SEARCH FOR ABNORMAL LOADS

Writer/theatre maker Neil Coppen, the imagination behind award-winning plays such as Tin Bucket Drum and Tree Boy and recipient of this year’s Standard Bank Young Artist award for Drama, is currently searching for three talented local actors to fill leading roles in his new play titled Abnormal Load.

Abnormal Load will premiere at this year’s Grahamstown Main Festival programme before travelling to festivals around the country. Actors keen to audition must be available for rehearsals in Durban from mid- May through to the end of June with performances taking place from July 1 to 4 2011 in Grahamstown.

Coppen’s newest play is set in a fictional battle-field town in KwaZulu-Natal and freewheels through two centuries of South African history. Events follow the intersecting lives of several small- town characters.

Coppen calls the work in progress a funny, exhilarating, surreal and moving mini-epic in the making and is looking for performers with a filmic acting sensibility who are able to move extremely well.

The Abnormal Load creative team is about to embark on a countrywide search for three of the lead actors. The team are looking for experienced, multi-talented performers to fill the roles of:

Vincent: Black Male (24-30). Vincent is the protagonist of the play. After his parents are killed in a car accident, he is raised by his English grandmother, a colonial historian. Vincent is bright, well-read and eloquent. He is a little unsure of his life’s purpose and has spent most of his twenties flitting between a variety of menial jobs while nursing his grandmother in their derelict farmhouse. Vincent is reclusive, a loner, afraid of the world beyond the farm gates. Through most of the story he is attempting to reconnect (rather unsuccessfully) with his Zulu ancestry. Actors auditioning for Vincent must audition with a Hamlet monologue/soliloquy of their choice and a South African monologue of their choice.

Katrien Vos: White Afrikaans Female (14–22) is the estranged teenage daughter of a NG Kerk Doominie. She has grown up in a conservative town and is often frowned upon by locals for her “rebellious” behaviour. When we meet, Katrien has been expelled from high school and is working as a cashier at the local Pick n’ Pay. She has an unconventional beauty, is aloof, dark, quirky and misunderstood. She has a intense (some say disturbed) imagination and is constantly dreaming up new ways to escape the town. Actresses auditioning must look in their mid to late teens (14 to 19 years old) and be fluent in both Afrikaans and English (or be able to maintain a convincing Afrikaans accent.) Actresses must audition with an Ophelia monologue of their choice from Hamlet and a short South African monologue.

Prudence Cele: Black Female(19-25). Prudence is young woman who had been forced to relinquish her tertiary studies and work as a domestic worker after her mother passes away. Prudence is resilient, perceptive, compassionate and optimistic. She is wise beyond her years and has a seven year-old son whom she adores. Actresses auditioning for Prudence must audition with an Ophelia monologue of their choice from Hamlet and a South African Monologue of their choice.

Durban Auditions will be taking place at the UKZN Drama campus (Venue TBC) on February 25 from 14h00 onwards. Actors and Actresses auditioning are required to bring along two ID photographs and CV to include with their applications. To book a slot, contact Margie Coppen on 083 251 9412 or email ncoppen@gmail.com

(NB: Actors from outside Durban are welcome to post a DVD of their Audition or a DV cassette tape. These must reach 5 Tividale Road, Cowies Hill, Durban, 3610, before February 28)