Acting Midwest eZine

Auditon date(s)/times -
2/13/2010 12 PM -Meeting Room C until 3pm
2/18/2010 6 PM -Meeting Room A until 8pm

Downtown Allen County Public Library
900 Webster St (off of West Wayne)
Fort Wayne IN

Street Parking available, Library Parking is free with an allen county library card.

Audition Sides are available upon request

Set in a small Midwestern town, this is the story of 5 disillusioned young adults struggling to find their way in an environment of apathy, violence, drugs, and disaffection.

Deacon has just returned to his hometown from Los Angeles and is immediately thrown back into the world he tried so hard to escape. His best friend Marlon has fallen deeper into a lifestyle filled with random acts of violence, substance abuse, and criminal behavior, and he is all too willing to bring Deacon back into that lifestlye.

While visiting home Deacon meets Lydia and soon realizes that Marlon isn\'t the only one that the mediocre life in the small, dull city has brought down. Or could it be the choices they all have made? Everyone\'s lives slowly spiral out of control as they realize they are responsible for their pasts, they can\'t seem to escape the bleak present, and the future holds no place for them.

Does not pay talent

IPFW Film Productions/Kiowa Ackley/Matt McCrory & Nichole Root

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
260-385-1861

• DEACON: (Male, early to late twenties, Any ethnicity) Although once comfortable spending his days getting wasted and his nights getting into fights, Deacon has since refuted that lifestyle and moved away from his hometown 5 years ago. On the verge of getting a record deal in Los Angeles, Deacon feels compelled to return to his hometown to make amends with his sister Missy and best friend Marlon. He was raised by a single mother who has struggled to make ends meet while trying to provide for him and his younger sister. His father has been in and out of prison his whole life and Deacon has never really had a relationship with him. Deacon\'s lack of paternal influence forced him to step up and care for his mother and sister. Thus, his responsibilities and maturity began to separate him from his so-called friends. Because he quickly tired his narrow-minded Midwestern existence, and the person he was becoming, he left.
• MARLON: (Male, early to late twenties, Any ethnicity) Marlon lives at home with his mother and stepfather, but keeps his distance from them by living in the basement and getting out as much as possible. His persona appears to be a tough, domineering leader. He uses violence and manipulation to control the lives of those around him, focusing a lot of his energy on keeping his \"friends\" under his thumb. He resents Deacon for leaving and going to L.A. and uses Deacon\'s sister as an indirect way to keep in contact with him. In reality, Marlon is afraid of the unknown so he controls the people around him to maintain his and their lifestyle even though it is an unsavory lifestyle. His ability to grab onto another person\'s weakness and use it for his own means is so good that most of them never realize what is going on. They simply listen and abide by Marlon. Marlon has no goals, no real ambition other than keeping everyone in their place, and has never had to be accountable for his doings.
• LYDIA: (Female, mid to late twenties, Any ethnicity) Originally from a suburb of a Midwestern city, Lydia\'s parents moved to the small Midwestern town in which Spiral is set, 7 years ago. She has the ability and desire to better herself, but she is extremely co-dependent. Opportunities have been available along the way but she has passed on them due to her inability to venture on her own and also because she truly doesn\'t know exactly what she wants for her future. She denies the many advances of Marlon, because she sees right through him. She now lives in misery with her boyfriend Dave. Their relationship is slowly and surely failing more and more each day due, in large part, to Marlon\'s negative influence on him. She holds onto the relationship because she is clinging to the memory of what it was at the start. She knows, deep down, Dave is not a bad guy. In her Freshman year of high school she had a rocky relationship with her first love. She opened herself up and refused to let herself believe that the guy was selfish and only concerned with his needs. He tried to control her in many ways and when her dad got a job out of town, she was able to get away from him. When she meets Deacon she feels like maybe this is her shot to get out of her current situation, yet her anxiety and fear of the unknown slowly builds back up.
• MISSY: (Female, late teens to early 20s, Any ethnicity) 20, and the younger of two siblings, Missy has always felt like the black sheep in a family that wasn\'t exactly perfect to begin with. She loves her brother Deacon, because he has always looked out for her when they were growing up. Deep down, she feels lost and confused with what she wants to do in life and has used this lack of drive as an excuse to never really apply herself. This, in turn, has led their mother to favor Deacon and Missy feels that she, along with everyone else, has given up on her and she may have given up on herself. When Deacon leaves, matters only get worse for Missy. She begins an unsteady relationship with his best friend Marlon in a halfhearted attempt to feed off his pseudo power. When Deacon returns, Missy resentment for him leaving comes out as well as her embarrassment that she has still done nothing with her life.
• DAVE: (Male, mid to late twenties, Any ethnicity) Dave is 25 and was born in Eastern somewhere. In high school he was never very gregarious or outgoing and spent most of his time alone playing video games or studying. He grew up bouncing from foster home to foster home, mostly ending up with families who only took him in for the extra government money. He never felt at home anywhere and never had a close friend in his life. He meets Lydia through Marlon and doesn\'t realize Marlon has only befriended him because he knew he could control him. Dave is so happy to be accepted by Marlon that he will go along with whatever he says. Though Dave truly cares about Lydia, his feelings are filtered by Marlon\'s manipulation. This has led him to mirror Marlon\'s own sense of controlling behavior and animosity towards Lydia. Their relationship has become unstable because Dave fears that Lydia may be the woman Marlon is making her out to be.
• GINA: (Female, early to mid twenties, Any ethnicity). Gina is Lydia\'s best friend who works at the record store with her. Like the other characters, she feels trapped with her current situation and dead end job, but uses her humor in an attempt to lighten up the often dismal and bleak attitudes of those around her.
• ROCCO: (Male, late twenties to early thirties, Any ethnicity). Rocco is the closest thing to the kingpin of organized crime in the small Midwestern town in which Spiral is set. He takes Marlon under his wing and shows him how to earn a living without following the rules their parents did and working meaningless jobs. He never really questions whether there is more for him in life, nor does he ponder how he would hold up in a larger city attempting to live his life this way. He is content keeping people close enough to get what he wants from them and he believes if you need or want something, then there shouldn’t be laws telling you that you can’t take it in any way you see fit.
• CHRISTINE: (Female, mid to late twenties, Any ethnicity). Christine is the young troubled mother of 6 kids. She seems to be shunned by everyone in town, including her former friend Lydia, and only finds attention from the men she sleeps with. She spends most of her time attempting to raise her kids the only way she knows how, but sometimes questions if the environment she surrounds them with is the healthiest for them. Her questioning, however, never leads to any action to change the situation.
• JANICE: (Male, late 30s to early 50s, Any ethnicity). The mother of Deacon and Missy, Janice has worked her whole life trying to provide for her kids, but never really feels like she has done enough for them. She took her kids away from their father and her husband in order to protect them from his criminal behavior. She has always relied her son Deacon to help her take care of his younger sister Missy and is proud that he is attempting to make a life for himself. She wants Missy to do the same, but has never found a way to effectively communicate with her, and their discussions quickly turn to arguments.

Additional Cast Members:

• POLICE OFFICERS: In need of two males (20s-50s, any ethnicity) to play police officers. Having an actual Police Officer uniform and knowledge of police work, greatly helps.
• LARGE MAN: Also in need of a man with a large build (20s-30s, Any ethnicity) who is able to be menacing and tough. Minor stunts involved.

Next >