AUDITIONS
CONTROL
by Keziah Warner
Told as a trilogy, traversing several decades and mixing genres, this is a shrewd and sharp vision of the future from a bold new Australian voice.
A disparate quartet thrown together in a Reality TV experiment hurtle through space. As climate change reaches crisis point and revolution threatens to erupt on Earth, the world is looking on. Or is it?
In this future society, androids and people work side-by-side, ‘memories’ are held in a database vulnerable to hackers, and past misadventures can be erased.
And on the planet known as New Earth (a now-colonised Mars), a touching relationship develops between a techie and the android she’s tasked with reprogramming.
This startling, provocative and subversively funny play explores the ethical and moral ambiguities inherent in our relationship with technology.
It questions both humanity’s desire to dictate how we’re perceived by others and our need to control our environment despite our inability to control ourselves.
★★★★★ “Inventive and thought-provoking” Melbourne Herald Sun
CREATIVE TEAM & CREW
Director & Sound Designer Patrick Howard
Production Designer TBC
Lighting Designer TBC
Video Designer TBC
Assistant Director Emma Van Veen
Production Manager TBC
Stage Manager Danielle Rayner
Dialect Coach TBC
PERFORMANCE DATES
Tue 5 to Sat 30 Jul 2022
REHEARSALS
Rehearsals will commence Wed 25 May with a combination of weekend days and weeknight evenings. Exact times and dates tbc, subject to cast availability.
AUDITIONS
It is essential to read the script BEFORE applying. There is a perusal copy of the script available for viewing here.
The initial round of auditions will be done using self-tape. Call-back auditions will be held at the theatre in person after the first round of auditions is complete, exact dates tbc. If you are unable to submit a self-tape, please email the Director at controlnt22@gmail.com to arrange an alternative means of audition. Please also contact the team if you have worked with Patrick before as a self-tape may not be necessary.
Your filmed audition should include:
• A self-introduction, including your name (max 30 secs)
• A brief introduction to your chosen audition piece
• Your audition piece: A short (2-3min) monologue that you feel reflects the style and dramaturgical content of Control. Please also then select approx. 30sec of this monologue to deliver as an AI/comm-droid (refer to the character of Alex in Act 2 of the script as a reference for this).
Once you have captured your audition, upload it as either a private and password-protected Vimeo or a YouTube video using the password ‘Control22’ and email the link with the below information to controlnt22@gmail.com.
In your email, please:
• include an up-to-date headshot and cv
• indicate which role/roles you are interested in
• indicate if you are currently a New Theatre member
Self-tape submissions close Friday 13 May 2022 although earlier submissions are encouraged.
ROLES AVAILABLE
A note on the roles and doubling: There will be 6 actors in the cast playing 10 roles. As detailed below, Actors 2 & 4 will play 2 roles (one in each of Acts 1 & 2), and Actor 3 will play 3 roles (one each of the 3 Acts).
Understudies: Three understudies will also be cast, and these actors will be guaranteed to go on for at least 2 performances each during the season.
- Actor 1 40s, plays Andrew a slightly bitter American puppeteer from everyone’s favourite childhood show.
- Actor 2 20s, plays Jake an ‘Aussie cutie’ TV actor who finds himself thrust into the role of the hero and romantic lead and Xavier a slightly troubled Australian ex-footballer who can’t seem to escape his traumatic past.
- Actor 3 30s, plays Elizabeth a heavily pregnant celebrity dancer who isn’t from America but lives there now, Nicki an Australian government clerk and mother who is desperately trying to protect and provide for her daughter, and Isabelle an AI programmer who is slightly detached from her past and is planning to move on from her work.
- Actor 4 20s, plays Laura a British ex-girl-band singer who finds herself cast as a damsel in distress/the romantic lead, and Caroline an Australian government clerk and secret hacker who is terrified of being caught but sympathetic to those who require her services.
- Actor 5 Any age, plays Alex an early-model ‘comm-droid’ AI used for customer service settings
- Actor 6 20s, plays Esta an advanced model AI whom Isabelle is training to become a classroom teacher, but who might be more human than she first seems.
We very much encourage and welcome submissions from people who identify as First Nations, PoC, CaLD, queer and/or gender diverse.
PLEASE NOTE
New Theatre is a volunteer-based organisation and there is no payment for this production.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Patrick is the Program Manager for Touring at Arts on Tour, as well as a freelance theatre artist. Born on Gundungurra land, living and working on Gadigal land, he has a passion for queer, political, devised, musical and documentary theatre.
A graduate of AIM Dramatic Arts and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Patrick has performed, directed, production, company and stage managed, sound designed, composed and dramaturged for a number of different companies, including PYT Fairfield, Force Majeure, Performance Space, Sydney Opera House, ATYP, Contemporary Asian Australian Performance, The Last Great Hunt, Little Triangle, Red Line Productions and New Theatre. He also makes and produces his own work and has conducted various teaching and mentoring engagements.
Patrick has been a play assessor for New Theatre for the past eight years. His credits for New Theatre include Once in Royal David’s City, 5 Guys Chillin’ (director), Marat/Sade, Mother Clap’s Molly House (actor), Picnic at Hanging Rock, Cats Talk Back, Collaborators (composer/sound designer), That Eye The Sky, When the Rain Stops Falling (stage manager).