A Spare Me Auditions

Synopsis

In an era of dwindling resources and population, the survival of humanity rests on its final generation. Individuals selected for their genius and skills are enrolled into specialty schools and given everything they need to survive and excel - including identical spare bodies in the events of their deaths. When one student dies in an accident at the start of the play, he begins to reconsider his evolving identity. While other students begin to reconsider their own identities and the identities of others, spares and primaries begin to go missing, and increasingly drastic and world-shaping developments begin to unfold. Importantly queer coded and first performed in 2012, A Spare Me looks at identity, what it means to “be” someone, what it means to let go of or hold onto a past you can or can’t quite remember, how societal expectations shape us, and the differences between malice and ignorance.

 

Production Team

Director – Devin Dumas

Stage Manager – Liz Monte

Assistant Stage Manager – Thomas Ciarla

Producers – Krystle Bernier, Kelly Gagner, and Jami Wilson

Costume Designer – Emily Bozenhard

Lighting Designer – Sophia Tulik

 

Where

Exit 7 Players Theater, 37 Chestnut St., Ludlow, MA

 

When

Monday, February 17 from 6:30PM to 9:30PM

Wednesday, February 19 from 6:30PM to 9:30PM

Auditions will be open call, and each audition will be held privately with the production team on a first-come first-served basis. If you cannot make either audition timeframe, please indicate so on the form and we will attempt to accommodate accordingly.

 

Callbacks

Sunday, February 23 from 2:00PM to 5:00PM

By invite only. Those called for callbacks will be provided and asked to prepare sides to read with others at callbacks. Anyone with a scheduling conflict for callbacks should let the production team know at auditions, and we will attempt to accommodate accordingly.

 

Age Requirements

You must be at least 18 years old by March 2025 to be considered for any roles depicting self-harm, intimacy, or other certain themes - you must be at least 16 years old by March of 2025 to be considered for any other roles (see roles for minimum age requirements). Barring that, all are encouraged to audition regardless of race, gender, age, or sexual orientation.

 

Preparation

For your audition, please choose and prepare 1 or 2 of the provided character selections (located at the bottom). If a selection has two short monologues on one page (i.e. SEL 2, DOS 1), please prepare both alongside another character selection if desired. After you’ve finished with your prepared selection(s), the production team may ask you to reread a selection in a different way or to read for another character. Memorization is not required, but preparation of your chosen selection(s) is encouraged.

 

Rehearsals

Scenes in A Spare Me are dynamically cast - until around May, not everyone will be called to every rehearsal, allowing flexibility with scheduling. To accommodate the busyness of this season in our local theater community, we would like to build a rehearsal schedule around cast availability (with as much regularity as possible). When registering to audition, please note any dates that would conflict with a pending rehearsal schedule, tech week rehearsals, and performance dates. Please be honest to the best of your knowledge - this is to build a schedule that works for the entire cast, and this cannot be done without accuracy.

 

Performance Dates and Times

June 13, 14, 20, and 21 at 8:00PM

June 14, 15, 21, 22 at 2:00PM

 

Please note that Saturdays have afternoon and evening performances, and dinner will be provided on these days.

 

Characters

SEL (male-presenting, age ≥18) - “The replacement.” Sel dies in an accident before the start of the play, at which point his consciousness is uploaded to his spare. Sel is bright, and throughout the play he struggles with deciding to portray the identity of the Sel that died or to embrace the identity that is emerging, and if that new identity might have already been there. He begins engaging in self-harm and is confronted by Prox about all of this, and the two develop a relationship. Must be okay with same-sex kissing. Must be okay with opposite-sex kissing. Must be okay with mentioned recreational drug use. Must be okay with depicting self-harm.

 

DOPPE (non-gender specific, age ≥18) - “The murderer.” One of Sel’s friends from before the accident, they were driving them both against their better judgement when the accident happened. Doppe struggles to understand why Sel wants to explore his identity. Though they struggle to remain friends with the “new” Sel, they still want to at least help him come to terms with himself. Must be okay with mentioned recreational drug use.

 

WIN (female-presenting, age ≥18) - “The architect.” Sel’s partner from before the accident, and the daughter of the inventors of the spares. Win doesn’t recognize Sel as the same boy from before the accident, but doesn’t resent him, either. Win begins to question the ethicality of the spares – how they’re preserved, how they’re created, and how they’re treated by others when they can’t exactly match their predecessors. Win begins an investigation into this, and she develops a plan to break the system. Must be okay with opposite-sex kissing.

