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Notice)</title></head><body>
<div><font face="Courier New" size="+2" color="#000000">Auditions for
Seth Rozin's Missing Link will be held on Tuesday, November 16,<br>
and Thursday, November 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the Schenectady Civic
Playhouse,<br>
12 S. Church St., Schenectady. Registration for auditions begins
at 7:00 p.m.<br>
each night.<br>
<br>
Nathan and Gloria Berman relish the freedom brought on when their
13-year-old<br>
daughter Annie takes her first overnight trip to Paris on a school
trip,<br>
until the shocking news of the mid-air explosion of her flight topples
their<br>
marriage and their world. Jettisoned into separate grief-induced
journeys through<br>
the roots of their spiritual pasts, they are forced to re-examine the
faiths<br>
they both rejected years previously. A rich tapestry of flashback and
visions,<br>
this surrealistic play examines the role that faith plays in our
cultures.<br>
<br>
Director Ward Dales, has announced the following roles:<br>
<br>
Nathan Berman: a 39-year-old atheist Jew. He comes from a mixed
background of<br>
secular scientists and deeply pious Jews. Nathan is a successful<br>
anthropologist. He is very intellectual and attempts to process his
pain through reason,<br>
unsuccessfully: he needs to know how his daughter's plane crashed.
The actor<br>
playing Nathan must be able to create an emotional tempest without
spilling it.<br>
<br>
Gloria Berman: a 38-year-old agnostic. Raised a strict Catholic, she
has<br>
unresolved feelings about the Church due to the tragic death of her
father when<br>
she was a teen. Gloria is a social worker and is plagued by the desire
to<br>
understand why her daughter is dead.<br>
<br>
Grandpa: a 50-60-year-old, devout Jewish gentleman. He is full of
old-world<br>
wisdom and spends most of the play trying to help Nathan connect with
his soul.<br>
He is passionate and uses humorous anecdotes to cajole Nathan into
embracing<br>
his Jewish heritage and faith. (This role will probably be double-cast
with<br>
Australopithecus.)<br>
<br>
Australopithecus: He is the fantasy embodiment of Nathan's
companion<br>
skeleton. He appears for the climax of the play to help Nathan
understand the nature<br>
of lineage and the randomness of life's tragedies. He is a wry and
wise "<br>
caveman." (This role will probably be double-cast with Grandpa.)<br>
<br>
Mother: 50ish, unquestioning Catholic. She maintains her faith after
her<br>
husband's death, while Gloria loses hers. She sometimes becomes
Nathan's mother<br>
in overlapping flashback scenes. (May double as Ella Mims.)<br>
<br>
Ella Mims: 50ish. Ella is a self-actualized Catholic woman. She is a
groupie<br>
who follows a group of regular Virgin-Mary-sighting chasers. She
is<br>
methodical, wise and deeply understanding and compassionate. She is
mentor for Gloria.<br>
(May double as Mother.)<br>
<br>
Jean Staley: 30-40 years old-(non-Caucasian actresses are encouraged
to<br>
audition for this role). She's Ella's traveling companion, but is
jealous of Gloria<br>
's new bond with Ella. She is motivated to seek the Virgin in order
to escape<br>
an abusive marriage. She's not truly devout, and struggles with this
fact.<br>
(May double with Rabbi Marla Shener.)<br>
<br>
Rabbi Marla Shener: a 40ish widow, who once was a militant Zionist.
She has<br>
learned volumes from her personal grief and is somehow an unexpected
lifeline<br>
for Nathan. (May double with Jean.)<br>
<br>
Mark Silvera: 30's (minority actors are encouraged to audition). He
is a<br>
Spanish teacher at the school where the Bermans' daughter went to
school. A<br>
fair-weather Catholic, he wants to blame the crash on Annie's Jewish
heritage in<br>
order to facilitate his own school field trip. Strong character actor
needed.<br>
(Probably to be triple-cast with the following characters.)<br>
<br>
Gravedigger: 30ish Pakistani man (Minority actors are encouraged
to<br>
audition). He is blind. He is very wise and forthright. (Probably
triple-cast with Mark<br>
and the vendor.)<br>
<br>
Vendor: 30ish working-class "Joe" who puts Gloria in her place
(minority<br>
actors are encouraged to audition). He is straightforward and coarse
in his<br>
language. (Probably triple-cast with Mark and the vendor.)<br>
<br>
Annie: 13-15 years old. Nathan and Gloria's daughter. She appears in
one</font></div>
<div><font face="Courier New" size="+2" color="#000000">scene only as
an apparition of the Virgin Mary. This character speaks broken<br>
French, just as a second- or third-year student would. Rehearsals for
this<br>
character will be limited.<br>
<br>
Each role has been described separately, though the director hopes to
double-<br>
and triple-cast several roles if possible. He also encourages actors
to<br>
contact producer Michael McDermott at 669-5414 to obtain a copy of the
script and<br>
sides, if available. Mr. Dales encourages minority actors to
audition for the<br>
production.</font></div>
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