Call for Actors - reading of new play "I Hate Everyone" on Saturday, March 21

[GARY DUEHR]

I am seeking actors for a table reading of my new play, "I Hate Everyone," a modern verse adaption of Moliere's "The Misanthrope." A pdf of the play is attached.

 

The reading is Saturday, March 21 at the Connexion in Somerville. We will rehearse 10-1 and perform 2-5. There is an honorarium of $100.

 

Based on Moliere's a 1666 comedy that mocks the hypocrisy of 17th-century Parisian high society, "I Hate Everyone" is set in the swampy politics of contemporary Washington, DC. The title character's loathing of hypocrisy and lies (and fake news) echoes Moliere's scathing satire. "I Hate Everyone" is a verse play in rhymed hexameter couplets, based on Moliere's Alexandrines: rhymed couplets with lines of 12 syllables each and a caesura (pause) in the middle. 

 

Contact me to arrange a Zoom audition at gdu...@comcast.net.

 

 

BIO

 

Based in Somerville, Gary Duehr teaches writing for local universities. His MFA is from the University of Iowa Writers Workshop, and he has a BA in Theater from Illinois State University.

He co-founded two theatre companies in Somerville: Theatre S. and Invisible Cities Group, which presented his original plays for a total of 14 years. His verse play "The Great Pickleball Debacle" was performed in the 2024 Boston Theater Marathon, and his verse play, "True Romance," was featured in the 2020 Equity Library Play Festival in New York. 

Duehr has been awarded an NEA Poetry Fellowship, and he has also received grants and fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the LEF Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. His books of poetry include Point Blank (In Case of Emergency Press), Winter Light (Four Way Books) and Where Everyone Is Going To (St. Andrews College Press).

 

 

CAST
There are roles for 9 actors, 3F and 6M. They range in age from 20s to 70s.

 

(Moliere's original names in italics)

 

AL (Alceste), the title misanthrope who hates society's hypocrisy and lies, but who has a blind spot in his affection for SAM. (Male, 30s.)

PHIL (Philinte), AL's best friend from childhood, who urges reason and going along with social norms. (Male, 30s.)

SAM (Celimene), the magnetic center about whom everyone revolves; she is flirtatious and strong-minded with a savage wit, more than a match for AL. (Female, 20s.)

LIZ (Eliante), SAM's cousin; she is straightforward and articulate, and she admires AL's honesty. (Female, 20s.)

GARRETT (Oronte), an aspiring poet and one of SAM's many suitors. (Male, 30s.)

CHARLEY (Acaste), another of SAM's suitors, who has a healthy ego; a super-agent who is very well connected.

(Male, 30s.)

ANDRE (Clitandre), yet another of SAM's suitors, a lawyer who's a power broker behind the scenes. (Male, 40s.)

ZOE (Arsinoe), SAM's "friend," though several years older; she's a far-right talk show host. (Female, 40s.)

BLAKE (Basque), SAM's assistant. (Male or female, 30s.)

PROCESS SERVER (A Guard), who serves court papers. (Male or female, 50s.)

DREW (Dubois), AL's aide, a comic bumbling figure. (Male or female, 70s.)

 

DOUBLING (Nine Actors)
BLAKE/ PROCESS SERVER/ DREW