SEACT is now accepting registrations to audition for Alabama Story Kenneth Jones. Registration is not mandatory, but it does get some of the legal stuff out of the way, and saves you from filling out registration forms by hand on the day of the audition.
Questions? Email Lisbeth Ash at lisbetha@aol.com
Description: As the Civil Rights movement is brewing, a controversial children’s book about a black rabbit marrying a white rabbit stirs the passions of a segregationist State Senator and a no-nonsense State Librarian in 1959 Montgomery, Alabama. A contrasting story of childhood friends—an African American man and a white woman of privilege, reunited in adulthood—provides private counterpoint to the public events swirling in the state capital. Political foes, star-crossed lovers, and one feisty children’s author inhabit the same page in a Deep South of the imagination that brims with humor, heartbreak, and hope. Inspired by true events! More information.
Director: Kendall Sirkis
Production Manager: Lisbeth Ash
Style of Audition: Auditions will be held in a warm and supportive group setting. Actors will be asked to read prepared scenes from the script.
Audition Material: Sides will be available soon on the Alabama Story audition page at SEACT.com.
Location: Cultural Arts Center, 909 S. Saint Andrews St., Dothan, AL 36301
Audition Dates: Come to both audition days if you can. Actors of all experience levels and backgrounds are encouraged to audition!
Sunday March 9, 2:00 PM
Monday March 10, 6:00 PM
A cast list will be posted to SEACT's website and social media pages by noon, Tuesday, March 11, and a first read-through will take place that evening at 5:30 PM.
REVIEW THE REHEARSAL CALENDAR HERE.
Please make note of your conflicts BEFORE auditioning and include them on this form.
Casting Breakdown
Character ages are indicated in the script, but actors do not have to be the exact ages listed below to be cast.
GARTH WILLIAMS and OTHERS—50ish or older, a white writer and illustrator from the East Coast. Frisky, sardonic, dry, funny, deadly serious, and omnipresent when practical. He also assumes the roles of HERSCHEL WEBB; fiery segregationist columnist HENRY BRANCH; a folky RADIO ANNOUNCER; and two silent WHITE PASSERSBY. Requires a charismatic chameleon actor with range and gravitas.
BOBBY CRONE—60s-80s, white Male Alabama State Representative. Pronounced Southern accent. Aged, sickly, irritable, avuncular, wise.
LILY WHITFIELD—32, a white woman from small-town Alabama privilege. Genteel Alabama accent. Politically unversed, she is the product of (and enjoys the benefits of) a racist system and has not questioned it. Sheltered, ashamed, loyal, religious, garrulous, charming, unhappily married, sentimental, all façade, ready to blossom.
JOSHUA MOORE—32, an upwardly mobile middle-class African American man who left Alabama years ago, settling in the north after serving in the Army. Purposely subtle and suppressed Alabama accent, which becomes pronounced when agitated. He is politically active, aspirational, loyal, kind, worldly, happily married, slow to boil, susceptible to nostalgia without getting lost in it, a disciple of Dr. King.
SENATOR E.W. HIGGINS—50ish or more, a white Alabama State Senator. Pronounced Alabama accent. He is an active racist, a charmer, a bully, a bull, a poisoner, and a politician. Most of what he says is rhetorical or performative. He’s not as smart as he thinks he is, but he’s influential. He is never sorry—an extrovert.
EMILY WHEELOCK REED— 50ish or more, a white female librarian, the State Librarian of Alabama, born in North Carolina and raised in Indiana. No Southern accent. She has no sense of humor, she does not suffer fools, and she is all business. When cornered, fallible. When her vulnerability is accessed and her heart unlocked, a person of good character is revealed—an introvert.
THOMAS FRANKLIN—28, a white male reference librarian, Emily’s assistant. Pronounced Alabama accent. Buttoned-up, genteel, educated, officious, efficient, slightly uncomfortable in his own skin. Neutral and objective when conveying information. The kind of man you want as your colleague or your son.n you want as your colleague or your son.