Production: Women March on Washington by Christine Kallman
Director/Playwright: Christine Kallman
Audition Dates and times: Saturday, February 10 or Sunday, February 11, 4-6 p.m.
Audition Location: Northfield Arts Guild Downtown , 304 Division St.
Audition Requirements: Actors need not prepare anything in advance. You will be asked to read from the script, by yourself or with other actors. Some of the roles call for singing (solo and/or ensemble). If you like, you can prepare a very short song (1 minute or less), or the director will provide an easy song for you to sing. Scripts available for 24 hr perusal at The Guild office or available online here.
Summary of the Show: Women March on Washington is a full-length stage play based on the Women’s marches on Washington of 1913, 1978 and 2017, using historical and fictional characters. Bags packed, they head out across the country (and over decades) to the nation’s center of power. What will they bring? White gloves and a Bible? Heavy boots and the Pill? A pink hat? A hijab? The diverse travelers encounter suffragist Alice Paul, early civil rights leader Ida Wells-Barnett, 1970’s ERA proponents (and opponents), and women of today. Battling enormous obstacles, including their own doubts and disagreements, all arrive in Washington together, asking: “Whose march is it?” and “What are the stakes?”
Women March on Washington is a new play in development and will be presented script-in-hand. The rehearsal and reading of the script are invaluable parts in the process of the script revision and development.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.
Rehearsal information: Rehearsals are scheduled to begin Monday April 2.
Performance dates, times, location:
- Saturday, April 14 Performance #1, 7:30 p.m. Northfield Arts Guild Theater, 411 Third Street W., Northfield
- Sunday, April 15 Performance #2, 2:00 p.m. Northfield Arts Guild Theater, 411 Third Street W., Northfield
Character descriptions and able-to-play ages: Auditions are open to age 16 and older, female and gender non-conforming persons. We welcome all ages, colors and ethnicities, gender identity and expression, as well as people with disabilities, to audition. There is one role for a person of any age to play a character who is genderqueer (non-binary), and a role for a transgender woman.
There are three larger roles for women:
Black woman, able to play ages 23-31; plays 3 characters:
Lucy (a displaced teacher and activist in 1915 Chicago)
Lila (a gutsy college student and budding feminist in 1978 Virginia)
Lakisha (an ambitious young employee in a 2016 New York firm where she has been sexually harassed)
White woman, able to play ages 21-27; plays 3 characters:
Ethel (boisterous rural woman who drives cross-country in 1915 for the women’s movement and has an unwanted pregnancy)
Ellen (quiet lesbian woman who is just coming out in 1977-78)
Extasa (fashionista and blogger in 2017)
White woman, able to play ages 55-62; plays 3 characters:
Mary (wealthy widow traveling for the movement in 1915)
Maggie (middle-class, conservative mother experiencing gender discrimination at work in 1978)
Maureen (“old soul” of the women’s movement, in 2017)
Additional Roles, some of which will be combined with other roles to create a full part (these roles may be adapted depending on actors available):
Alice Paul, early suffragist – White woman, able to play age 30’s
Ida Wells-Barnett, civil rights leader – Black woman, able to play age 50’s to early 60’s
Josie: Janitor, grandmother. Outspoken. – able to play 60s-70s
Florence, conservative, anti-ERA in 1978 – White woman, able to play age 30’s to 40’s
Beatriz, community organizer – Latina, able to play age 30’s up
Cam, genderqueer person, any age
Alana, Asian woman. Works as an engineer.
Lizbeth, White woman, age 33, mother of 3, small business owner
Siobhan, Visual artist
Tamara, activist – Woman of color, able to play age 20’s to 40’s
Danielle, young, pregnant, immigrant – Latina, able to play age 15
Sandy, conservative woman, pro-life in 2017 – able to play age 50’s and older
Alicia, women’s rights activist, liberal – any age
Hani, immigrant, Muslim and student – Black, able to play age 21 to 30
Juliana, transgender woman, any age
Marchers (includes many of the characters above) – Diverse characters who speak about why they are or are not marching, chant, and sing together traditional songs of the women’s movement.
