CASTING NOTICE - DC FRINGE FESTIVAL

[Deidra Starnes]

Audition notices for Impeach!?

DC Fringe Festival 2020 World Premiere

By Jean P. Bordewich

 

AUDITIONS FOR PAID ACTING ROLES – In Washington, DC, Saturday, March 14 beginning at 10 am. (Callbacks: Sunday, March 15 beginning at 10 am). Stipend is $250 for non-equity; Fringe Equity contract for AEA members. DC 2020 Fringe Festival world premiere of a political drama set in Washington, DC in 1865-68. Must be available June-July for rehearsals and shows. Send headshot and acting resume to: impea...@gmail.com. Characters:

 

Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, white man in his late 60s- early 70s.

Leader of the radical Republicans in Congress, fiery abolitionist, uncompromising on racial equality, prosperous Pennsylvania lawyer. A dramatic, colorful, sarcastic, and persuasive orator and skillful, pragmatic politician who knew when to push hard and when to compromise.

Mrs. Lydia Hamilton Smith, African-American woman in her 40s-50s.

Stevens’ housekeeper, hostess, companion and confidante for 21 years, from 1847 to his death in 1868. Very protective of her independence, a strong advocate of rights for African-Americans and women; she is described as possessing “poise and great dignity.”

President Andrew Johnson, white man about 60.

A lifelong politician who rose from abject poverty and minor local office to the White House. An effective, two-fisted orator and canny politician with charismatic appeal to the white working class. Notoriously thin-skinned and extremely stubborn, he was a simmering volcano of rage, class resentment, and jealousy, who opposed equal rights for African-Americans.

George T. Downing, African-American man in his 40s.

From an affluent New York family of abolitionists who openly assisted African-Americans fleeing slavery before the war, Downing was widely considered the wealthiest African-American in America in his day, thanks to his high-end restaurant and catering businesses in New York and Rhode Island. He moved to DC near the end of the Civil War to run the Members’ restaurant in the Capitol, and became close to Senators and Representatives. He worked with Frederick Douglass, abolitionists in Congress, and others to push for radical Reconstruction of the South and equal rights for African-Americans.

 

Senator William Pitt Fessenden, white man in his early 60s.

A leading moderate Republican from a prominent abolitionist political family in Maine. Extremely influential as a leader in the Senate, he possessed a cold, dry, severe, sometimes sarcastic manner. He worked with closely with Stevens and others to pass the major Reconstruction legislation, but in the end voted to acquit President Johnson.

Irish-American Union Soldier from New York (doubling as presidential aide), white, young man in 20s or early 30s

This character represents young, working class northern whites who were Unionists and often drafted to fight the Civil War, but they did not want equal rights for African-Americans and they supported President Johnson.