Balagula Theatre Wants YOU...to audition :)

Season 2011-2012 represents  Balagula Theatre's daring  artistic programming and  includes modern classics,  redefined and adjusted to  staging in a non-traditional  venue; two modern  American plays;  and the world premier of  the winner of Kentucky  Women Writers  Conference's Prize  For Women Playwrights.  Season 2011-2012  will give Lexington actors an opportunity to work on the Balagula  Theatre’s stage, and will introduce audiences to the  work of actors they have not previously seen.  The plays were selected for their  artistic value, social relevance  and challenges that it offers  designers, directors and actors. "One Flea Spare"  by Naomi Wallace Sept 1-4, 11-14 "A Steady Rain"  by Keith Huff Oct 9 - 12, 16 - 19 "The Book of Liz"  by Amy Sedaris & David Sedaris Nov. 27-30, Dec 4-7 "Fahrenheit 451"  by Ray Bradbury Jan 29-31, Feb 1, 5-8 Prize for Women Playwrights  Contest Winner (TBA) Mar 25-28, April 1-4 "Caligula"  by Albert Camus June 3-6, 10-13 Season Auditions: The Balagula Theatre  will hold Season  Auditions for all  six plays  June 25, 26  from  11am to 4pm  at Natasha’s Bistro.  Season Auditions will consist of cold readings.  The Season covers a wide variety of male and female roles ages 13 thru 80, so everyone is invited and welcome. About The Plays: One Flea Spare, by a Kentucky native Naomi Wallace, is an award-winning play set in plague-ravaged 17th Century London. “One Flea Spare" has been recently incorporated into the permanent repertoire of the French National Theater La Comédie-Francaise to be produced in 2012. Naomi Wallace and Tennessee Williams are the only two American Playwrights have ever been added to La Comédie's repertoire in 300 years. Play synopsis:A wealthy couple is preparing to flee their home when a mysterious sailor and a young girl appear sneaking into their boarded up house. Now, quarantined together for 28 days, the only thing these strangers fear more than the Plague is each other. Definitions of morality are up for grabs and survival takes many forms in this dark, fiercely intense & humorous play. It deals with the theme of humanity in the face of all equalizing disaster, a theme that echoes modern natural and man-made catastrophic events. ONE FLEA SPARE is built to provoke, not to distract, and it does not surrender its meaning easily. But the play’s powerful subtext and its beautiful poetic surface reveal an original theatrical imagination. John Lahr, The New Yorker A Steady Rain, a play by Keith Huff, opened on Broadway in September 2009 and had broken the record for the highest weekly gross of a nonmusical production on Broadway. Play synopsis:“A Steady Rain” focuses on two Chicago policemen who inadvertently return a Vietnamese boy to a .serial killer who claims to be the child's uncle. When he later becomes the man's latest victim, the lifelong friendship of the two men is threatened. …a gritty, rich, thick, poetic and entirely gripping noir tale. Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune The Book of Liz by David and Amy Sedaris is a challenging comedy with actors playing multiple roles. It celebrates social, ethnic and religious diversity while taking a satirical look at American clichés. The play has been successfully produced throughout the US and abroad, and has proven to attract a wide range of audiences. Play synopsis: Sister Elizabeth Donderstock is Squeamish, who makes cheese balls that sustain the existence of her entire religious community, Clusterhaven. However, she feels unappreciated and decides to try her luck in the outside world. Along the way, she meets a Cockney-speaking Ukrainian immigrant couple who find her a job waiting tables at Plymouth Crock, a family restaurant run almost entirely by recovering alcoholics. Things are going great for Liz. Meanwhile, back at Clusterhaven, Liz's compatriots just can't seem to duplicate her cheese ball recipe, and it's going to cost them their quaint, cloistered lifestyle. They are panic-stricken and desperate. Will the cheese balls ever taste good again? Will Liz go back to save the Squeamish? I have read a very few scripts that made me laug h out loud as much as this one… It is about people, extremely eccentric people, the kind of people I like the most. Mike Brown, Director Costa Mesa Playhouse Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, a stage adaptation of his 1953 novel, touches on the themes of human alienation in the world dominated by electronic media; dangers of state censorship; and the effect of passive consumption on human intellect. "Fahrenheit 451", an ode to literature and a manifesto of several generations of American intellectuals, is a complex dramatic piece open to wide directorial interpretation. It is full of socially relevant and theatrically inspiring challenges, that Balagula's artistic team is known to tackle. Play Synopsis: The central character, Guy Montag, is employed as a "fireman" (which, in this future, means "bookburner"). He lives in a lonely, isolated society where books have been outlawed by a government fearing an independent-thinking public. People in this society, including Montag's wife, get their information from wall-size television screens. After Montag falls in love with book-hoarding Clarisse, he begins to read confiscated books. It is through this relationship that he begins to question the government's motives behind book-burning. Montag is soon found out, and he must decide whether to return to his job or run away knowing full well the consequences that he could face if captured. "We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?" Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 Prize For Women Playwrights.  The Balagula Theatre has partnered with Kentucky Women Writers Conference (KWWC) to develop the first Prize For Women Playwrights, and is the producing theatre for the winning play. This production is a great opportunity to bring to the world stage a new play of high literary quality. KWWC chose The Balagula Theatre for this partnership because of Balagula's reputation as a progressive activist theatre of proven high artistic quality, that has a track record of successfulpartnerships with other Kentucky non-profits. Julie Kuzneski Wrinn, Director Caligula by Albert Camus is the last production of the Season. Today, when several of the world's dictatorships are crumbling in front of our eyes, exploring inner corruption brought by absolute power is a moral must for a socially responsible theatre. . History has been passing its judgment on the "caligulas" of the world -- we are looking to explore the dark side of their humanity. Play Synopsis: The play shows Caligula, Roman Emperor, torn by the death of Drusilla, his sister and lover. In Camus's version of events, Caligula eventually deliberately manipulates his own assassination. (Historically, this event took place January 24, AD 41.) "Caligula" marks a date in the French theatre… Camus writes with both grace and a moving accent, but his main contribution resides in his message. His aim is to distill hope from the heart of despair….Harold Clurman, "The Moralist on Stage” New York Times