Auditions!
March 29th and 31st, 6:00-9:00 PM
Fifth Street Writers
612 5th St, Ames, IA 50010
INFORMATION FOR ACTORS
Auditions are open to all interested community members, ages 18 and up!
35 roles will be cast, including stage directions readers. Actors may be cast in multiple roles.
See below for roles.
Auditions will consist of cold reads from the festival's new plays.
Performances will be staged readings, scripts in-hand.
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Rehearsals
Festival rehearsals will take place between April 11th and 30th in Ames.
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Full-length plays: 4 rehearsals and 1 tech rehearsal
Ten-minute plays: 2-3 short rehearsals and 1 tech rehearsal
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Compensation
Full-length plays: $100 / role
Ten-minute plays: $25 / role
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ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Four unique events, featuring staged readings of eight new plays by local playwrights, new music by local singer-songwriters, and neighborhood resiliency conversations facilitated by the Ames Climate Action Team!
Free and open to the public!
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Festival Events
Friday, May 1st, 7:00 p.m. at Labyrinth Coffee
Saturday, May 2nd, 10:30 a.m. at Ames Public Library
Saturday, May 2nd, 2:00 p.m. at Ames Public Library
Sunday, May 3rd, 2:00 p.m. at Labyrinth Coffee
The Plays
Charissa Menefee
Jonah and the Flood
A retired man, concerned about future flooding in Iowa, decides to do something about it—whether his neighbors like it or not.
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Characters
JONAH, 80
RACHEL, 12, Jonah's granddaughter
LEVI, 45, Jonah's son
SETH, 50s, Jonah's neighbor
STAGE DIRECTIONS​
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Taylor Sklenar
Event Horizon
An eerie prophecy, a choral retelling never written in silicon, of a time when a data center brought promise to a small Iowa town.
Characters
QUINN SPENCER: Mid 20’s, F. A spark. Intelligent and quiet, something simmering beneath. Passionate and strong willed, but not great around people.
CHERYL SPENCER: Early 50’s F. Quinn’s mother. A people person. Hardworking and capable. Floats like a cloud, strikes like lightning. Works for NewGate Date Solutions.
HANK NEILSEN: Early 70’s, M. Cheryl’s father. A farmer. Owns a small plot, but rents most of the land he farms. Practical and grounded. Plaid and Carhart. Kind, but ornery. Down to earth.
JARED JOHANSON: Mid 20’s, M. Self-assured and laid back. Goes with the flow. He’s an outdoorsman with a hint of Iowa drawl. Ballcap and boots. Works for the ethanol plant.
MARCY: 20’s, F. Just Marcy. Kind, friendly, capable, and super helpful. Very non-intrusive as the latest models of Advanced Behavioral Modeling are trained to be.
STAGE DIRECTIONS
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Emily Golden
The Monarchs
In the very near, somewhat scary future, a gardener, a game developer, a cartoon rabbit, and a colicky baby learn about what it means to be a community.
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Characters
KATHERINE (f, 30s): A gardener. A little rough around the edges. A little too used to being alone. Suspicious.
DELTA (f, 30s): A game developer. A nerd trying to seem slick and professional.
RAYRAY (f, teens-20s): A cartoon rabbit. A new soul going through the growing pains of learning what it means to be human.
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STAGE DIRECTIONS
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Tiffany Antone
The Renewable Energy Generation
Four energy sources go at it.
Characters
NATURAL GAS - flowy, gassy, middle-aged, arrogant
SOLAR POWER - young, bright, energetic
COAL - old, chain smoking, crotchety
WIND - whimsical but smart, breezy
STAGE DIRECTIONS
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Jessi Brock
The Compost Pile
On a quiet street in Ames, Iowa, a little compost pile leads to some friendly neighborly bickering and local bureaucracy.
Characters
“L”: any age/gender. Hopeful eco-enthusiast, new to the neighborhood and to gardening.
“M”: any age/gender. Curmudgeony long-time resident, offended by L’s compost pile.
“N”: any age/gender. Community Codes Liaison, inspecting the compost pile (& mediating).
STAGE DIRECTIONS
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Karen Murphy
Smackdown at the 2-K Corral
A dark comedy from the future about two kidnapped Karens who take lessons learned from Earth's City of Ames Climate Action Plan to save Planet Zorn.
Characters
KAREN 1, tough New Jersey broad who keeps her binoculars handy and her "Karen-Meme" busy-body mouth ready to admonish trespassing AI-Bully Bots.
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KAREN 2, tough New Jersey broad who uses her "Karen-Meme" aggressiveness to partner with Karen 1 to join the Net-Zero Resilience Coalition.
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STAGE DIRECTIONS
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Joshua Oren
Starship Podujeva
Two humans investigate an abandoned starship and realize they have precious little time to figure out how to get the ship—and themselves—back home.
Characters
LEWIS, thirties
ZOE, thirties
SWAGGERVICK, automaton
STAGE DIRECTIONS
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Amanda Petefish-Schrag
Bus Stop Revolutions
When Gina and Billie strike up an awkward chat at a city bus stop, their wait is upended by a cascade of unexpected encounters that reveal how a new transit plan can change the rhythm of a whole community.
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Characters
GINA – (woman, any age) A passionate bus-rider
BILLIE – (adult, any age) An uncertain bus-rider
THE PUPPETEER – (woman, any age), a puppeteer
STAGE DIRECTIONS
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