Phone: 215.392.9958
Address: P.O Box 2114 Jenkintown, PA 19046
ONE GIANT LEAP
2021-2022 SEASON AUDITIONS
Auditions will be conducted via pre-recorded submission with a possible live Zoom callback. There will be no
in-person auditions. PBTC is committed to being a safe space for people of all identities and abilities. Please let us know if you need any accommodations in order to complete the audition process by emailing us at info@pulleyandbuttonholetheatre.org . Character traits are specified by the authors, beyond those, all roles are open to all actors.
Actors will receive a $100 stipend at the closing of each production run.
We ask those interested in auditioning to submit a short video of a 2-3 minute monologue that best showcases you as an artist and person. If this sounds vague, it's because we want you to show us how you see yourself, not how you think we want you to be. At the beginning of your recording, please state your full name, pronouns, and the source material. Original pieces are welcome. UPLOAD THE VIDEO TO THE SUBMISSION FORM. If you cannot, please email us using the link below for assistance.
Audition submissions are due by THURSDAY JULY 15 at 11:59PM. Callbacks will take place the following week.
Rehearsal schedules and formats will vary from show to show but traditionally are held on Sunday afternoons and two evenings during the week. Please provide, to your best knowledge, any obligations or planned trips.
*Staff Retreat will include a series of Zoom meetings with the Playwright throughout the fall as we workshop the piece. Casting preference will be given to actors who can participate in these workshops.
Synopses and character information for each of the the Mainstage plays are below. This information was submitted by the directors or playwrights for each production. For questions or accommodations, please email info@pulleyandbuttonholetheatre.org. Scripts or script excerpts for each play can be found at New Play Exchange.
Pulley & Buttonhole Theatre Company operates under 2 guiding principles: respect the work, and don't be difficult. That's it--everything else is open to discussion and collaboration. We want to be a space where artists flourish and uplift. Come and create with us!
Last Night
by Rachel Lynett
Directed by Tasha Holmes
Performances October 15-17, 22 & 23rd and streamed live via Zoom.
Rehearsals begin end of August.
After a shooting at a lesbian bar, as an act of resistance, Mia opens up the bar the next night. Together with bartender Rory, Rory's girlfriend Leslie, and a student named Sara they unpack what it means to queer today, the battles we're still fighting, and where to find joy.
Characters:
RORY, she/her/hers, early 30s, queer, not white, bartender
LESLIE, she/her/hers, late 30s , not white and a different
ethnicity than RORY, patron at the bar, RORY's girlfriend
MIA*, she/her/hers, not white, owner of the bar, early 40s
SARA, she/her/hers, mid-20s, patron of the bar, student
*Mia should be played by a transwoman of color
Spin the Lonely World
by Briandaniel Ogelsby
Directed by Adiah Hicks
Performances will be pre-recorded in December for streaming December 27-30th.
Rehearsals begin in the first week of November.
Seven short plays about transformation are knitted together by a ring that's passed from a major character to a minor character. You can begin this play on any piece and eventually you will return to it.
After a lonely woodcarver makes a puppet, who then carves more puppets to deal with her loneliness.
An old woman encounters a rose that offers infinite life and instant death.
An artist is shipwrecked on a magic island with his greatest foe.
A young girl deals with the grief of losing her parents by hunting death.
An apothecary deals with three obnoxious sorcerers.
Forbidden lovers meet on an icy bridge, and one is taken by a waterfall spirit and turned to stone.
A crow trades her plumage for shiny things, becoming human.
Originally written immediately before the pandemic, this draft has been annotated to be produced as a virtual performance.
Characters:
This play was written to be performed by 7-11 actors with gender-blind casting. Every actor will play multiple roles.
Staff Retreat
by Gina Femia
Directed by Jessica Heller
Performances will be February 18, 19, 25-27th and will likely be in a theatrical space.
This piece will also be workshopped with the cast, director, and playwright throughout September, October, November, and December with in person rehearsals beginning in January.
A staff at a non-profit goes on a retreat to do some team building amidst a scandal nobody seems to want to talk about.
Characters:
George Marx, 48, Male, White – Executive Director of Our Youth, Inc. He’s been the ED of this organization for the last 12 years. He is no-nonsense and is not great at connecting! But very, very good at doing his job.
Mackenzie “Mackie” Lewis, 50, Female, White – Vice President of Initiatives and Programs. She’s the personality behind George. She does all the work, really. Very full of personality, very no-nonsense but somehow optimistic.
Fenella Woodson, 61, Female, White – Senior Director of Development. She’s been at OY for longer than George, even – twenty-one years! She remembers things nobody else remembers, a real historian. Counting the years to retirement, she’s got 4 more to go – she started late.
Jean Glad, 38, Female, White – Senior Director of Impact and Initiative. She literally created a ladder for herself to climb up in this company – she began as the Office Manager and moved through all the Manager positions until she became this made up weird role! But she is very hard working and wonderful at her job. She would definitely sell you out without thinking twice. Also she’s getting a divorce. Sad.
Jeff Kelly, 35, Male, White – Director of Advancement and Impact. He’s been here for a couple of years and aggressively does the least work humanly possible on a daily basis. Would rather be riding his motorcycle all over town. Sexts while at work. Very funny, though.
Luz Vazquez, 37, Female, Latinx - Assistant Director of Impact and Initiative, she works alongside Jean. She is extraordinarily good at her job. Very warm, bubbly, no-nonsense, says whatever’s on her mind. Is also loud.
Amy Lee, 27, Female, Asian – Associate Director of Leadership and Impact. There is no Director of Leadership and Impact. She is a hardworker, just trying to make a good impression, is eager for more responsibility to be thrust upon her! Secretly looks up to Jean but also looks up to basically anyone who isn’t her.
Elsie Espinosa, 29, Female, Latinx – Recruitment Manager. She is the actual hardest working person there – she has been there for a year and is bubbly and pays attention to details and just works so hard, and genuinely loves this company.
Lisa Day, 24, Female, Asian – Communications Manager. She does all the social media and e mail communications and knows how to snapchat and hashtag – nobody else knows how! She is a MILLENIAL!
Matt Green, 30, Male, Latinx – Office Manager. Matt has been there for the past 6 years and knows a good thing when he sees it so he’s definitely not leaving. A little bit lazy but really good at his job when push comes to shove.
Karen Pine, 31, Female, Black – Administrative Assistant. She has a Masters in Acting & she realized she needed to get a supplemental job in order to support making her art but also she’s in an organization full of people who don’t take theatre seriously and she sometimes finds it hard.
Theatre: A Love Story
by Caridad Svich
Directed by Bridget Reilly Beauchamp
Performances will be held May 13-15, 20 & 21st in a live theatrical space.
Rehearsals begin in March.
2021 transmedia world premiere, Know Theatre of Cincinnati.
Published in fall issue (2021) of the Yale School of Drama's THEATER magazine.
when there’s little time left, what world can we create? What is our theatre?
a play-conversation & installation about love, catastrophe, capitalism and climate grief, and yes, theatre too.
Characters:
Figures:
There are four actors in this play
(though there could be staging/s where eight or more are cast)
They are called, in the play, One, Two, Three, and Four.
They refer to each other as first, second, third and fourth.
Later in the play, they will introduce themselves and use their real names.
The actors should be cast inclusively and reflective of the world, across age, gender identity/ies, sexual orientation, abled and disabled, ethnicity/ies, etc.
In no staging of this play should all the actors figure as white.