The deadline for this audition opportunity has passed.

Seeking voice actors for roles in The Characters: Act I.

A contemporary art project by Erdem Taşdelen, produced in collaboration with Untitled Art Society.

Submission Deadline: March 22, 2019
Rehearsals: April 23 –  27, 29, 2019
Recordings: April 30 – May 4, 2019

The Characters is a sound installation project in three acts, the first of which will be shown in an exhibition at Untitled Art Society in Calgary in November 2019. This first act features audio recordings of 10 individual monologues, each approx. five minutes in length and performed by a different voice actor. The character traits are based upon texts by Ancient Greek writer Theophrastus, but these monologues are set in a fictitious near-future society that has descended into an authoritarian regime.

All accents by fluent English-speakers are welcome to audition for any of the roles below. Ages given are only an approximation. All genders and non-binary actors are encouraged to apply.

Roles:

• The Idle Chatterer (female, 25 – 45): Talkative, self-righteous, looking for a connection with anyone at any time. Here she is frantically talking to a stranger at a subway station on a very hot day, jumping from topic to topic
• The Boor (female, 50 – 70): Brash, inappropriate, malignant, unlikeable. Talks loudly and cackles. Here she is bullying her sister, finding all sorts of reasons to insult her. Chewing food, drinking, slightly drunk.
• The Rumour-Monger (non-gender-specific, 20-25): Camp, flirtatious, likes to gossip, laughs a lot, big personality. Loves drama and sensational news. Here they are gossiping with a friend over the phone.
• The Tactless One (female, 25 – 45): Acts friendly but deep down has a desire to harm others. Says the wrong thing at the wrong time. Here she is reading her friend’s fortune. Speaking quietly, she intuits bad times ahead.
• The Superstitious One (non-gender-specific, 20 – 45): Negative, a little unhinged, bitter. Prone to conspiracy theories. Their monologue is fast-paced and poetic, addressing the audience in an accusatory way.
• The One of Petty Ambition (non-gender-specific, 20 – 40): Self-satisfied, obsessed with success and recognition, very animated. Their monologue is spoken-word style, creative, and fluctuates between wild and tranquil.
• The Ungenerous One (male, 35 – 50): Formal, diplomatic, upper class. Gentle; fears confrontation. Here he is going over an email he’s written, reading it out loud to himself and making corrections. Pensive, calculating.
• The Coward (male, 35 – 50): A writer accused of self-censorship. Too cowardly to speak for himself, so this monologue is by a representative who is giving a press conference on his behalf. Serious in tone, official, distant.
• The Lover of Bad Company (female, 16 – 20): Naïve and earnest. Wannabe bad-ass. Queer; infatuated with a woman who’s trying to convince her to run away together. Her monologue reads like an excerpt from a short story.
• The Chiseller (non-gender-specific, 25 – 40): Greedy finance professional. Insomniac. Here they are playing a word game by themselves, trying to fall asleep. Deep voice, slumber-like tone. Lots of pauses, deep breaths.

Details

You must be available for these key dates in Calgary:

• April 23 – 27, 29, 2019: Rehearsals will take place at Untitled Art Society. Each actor will be requested to come in for rehearsals on two of these dates.
• April 30 – May 4, 2019: Recordings will take place at EMMEDIA. Each actor will be requested to come in for recordings on one of these dates.

Fee: Flat rate of $280 per actor.

If you would like to audition for any of the roles listed, please email thecharacters123@gmail.com indicating which role you’re interested in. You will be sent a short paragraph from the script to record as a sample audio file.

For more information on the artist, please visit erdemtasdelen.com. The artist and UAS would like to thank EMMEDIA for production support for this project.