Director Michael Whitehill is seeking actors for Church Hill Theatre’s 2020 Season Opener, Other Desert Cities – a play in Two Acts by Jon Robin Baitz. A finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer prize, the ensemble play will run from January 17 to February 2.
The play centers around Brooke Wyeth and her return home to Palm Springs for Christmas in 2004. Unable to relax into the prickly, yet loving, embrace of her wealthy California family after six years in New York, she is apprehensive about revealing her plan to publish her new memoir. At the gathering are Brooke’s conservative parents — father Lyman and mother Polly, along with Silda, Polly’s sister, home after a recent stop in rehab, and Brooke’s younger brother Trip. Brooke has adopted liberal political beliefs, but she still craves the approval of her parents and their blessing for her memoir focusing on the suicide of her beloved older brother, Henry, who was involvement with the radical subculture in Venice resulted in the anti-war bombing of a draft board during the Vietnam War. The pain of this incident is a wound that Polly and Lyman do not want reopened and they must choose whether to reveal a shocking secret that they have kept for decades, or risk exposure when the world reads their story. Brooke has drawn a line in the sand and dares her family to cross it. The intricate family portrait encompasses the international disasters of war, the caustic feuds of American politics, and demonstrates the effects one family’s love and grief. A sharp dark comedy, Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities shifts the audience’s sympathies from one family member to another – a complex play and wonderful challenge for any actor. (Synopsis adapted from Stageagent.com)
Auditions will be held at Church Hill Theatre on the main stage on:
Saturday, October 5 at 10am
Tuesday October 8 at 6pm
Thursday October 10 at 6pm
Saturday October 12 at 10am
The rolls are:
Brooke Wyeth – Female, thirties to early fifties
Polly Wyeth – Female, fifties to mid seventies
Lyman Wyeth – Male, fifties to mid seventies
Silda Grauman – Female, fifties to mid sixties
Trip Wyeth – Male, thirties to forties
Please note that the relative age differences for all characters can easily play younger. Auditioning Actors will cold read sides from the script and be given special and somewhat surprising exercises to perform. Let there be no fear!
Contact: Hester Sachse, Executive Manager
Email: [email protected]
Phone: Church Hill Theatre Office 410-556-6003
Website: https://www.churchhilltheatre.org
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