Notes on Casting

For the protagonist (Phoebe) and her three friends (Rae, Liv and Loaf) we are looking for actors who can play mid-20s. For Romaine-La-Prophétesse, we are looking for a Black actor on the transfem <> genderqueer spectrum. All other roles are flexible in terms of voice part, age, and identities– this is a new work and the actors will help to shape the roles for this production. The roles of “The Bed” and Carl Solomon have been pre-cast.

❋ Setting

Bulltown: a small city that feels like a small town in central NC. 
September 2013

❋ Locations

The Homo Haunt: a collective house where Phoebe, Liv & Rae reside. Site of Freakquinox party. Falling apart, well-loved, full of treasured trash.

Perkalicious: the coffee shop where Phoebe works and occasionally falls in love.

 Spruce Towers: the mental hospital.

Characters

Acts 1 & 3

Phoebe: she/her. 25-year-old chaotic queer femme barista, college dropout, and amateur songwriter. Phoebe experiences a wide variety of psychological/spiritual states throughout the show, including ecstatic highs, debilitating lows, and connections to other worlds- both beautiful and terrifying. With a family consisting of art snobs and yuppies from New York, Phoebe prefers the porches and rivers in NC, where she has lived for the last 7 years (the last 3 at the Homo Haunt)

 

Rae: they/them. 24-year-old vegan animal rescuer living at the Homo Haunt. Prefers animals over people, night over day, snark over sincerity. Uses they/them but prefers to not be perceived at all. Works a million jobs (bakery, grocery store, farmhand) and steals from most of them. Likes being in the woods, kayaks with gusto. From a rural background, but would rather not talk about it. Heart of gold.

 

Liv: she/her. 26-year-old burnt-out community organizer who runs an underfunded "center". Resident den mother of the Homo Haunt, the only one who consistently does the dishes and opens the mail. Used to be vegan. Accustomed to taking care of everyone, can she learn how to take care of herself? The only person at the Homo Haunt who is in regular contact with their family and actually answers the phone.


Loaf: all pronouns. 27, but also ageless. Dreamy, ace, genderqueer visitor to the Homo Haunt from a magical realm. A trainhopper and hitchhiker who makes art out of found materials- transforming trash into treasure (check out their tumblr!)- and makes friends wherever they go.

Cat-leen Hannah: (puppet) One-eyed cat with a punk rock hairdo found by Rae on the side of the road and brought to the Homo Haunt- but was it a rescue or kidnapping? Cats to the front!

 

Hardcore Bike Mechanic: Runs a YouTube channel with HARDCORE music and HARDCORE advice about fixing yr bike and pranking yr boss.

Act 2

Doctor: Leads a brief intake session with Phoebe, dictating his judgmental notes outloud. Seems to delight in others' precarity.

 

Group Leader: Checked-out social worker who is going through the motions. Not paid enough to be present.

 

Carl Solomon: *Actual historical figure* Long overlooked Beat poet, active in the New York scene in the 1960s & 70s. As a frequent resident of psychiatric institutions, Carl is Phoebe's guide to the underworld of the mental hospital. Anxious to escape his frenemy Allen Ginsberg's shadow and committed to exposing the reality inside, Carl has something to say, and it's time we all listen, dammit!  

 

Isobel Gowdie: *Actual historical figure* A raucous and sexually empowered woman who confessed to witchcraft in Scotland in 1662. She has stories about the devil that you wouldn't believe! Let’s just say she dances with the devil and then some. How will the hospital respond to her uncontainable free spirit? Ask her about her coven. 

 

Romaine-La-Prophetesse: *Actual historical figure* A prophetic and visionary leader in the Haitian Revolution (sparked in 1791) who defied all gender norms and seized land, power, and freedom. Manifestor of new worlds with a direct line to the virgin Mary. Magnetic and disarming with a sudden and intense sense of humor. Looking for an actor who is Black and on the genderqueer<>transfem spectrum.  

 

Hildegard von Bingen: *Actual historical figure* Medieval German visionary nun with too many gifts to name: artist, composer, scientist, writer, leader, healer, and more. Her work has survived her death in 1179 and is kept alive by many who find it deeply relevant today. Hildegard is patient and wise, a voice of encouragement in the exploration of visions, and writes some killer melodies. 

 

Anti-Anxiety Medication: Orderly, rule follower, a little rigid. Concerned with compliance with a medication regimen and with all rules and regulations in general. Helpful in the boardroom, not who you want to find at a party. Reluctantly part of the genderfuck medication boyband. Insists on playing the drums so they can be in charge of time.

 

Anti-Depressant Medication: Toxic positivity embodied. The most popular girl in town. Really trying, with mixed results- and totally working on that. Bubbly, unflappable. Enthusiastically part of the genderfuck medication boyband.

 

Atypical Antipsychotic Medication: Strange, advanced, futuristic, unknowable. We don't know what they're doing, but they are doing it! They know next season's styles and are wearing them. The newest member of the genderfuck medication boyband.

 

Lithium: Old school. Salty (literally lithium carbonate), sassy, been through it all and back again, so you can't even try them. Maligned and stigmatized, in a one-way feud with the Atypical Antipsychotic who acts all new and superior. Rough history, but also a loyal long-term mate when given the chance. Leader and founding member of the genderfuck medication boyband.