Student Auditions

THEATER EMORY   

EMORY STUDENT AUDITIONS FOR SPRING
2026 PRODUCTIONS OF  

WEEK ONE: Jan. 27-February 1, 2026 

• Where Pathways Meet by a.k. payne, directed by Lydia Fort 

• Suicide Rom Com by Ali Viterbi, directed by Amber McGinnis 

WEEK TWO: APRIL 14-19, 2026 

• Love and Abolition by Phanésia Pharel, director TBA  

• I’m Gonna be the Governor by Ainsley Powers, directed by Caitlin Hargraves 

Venue: Schwartz Center, Theater Lab  

AUDITION DATES: 

• Sat., NOV. 1, 10 AM-5 PM, Rich Building (Emory students and Non-union Pros) 
• Sun., NOV. 2, 11 AM.-2 PM. (Emory Students Only) 

*All gender identities, ethnicities, body types, and abilities encouraged to audition   

PREPARATION (PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY):      

• FILL OUT AUDITION FORM: 
  • PLEASE FILL OUT THE GOOGLE AUDITION FORM (LINK ABOVE) PRIOR TO SIGNING UP FOR YOUR TIME SLOTS. EVERYONE MUST FILL OUT A FORM. 
  • Within the form it instructs you to upload a headshot or a good selfie. You may also bring a printed photo and a resume stapled together, but online submission is preferred. 
• SIGN UP FOR AN 8-minute AUDITION TIME SLOT: 
• Prepare a 1-2 minute contemporary MONOLOGUE of your choice.
  • While a memorized monologue is not required, it is highly preferable and gives the director the best sense of who you are as an actor. 
  • If memorization isn’t possible, that’s ok, but we encourage you to print out the text on paper rather than having it on your phone.
  • We have also made some monologues available if you need some options.  

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: 

• ACCOMMODATIONS: If you have any medical conditions, disabilities, or need special accommodation, please let us know before your audition. The director is committed to working with you to create an accessible audition experience that honors your physical self. 
  
• IF STUDYING ABROAD FALL 2025: 
  • For those studying abroad during Fall 2025, upload your headshot, your resume, and complete audition information online through the Audition Google Form as indicated above in the preparation information. 
  • Please submit a video that includes a 1-2 minute contemporary monologue and 16 bars of a bluesy/folky/bluegrassy song. There is info and a box to upload your video imbedded within the Google audition form. 
  • All forms must be submitted, and videos completed and submitted/imbedded NO LATER THAN Saturday, November 1 at 11:59 pm. EDT. 

CASTING COORDINATOR: ROSALIND STAIB   

LOCATION FOR AUDITIONS   
Rich Memorial Building, Room 210    

Located at 1602 Fishburne Dr., across from the Fishburne Parking Deck (Park in Visitors’ Parking at Fishburne Deck. Parking is free on weekends.)  For more information on parking and visiting our Emory Campus, click here: https://theater.emory.edu/stage/plan-your-visit.html   

Emory University Main Campus, Atlanta, GA 30322    

Have questions? Email: teauditions@gmail.com    

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PROJECT/CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:    

1. SUICIDE ROM COM by Ali Viterbi

Overview/Description: 

Mia wants Jay. Jay wants to die. A fragmented fable about the nature of love, SUICIDE ROM COM explores our hunger for connection and the explosive collision of desire with the demons that haunt us. What happens when you find your other half, and that other half consumes you? SUICIDE ROM COM depicts the arc of a single relationship as two people come together... and tear each other apart. 

CONTENT WARNING: This play deals heavily with the topics of suicide, self-harm, mental illness, and depression. It also includes sexual content, strong language, allusions to BDSM, and some violence. 

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:  

CAST SIZE: 2 (STUDENTS) 

• MIA: She/her/hers; Late 20s, Baby bisexual, Baby depressed 
• JAY: She/her/hers, Late 20s, Queer AF, Suicidal, most of the time, Also plays Dates 1-5
  

2. Where Pathways Meetby a.k. payne

Overview/Description:   
Minnie and Dwight live in a world on fire. And so they take off from 'earth' with dreams of starting anew on a planet all their own. What happens to the tongues and rhythms of the once colonized and enslaved when they first taste true freedom? What happens when Minnie & Dwight's dreams and visions wither and diverge? Who remembers and who forgets?  

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN: 

CAST SIZE: 5 (Students considered for all roles, however, we anticipate 1-2 Non-union Pro actors to join the cast)  

• DWIGHT: a Black man, any age  

• MINNIE: a Black woman the same age as DWIGHT  

• JACKSON: a Black person of any gender, late twenties  

• SGT.: a Black person of any gender and any age  

• BETTS: a Black person of any gender, mid-late twenties   

 
3. LOVE AND ABOLITION by Phanésia Pharel

Overview/Description:   
Love and Abolition is a completion of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel, The Brothers. It is the only novel in which Jane Austen introduced a black character, and in this adaptation, by a black woman we pay homage to Austens singular formula while asking - what does it mean to be an abolitionist? 

