STLAS is pleased to announce that Wayne Salomon will be directing “Closer”. Also note that a dramatic monologue will be required for general auditions. See below:
STLAS will hold Equity and Non-equity auditions on Friday May 14, from 6 p.m.. to 11 p.m. and Saturday May 15, for 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. in 10-minute slots at the offices of The Eleven, at 360 N. Boyle, in the Central West End—1.5 blocks north of Lindell. All ethnicities are encouraged to audition.
PLEASE PREPARE ONE DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE.
To schedule an audition, please email william@stlas.org or leave a message on the STLAS hotline at 314.458.2978. You will be contacted with a confirmation of your audition slot.
Unless otherwise noted, all performances will take place at The Gaslight Theater, 358 N. Boyle.
Season 4 “Angels and Demons”
“November” by David Mamet – October 8-24, 2010
Directed by Bobby Miller
David Mamet’s Oval Office satire depicts one day in the life of a beleaguered American commander-in-chief.
It’s November in a Presidential election year, and incumbent Charles Smith’s chances for reelection are looking grim. Approval ratings are down, his money’s running out, and nuclear war might be imminent. Though his staff has thrown in the towel and his wife has begun to prepare for her post-White House life, Chuck isn’t ready to give up just yet. Amidst the biggest fight of his political career, the President has to find time to pardon a couple of turkeys — saving them from the slaughter before Thanksgiving — and this simple PR event inspires Smith to risk it all in attempt to win back public support. With Mamet’s characteristic no-holds-barred style, November is a scathingly hilarious take on the state of America today and the lengths to which people will go to win.
“Rock ‘n Roll” By Tom Stoppard (History Museum) –November 5-21, 2010
Directed by Milton Zoth
The play is concerned with the significance of rock and roll in the emergence of the democratic movement in Eastern Bloc Czechoslovakia between the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Taking place in Cambridge, England and in Prague, the play contrasts the attitudes of a young Czech Ph.D student and rock music fan who becomes appalled by the repressive regime in his home country with those of his British Marxist professor who unrepentantly continues to believe in the Soviet ideal.
The play takes place over several decades from the late 1960s until 1990, ending with a concert given by The Rolling Stones that year in Prague. Recurrent references are made to a glimpse by one of the main characters of the young Syd Barrett performing Golden Hair. Barrett’s physical and mental decline also plays a role in the drama (Barrett in fact died during the play’s run). The underground Czech group The Plastic People of the Universe are held up by another character as an ideal of resistance to Communism. The poetry of Sappho is another recurrent motif; its pagan sensualism is implicitly compared with the anarchic erotic force of Rock music.
One of the characters, a Czech writer, is named Ferdinand as an homage to Václav Havel. Havel wrote three plays with a protagonist named Ferdinand Van?k, a stand-in for Havel himself. These plays were distributed by samizdat and became a symbol of the resistance. A number of Havel’s friends then wrote their own plays with Ferdinand Van?k.[1] Stoppard continues in that tradition.
“The Sunshine Boys” Starring Joneal Joplin and Whit Reichert Dec 3-19, 2010
Directed By Milt Zoth
The play focuses on aging Al Lewis and Willy Clark, a one-time vaudevillian team known as “Lewis and Clark” who, over the course of forty-odd years, not only grew to hate each other but never spoke to each other off-stage throughout the final year of their act. The stubborn Clark, who was not ready for retirement, resented the wiser Lewis for breaking up the act when he opted to leave show business. It is now 1972 and CBS is inviting the team to reunite for a special on the history of comedy, with the pair representing the vaudeville era at its best. Clark is convinced by his nephew Ben to revive one of the old routines one last time. Much of the humor is derived from efforts to get the two cantankerous actors into the same room for a rehearsal, their differences of opinion once they reunite, and their shenanigans on the actual broadcast.
Neil Simon was inspired by two venerable vaudeville teams. The longevity of “Lewis and Clark” was inspired by Smith and Dale who, unlike their theatrical counterparts, were inseparable lifelong friends. The undercurrent of hostility between “Lewis and Clark” was inspired by the team of Gallagher and Shean, who were successful professionally but argumentative personally.
Closer by Patrick Marber– Feb 18 – March 6, 2011
Director by Wayne Salomon
A young man, Dan, takes a young woman to the hospital after she has been hit by a taxi; they flirt as they wait for the doctor to attend to her bloodied knee. Larry, a doctor in dermatology, inspects her leg briefly and leaves. Dan and the young woman introduce themselves—he is Daniel Woolf, an obituary writer and failed author who teaches her about the use of euphemisms—his is “reserved,” hers, “disarming.” She is Alice Ayres, a self-described waif who has a mysterious scar along her leg. Wanting him to spend the rest of the day with her, she calls his editor for him to ask for the day off.
