community engagement manager Hilarie Spangler. About the Process Occupy Prescott will rehearse September 15 - October 15, 2021 with a combination of online and in-person rehearsals. Online rehearsals (table work, etc) will utilize Zoom. In-person rehearsals will typically take place in Brooklyn either at Jalopy or at ART/NY’s South Oxford Space. We will do our absolute best to work around everyone’s schedule (day jobs, other commitments, etc) and anticipate rehearsals to be nights and weekends. To protect ourselves from the ongoing pandemic, we are requiring that all collaborators and audience members be vaccinated against Covid-19. The cast will also test weekly and mask when rehearsing indoors. About You Theater in Asylum prizes community and seeks to create a safe and invigorating environment for all. We are looking for friendly, respectful, and caring folks to join our community. Occupy Prescott will have a fast process and our hope is to foster a strong team to present the most compelling possible work to our audience. All applicants must be vaccinated against Covid-19. Unfortunately due to the size of our budget, we are not able to work with union artists, including those in Actors Equity. Theater in Asylum believes in Equal Opportunity Collaboration. We are committed to diversity in all areas of our work, on and offstage. We encourage applicants with a unique cultural perspective inclusive of race, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, class, physical ability, and sexual orientation to apply. Compensation All performers will receive a $300 honorarium. This position will be considered an independent contractor of Theater in Asylum. Please note that all collaborators on Occupy Prescott, regardless of role, will be paid equally. We know that this honorarium is less than you (and we!) are worth. We understand that this is not a living wage and certainly limits things. We commit to do everything we can to respect and support folks to make the process as sustainable and rewarding as possible for all of us. Theater in Asylum values transparency and always shares the complete show budget with signed-on collaborators. See our full Transparency commitments here. About Theater in Asylum Theater in Asylum (TIA) is a New York-based theater company founded in 2010 to challenge and empower our community. TIA joyfully pursues rigorous research and an ensemble-driven approach to theater-making. We create performances to investigate our past, interpret our present, and imagine our future. We prize space to process, space to question—asylum—for ourselves and our community. Core programs include original productions; themed cabarets, presenting new work from our community; and Cold Readings, a program to read and discuss published plays. Community is of utmost importance to Theater in Asylum and some of our strategies for community safety and empowerment may be found here. Theater in Asylum’s Community Agreements Theater in Asylum strives to prevent harm in all of our spaces. We acknowledge that multiple systems of oppression intersect and permeate our lives (including racism, sexism, classism, ableism, and others). While we know that no space is ever 100% safe for all people, we hope to make our spaces safer with these Community Agreements. We ask everyone entering our space to, in good faith:
If any of these Community Agreements are not being lived up to, or if there is something Theater in Asylum can do to support your full engagement, please know that dialogue is welcome. See leadership contact information and an anonymous contact form at theaterinasylum.com/community.
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