[NEohioPAL] CORRECTIONS: AUDITIONS FOR JOE TURNERS COME AND GONE AT KARAMU

[richard morris via NEohioPAL]

Karamu Performing Arts Theatre is holding Auditions
for the production of

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
by
 August Wilson

PERFORMANCE DATES: January 23 thru February 15, 2015

Directed by Terrence Spivey

AUDITION DATES
Wednesday, November 12, 2014 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 13, 2014 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

All roles are available
No AEA contracts available for this production.

AUDITION PREPARATION
Please prepare 2 contrasting monologues no more than 2 minutes each. All will be asked to
do a cold reading from the script. Please bring Head shot and Resume’ - if available, and also
bring a list of any known conflicts beginning November 24, to auditions. Conflicts made after
casting may result in re-casting.

LOCATION 2355 east 89th Street, Cleveland Ohio

ABOUT THE PLAY
Set in a Pittsburgh boarding house in 1911. Owners Seth and Bertha Holly play host to a makeshift
family of people who come to stay, some for days, some longer, during the Great Migration of the
early twentieth century when descendants of former slaves moved in large numbers from the South
toward the industrial cities of the North in search of new jobs, new lives and new beginnings. When
Harold Loomis arrives at the boarding house aft er seven years’ impressed labor on Joe Turner’s
chain gang, he is a free man—in body. But the scars of his enslavement and a sense of inescapable
alienation oppress his spirit still, and the seemingly hospitable rooming house seethes with tension
and distrust in the presence of this tormented stranger. Loomis is looking for the wife he left behind,
believing that she can help him reclaim his old identity.
It is considered Wilson’s favorite and is the second installment of his decade-by-decade chronicle
of the African-American experience, Th e Pittsburgh Cycle. Th e play was fi rst staged 1984 at the
Eugene O’Neill Th eater Center in Waterford, Connecticut and opened on Broadway on 27 March
1988 at the Ethel Barrymore Th eatre—running for 105 performances. Directed by Lloyd Richards,
the cast included Delroy Lindo as Herald Loomis and television and movie star, Angela Bassett, as
Loomis’s wife, Martha.


CAST OF CHARACTERS

Seth Holly-African- American Male , 50s. A craftsman and owner of the boardinghouse. Set in his
ways; quick to condemn others who do not follow respectable lifestyle; he is hard-working and always
looking for ways to make extra money; very comfortable in his world and doesn’t aspire to be
more.

Bertha Holly- Seth’s wife of 25 years and fi ve years his junior, Bertha runs the boardinghouse. She
does all the cooking and cleaning, later with the aid of Zonia.

Bynum Walker- A “conjure” man staying with the Holly’s at the boardinghouse, Bynum is in his sixties
and is a freed slave from the south.

Rutherford Selig- Th e only white character in the play, Selig is a peddler who sells Seth’s goods.
Known as the “People Finder”, Selig is from a family that first brought Africans across the Atlantic
to become slaves. But now he unites people by recording the names and places of all the people he
peddles to.

Jeremy Furlow- Another resident of the boardinghouse, Jeremy is a guitar-playing 25-year-old. He
came to the North looking for a job and a way in life. He works construction, putting in the new
road outside of town.

Herald Loomis- An odd man who dons an overcoat and hat in mid-August, Loomis is 32 and a
displaced slave searching for his wife. He was forced to work for Joe Turner for seven years, which
separated him from his wife and daughter. He works as a deacon for the Abundant Life Church and
at times was possessed by spiritual beings.

Zonia Loomis- Herald’s daughter, Zonia is described as a tall and skinny 11-year-old.
Mattie Campbell- Mattie is a 25-year-old girl who is disappointed with her position in life and is
looking for love.

Rueben Mercer- Rueben is the Holly’s next door neighbor and about Zonia’s age.

Molly Cunningham- Molly is a good looking young woman of 26 who is strong and independent.

Martha Pentecost- Loomis’ wife, Martha is about 28 and very religious and a member of the Evangelical
church. She left the South and her daughter behind.

Joe Turner- While Turner does not make an actual appearance in the play, he is oft en referred to
with the expectation that the audience is aware of who he is. Joe Turner, the brother of the governor
of Tennessee, would kidnap black men and force them into labor on his chain gang for seven years.


REHEARSALS
Consists of a 6 week rehearsal schedule, 3-6 time per week. Th e cast will receive
a Rehearsal schedule by the first cast meeting or first rehearsal.

If you have any Questions feel free to contact Richard H. Morris at
216.795.7070 ext.236.
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