 

ELGA (non-gender specific, age ≥16) - “The intelligence expert.” The school prefect, an officiator of sorts for the student body. Elga catches on to Win’s investigation into the creating and preservation of the spares, and rather than being upset at Win’s investigation, they’re upset that Win didn’t tell them about it sooner. A bit self-obsessed but righteous nonetheless, Elga sees the investigation as something great, and they support Win in her proceedings.

 

TWO (non-gender specific, age ≥16) - “The biomechanic.” A touch eccentric and a performing artist, they were reciting poetry at a concert that Sel and Doppe were on their way to before the accident. Friendly with most, but they do not believe Sel is the same boy from before the accident. Two assists Win and Elga in their investigation.

 

PROX (male-presenting, age ≥18) - “The outcast.” A spare since the age of 7, a secret which he’s kept from anyone but his mother and father. Treated poorly by his peers, he believes it is because he is a spare and that the others are just unable to realize. Prox develops an understanding with Sel and Tee and plays an important role in Win’s plan. Prox has learned to live with his primary personality’s voice still in his head while still exploring facets of his own. He is the first to confront Sel on how he’s feeling and his self-harm, and he develops a relationship with him. Must be okay with same-sex kissing.

 

PAIR (non-gender specific, age ≥16) - “The righteous.” Win and Ult’s sibling, they either know it all or want to know it all. Pair is suspicious of Win’s investigation and attempts to threaten it, but never necessarily gets in the way of it.

 

ULT (non-gender specific, age ≥16) - “The kid.” Win and Ult’s younger sibling, they’re still figuring things out. They’re a good kid, and they help deliver messages for Win’s plan.

 

TEE (female-presenting, age ≥18) - “The new girl.” Win’s spare. Woken up by Win, she plays an important role in Win’s plan once Win goes into hiding. Tee does not attempt to hide that they are a spare, nor that they sees themselves as having their own personality. Tee is bullied and hated for this and is at one point beaten by Mirr and Mita. Tee is protected by Prox and Sel and is helped by them to fulfil Win’s plan. Must be okay with staged physical violence.

 

MIRR (non-gender specific, age ≥18) - “The competition.” A bully, they harass Prox often alongside Mita. They beat up Tee at one point, after which their backup is tweaked to overwrite their real intelligence to make them less violent. Must be okay with staged physical violence.

 

MITA (non-gender specific, age ≥18) - “The joker.” A bully, they harass Prox often alongside Mirr. They beat up Tee at one point, after which their backup is tweaked to overwrite their real intelligence to make them less violent. Must be okay with staged physical violence.

 

COP (female-presenting, age ≥18) - “The adventurer.” A spare who left home with Dos and Alawa to be with others like themselves. They believe that spares that are released without the backed-up memories of their primary personalities can have no personality.

 

DOS (female-presenting, age ≥18) - “The runaway.” A recent spare in love with Alawa. Her parents disapproved of her relationship with Alawa, a spare. In response, she ultimately committed suicide to become a spare, thinking her parents couldn’t disapprove then. She was then abused by her parents to try to get them to be more like their primary self, and she was ultimately disowned and fled to the elusive Dorm with Alawa. She does not want to go back to hers or Alawa’s parents. Must be okay with opposite-sex kissing.

 

ALAWA (male-presenting, age ≥18) - “The stowaway.” A spare in love with Dos. His parents were accepting of him after he became a spare, even throwing a welcome party for him. Though Dos was welcome at his parents’ home, he left a note for his parents and ran away to the elusive Dorm with Dos after she was disowned. Alawa does not want to cut ties with his parents, and he is conflicted on whether to return or not. Must be okay with opposite-sex kissing.

 

ECO (female-presenting, age ≥18) - “The counselor.” Close with Ondary and in charge of the Dorm. Though she views any spare’s parents as “captors,” she hides that she deeply misses her parents. She believes that all spares should choose a new name different from their primary personalities, a sentiment she argues that Prox has been conditioned to disagree with. Though she challenges it, she does believe in Win’s plan, but nonetheless ultimately insists that the Dorm still needs to exist as a space for those who don’t have anywhere to go.

 

ONDARY (non-gender specific, age ≥18) - “The rebel.” Close with Eco, they hold considerable respect for her and act as a sort of second in command to her. They don’t immediately believe in Win’s plan, but they trust Eco’s judgement. They challenge Win’s plan just as equally as Eco does, as well as if Eco truly doesn’t miss her parents like she says she doesn’t.

 

If you have any questions, please contact the production team.

 

Please register to audition in advance. 

 

Character selections for auditioning can be found here.