More than a year later, Dan is on the verge of publishing a book based on Alice’s past as a stripper, and Anna is taking his photograph for publicity. Dan falls in love with Anna, though he is in a relationship with Alice, having left his former girlfriend for her. He begs Anna to see him again, and she rejects him. Alice overhears his conversation with Anna. She asks Anna to take her photo, and when Dan has left, confronts her; Anna insists she is “not a thief,” and snaps a photo of a tear-stricken Alice.
Six months later, Dan and Larry meet in an adult chat room. Dan impersonates Anna and has internet sex with Larry. He plays a practical joke on Anna by arranging for Larry to meet her in the London Aquarium the next day. When Larry arrives, stunned to see Anna, he acts under the impression that she is the same person from last night and makes a fool of himself; Anna catches on and explains that it was probably Dan playing a practical joke on him. She reveals that it is her birthday and snaps a photo of Larry. They become a couple.
At Anna’s showing Alice stands in front of her photo looking at it; Dan is watching her. They have an argument over Alice’s presentiment that Dan will leave her. Larry meets Alice, whom he recognizes as the woman from the photo, and knows that she is Dan’s girlfriend. Meanwhile, Dan convinces Anna to carry on an affair with him. They cheat on their partners with each other, even through Anna and Larry’s marriage. Finally, one year later, they tell their partners the truth and leave their respective partners for each other.
Alice, devastated, disappears from Dan’s life and goes back to stripping, going by the name Jane. Larry finds her at one of the seedy strip clubs in London, where he pushes her to tell the truth about her name. In a poignant moment, he asks, “Tell me something true, Alice.” She tells him, “Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off—but it’s better if you do.” They share a connection based in mutual betrayal and heartbreak. He asks her to meet him later, for sex.
A month after this, Anna is late meeting Dan for dinner. She’s come from asking Larry to sign the divorce papers, and Dan finds out that Larry had demanded Anna have sex with him before he would sign the papers. Dan becomes furious, asking Anna why she didn’t lie to him. They have a candid, brutally truthful conversation, and it is revealed that Anna did in fact have sex with Larry, and he did sign the papers.
Alice meanwhile has been sleeping with Larry—on his birthday she summons him to the museum to meet her, and sets up Anna to meet him there. Larry and Anna exchange words, as Anna discovers Alice and Larry have been having a casual relationship. Larry asks Anna if their divorce will ever become finalized; he leaves when Alice emerges. The two women share a heated exchange in which their mutual animosity is revealed—Anna calls Alice “primitive,” a description Alice accepts. The younger woman paints a pathetic picture of Larry’s emotional state, and gleans from Anna that Dan still calls out for “Buster” (Alice’s nickname) in his sleep.
Anna goes back to Larry; distraught, Dan confronts Larry at his office and has to come to terms with the fact that Anna no longer wanted him. Larry recommends Dan go back to Alice and reveals that he had seen her in the strip club. He lies for Alice at first and tells Dan that they did not sleep together, as Alice feared that if Dan found out he would not want her anymore. Then at the end, Larry decides to hurt Dan and reveals the truth—that they had slept together.
Dan and Alice, back together, are preparing to go to America; they relive the memories of their first meeting, but Dan is haunted by Larry and Alice’s encounters and pushes her to tell him the truth. In the moment where Alice becomes caught between telling the truth (which she refused to do) and being unable to lie to him, she falls out of love with Dan and tells him to leave. Dan struggles with her; she spits in his face, and he throws her back on the bed, grabbing her neck. She dares him to hit her, and he hits her and she leaves.
Later, Anna and Larry meet again, only to reveal that they have broken up once again and Larry is dating a young nurse named Polly. They are meeting because Alice has died the night before in New York due to being hit by a car while crossing the street. Larry leaves as Dan arrives because he has patients to see. Dan talks with Anna and says that no one could identify the body in America and he is flying over to do so. Dan leaves quickly to catch his flight, leaving Anna alone.
LaBute 1 Act Festival(Including World Premier written for STLAS by Neil LaBute) – June 3-19, 2011
WE ARE NOT AUDITIONING FOR THE LABUTE FEST TILL LATER IN THE YEAR
