Auditions (Edmonton): Mothers – University of Alberta, Theater News

Audition Notice – BLT 4 at the University of Alberta
Mothers by Anna Ouyang Moench
Directed by Emily Marisabel – MFA Directing Candidate

About the Show:
Synopsis: Three moms, a stay-at-home dad, and a nanny watch their kids play at Mommy-Baby Meetup. One mom is the queen bee and one is here to shake things up. The dad just wants to fit in, and the nanny doesn’t say a word. When catastrophe comes, the five of them have to figure out how to survive a war and each other. MOTHERS examines the primal heartache of raising children in a disintegrating world.

Compensation: This is a volunteer production – interested CAEA members must have an affiliation/history with the University of Alberta’s Drama Department.

Character Descriptions:

• Vick (double cast with the role of Christine): 25-35, female-presenting, BIPOC. The working mom. She is constantly busy, overworked, and judged by others for not spending enough time with her child. However, she is a fighter and is not afraid to judge you right back.
• Ariana: 25-35, female-presenting, BIPOC. The queen bee of Mommy-Baby Meetup. She is always prepared, and always put together. She is the ultimate mom, and she wants everyone to know it.
• Meg: 25-35, female-presenting, BIPOC. The mediator of Mommy-Baby Meetup. She tries to encourage everyone to get along but is often stuck in the middle of Vick and Ariana. She deeply craves being liked and wants validation from both of them.
• Gladys: 25-40, female presenting, BIPOC. An immigrant that speaks with accented English (from a non-first world country). She is the nanny. She is an outcast of Vick, Ariana, and Meg’s popular group but doesn’t care. All she cares about is taking care of her employer’s child in order to make enough money to send back home to her own children. Gladys has had a very hard life and when the situation at Mommy-Baby Meetup becomes dire, she takes on the position of leader in the group.
• Ty: 25-35, male-presenting, white. The stay-at-home dad. Ty is also an outsider of the popular group but desperately wishes for attention from someone… anyone. He feels emasculated due to losing his job, his wife becoming the sole breadwinner of the family, and being the only dad at Mommy-Baby Meetup.
• Christine (double cast with the role of Vick): 25-35, female-presenting, BIPOC. Gladys’ employer. Christine is a working mom who is very well-off and able to afford the best nanny in town to take care of her child. However, her marriage struggling, and she is undergoing an affair she wants no one to know about.

Note Regarding Race (from the playwright): The world of the play is an off-kilter, fun-house mirror version of our reality, an alternative universe, perhaps. The racial power structure is one of those strange surprises. People of color are at the top of the hierarchy, and white people (called “beige people” in this world) are at the bottom. However, the inhabitants of this world, like in many parts of our community, pretend that everyone is equal, even as the people at the top commit microaggressions against the people at the bottom. As things become more dire, however, we see a new hierarchy asserting itself, one in which masculinity rises up over femininity. Due to the specific casting requirements of the play, this new hierarchy happens to break down across more familiar racial lines.

Show Dates:
First Rehearsal: Monday, February 10, 2025
Performance Dates: March 27-29, 2025
*Please indicate if you have any immovable commitments during January and February in your submission.

Rehearsal Schedule:
Rehearsals are Monday to Friday evenings (approx. 6:00-10:00) and Saturdays (approx. 10:00-6:00)

About the Auditions:
Date, Time & Location:
Friday, December 13th, 3:00-6:00 PM | Fine Arts Building – University of Alberta (FAB 2-43)
Saturday, December 14th, 1:00-5:00 PM | Fine Arts Building – University of Alberta (FAB 2-43)

The Audition will Consist of:
Reading sides from the play. (Sides will be provided by email before the audition.)

Please submit your headshot and resume to:
Emily Marisabel at eboyle2@ualberta.ca with “Mothers Audition” in the Subject Line. Please indicate in the email which character(s) you would like to audition for and if you have an audition date/time preference.