 Content warning: Alcoholism, Racism, Slavery 

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN: 

CAST SIZE: 5-9 total in cast.  

We anticipate 1 non-union professional actor to join the cast in an age-appropriate role, but most of the roles will be cast with students. 

• CHARLOTTE HEYWOOD: Early 20s. Hold an almost irritating joy and admiration for life. She never doubles.  

• POPPY HEYWOOD: Early 20’s. The second eldest daughter. Poppy has a quippy and sharp exterior. Constantly overshadowed by Charlotte. While she loves her older sister, she secretly resents her and wants to up her.  

• HEYWOOD PA: The father of both Charlotte and Poppy. Doubles with Surgeon. 

• OLD TOWN GOSSIP: Middle Aged. Meddling as a profession. Single woman with a relentless and insatiable appetite for attention. In other plays she might be the greek chorus but she is formidable all by her lonesome. Doubles with Lady Denham. 

• JONATHAN PARKER: Middle Aged. Business man. Well meaning.  

• LADY DENHAM: Jonathan Parker’s donor. A widow with a keen interest in turning the town of Sandinton into a premiere resort for courting. Doubles with Old Town Gossip. 

• SIDNEY PARKER: Brooding poet. Jonathan’s younger brother. He is “so above” all of this season stuff. He is an eligible bachelor whose older brother is desperate to see him settle down.  

• SIR ARTHUR: A man rich in title but not in money. A complete Rake the modern day version of an expletive I prefer to not use here.  

• CASSANDRA LAMBE: Very wealthy. A young unsure woman in grief. Completely dissasified and unsure on how she will move forward in her life.  

• SURGEON- Lower class man who has found himself one ring up as a surgeon. Doubles with Heywood’s PA. 

• GEORGE HEYWOOD: A cousin of the Heywood’s.
   
  

 4. I’M GONNA BE THE GOVERNOR by Ainsley Powers

Overview/Description:   
7 girls from all over Texas gather to compete to be the next female youth governor of the great Bluebonnet state. Everybody’s here to learn; some are here to win. The play takes place over five days, as the girls meet, interview, deliver campaign speeches, and propose a mock court case, following their pursuit of future feminist leadership. Scholarships, positions, and the coveted governorship are on the line. For better or worse, the girls must agree on how to achieve them.  

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN: 

CAST SIZE: 7 total in cast. All students. 

• ELLA (Houston) Wants to be the governor. Unapologetically ambitious, unapologetically qualified, probably thinks she’s smarter than you. Wants to be governor. 
• VICTORIA (Santa Fe) Always feels like she’s one step behind or one sentence behind or just not quite there. Is thinking about the supreme court. 
• JANE (Bastrop) She saw the movie. She’s a debater. She wishes she were at Boys State. Feels confident about Attorney General. 
• MQ (Plano) Refuses to take anything too seriously. Which is sometimes what everybody needs, and sometimes what everybody despises. Fearless sense of humor. Didn’t know a campaign was happening. 
• LAINEY (Wichita Falls) Her first time away from home. Often misunderstood. She looks like a republican. Wants to be the governor, needs the scholarship. 
• LAWYER GIRL FROM THE OTHER GROUP: She talks fast, faster than anyone you’ve ever heard, and oh my god she knows everything. 
• LAWYER GIRL 2 FROM THE OTHER GROUP: Unafraid to offend you, if it means she can win. 

THEATER EMORY REHEARSALS DURING BRAVE NEW WORKS:  

BRAVE NEW WORKS typically rehearses during one week for 16-20 hours, which includes one staged reading at the end of the week, either on the Saturday or Sunday. Rehearsals can happen Tuesday-Friday, between 6 pm.-10 pm., and Saturdays from 10 am.-7 pm. We schedule rehearsals around your class/work conflicts as much as possible, however, since this is a one-week project, it is expected that students will be called for most rehearsals during that week.   

Theater Emory is the producing affiliate of Theater Studies within the Department of Theater and Dance at Emory University. Theater Emory, offering performances during the academic school years since the late 1980s, primarily utilizes and showcases student actors in its Fall and Spring productions. However, non-union acting professionals are invited to audition for certain roles where appropriate.  

Any member of the Emory community is welcome to audition for Theater Emory productions. A major or minor in Theater Studies is not required.

Performers of all abilities, gender identities, ages, ethnic and racial histories, and socio-economic backgrounds are encouraged to attend.