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in professional theatre by and for Alaskans ~
Perseverance thanks all our supporters who have helped us survive and thrive through the past few years of unique and unprecedented challenges.
Casting Call for The Thanksgiving Play
The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse
Perseverance Theatre is officially accepting auditions for an upcoming production of The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse, directed by Frank Henry Kaash Katasse. Those auditioning will receive sides from the show and will be asked to submit a self-taped video for consideration.
Juneau locals: If you require technical assistance or a space to capture your audition, please email casting@ptalaska.org to make a reservation for our Phoenix Black Box space on Sunday, November 17 or Monday, November 18.
The deadline for submissions is November 18, 2024. Only non-union contracts available.
This show will be produced and performed in Juneau, then transferred to Anchorage.
Perseverance Theatre provides round-trip travel, housing, and local transportation when away from your home city.
Juneau Rehearsal Dates: January 21-February 27, 2025
Juneau Performance Dates: February 28-March 16, 2025
Anchorage Rehearsal Dates: April 1-2, 2025
Anchorage Performance Dates: April 4-13, 2025
Want to request audition sides? Have any questions? Please email casting@ptalaska.org.
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
The Thanksgiving Play is a wacky tale of wokeness and centers a high school theatre director, her overly earnest actor boyfriend, a Los Angeles-based actress (the real deal), and a shy academic turned aspiring theatre maker on their well-intentioned quest to create a politically correct play about the first Thanksgiving for their local elementary school. Cultural sensitivity is the utmost priority in their process of creating this work with only one major problem: All of them are white. Follow these artists as they’re forced to confront their own biases and astonishing lack of Native representation for their Thanksgiving Play. This Broadway comedy, by previous Perseverance Theatre collaborator and 2020 MacArthur Fellow playwright Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation), expertly balances societal critique, true-to-life comedy, and a lesson on performative activism in this hilarious satirical play.
AUDITIONS:
Looking for non-union actors to play the roles listed on the following page. Those auditioning will be asked to submit a self-taped video of themselves with the sides from the show for consideration.
Note on Casting: Casting is open to all ages for any character. Non-binary, trans, and gender non-conforming actors regardless of the documented gender identity of the characters are always welcome to apply for the character they feel most comfortable identifying with. Please note that we cannot alter the pronouns of the characters in the script, so actors should be comfortable being referred to as the pronouns assigned to the character they are auditioning for. We encourage white-passing actors of any ethnic, racial, or cultural background to audition.
CHARACTERS:
Logan: Female, white/white-passing, the high school drama teacher that’s always pushing the envelope in potentially inappropriate ways. Earnest about theatre and proving herself. Is producing this play as a desperate attempt to save her job.
Jaxton: Male, white/white-passing. Actor/yoga practitioner, Logan’s boyfriend. Politically correct to a fault, a big one. He’s the confident guy that everyone loves, but his overly logical PC thinking takes weird turns.
Alicia: Female, brunette white/white-passing with looks that would’ve been cast as “ethnic” in 1950s movies. Without guile. Sexy and hot, but not all that bright.
Caden: Male, white/white-passing. The academic. Awkward elementary school history teacher with dramatic aspirations but no experience.
COLD CASE KNBA INTERVIEW WITH RHONDA MCBRIDE
‘Cold Case,’ an Iñupiaq story of heartbreak and courage, sees Anchorage premiere:
Cold Case Anchorage Talkbacks
Advocating for Equitable Care for Victims of Violence
Professor Angelia TrujilloUAA School of Nursing
Thursday, Oct. 10th
Learn about the Alaska Comprehensive Forensic Training Academy, which aims to provide training to healthcare professionals in order to improve their abilities to recognize, document, and provide aftercare for all victims of violence
Language Revitalization
Dr. Maria Williams and the Cold Case Team
UAA Alaska Native Studies Program
Sunday, Oct. 13th
Learn about language revitalization work being done in the community, and the importance of reclaiming, revitalizing, and maintaining language.
Advocating for Equitable Care for Victims of Violence
Professor Angelia Trujillo
UAA School of Nursing
Thursday, Oct. 17th
Learn about the Alaska Comprehensive Forensic Training Academy which aims to provide training to health care professionals in order to improve their abilities to recognize, document, and provide aftercare for all victims of violence
Mask Workshop with Roblin Davis
This class has been postponed.
Mask Workshop with Roblin Davis
Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:30 – 9:00pm
Location: Perseverance Theatre 914 3rd Street, Douglas, AK 99824
Price: $125
Scholarships are available, email kferguson@ptalaska.org for more information
Registration is for ages 16 & up
CLASS DESCRIPTION: Masks and Movement for the Actor
Explore the theatrical mask through creative play and improvisation! Using a variety of mask styles, we will study the basics of expressive movement, gesture, and the poetic body where our imagination, acting technique, and character development intertwine. When wearing a mask, we attempt to enter a state of openness: a forward-moving, physically engaged curiosity with the world around us. The mask is a tool where breath, levels of play, timing, and imaginative state lead us to gain a state of playful, collaborative creativity. This workshop will help you develop strong character, challenge you to gain greater physical expressiveness, and find new links between your mind’s imagination and your body’s intelligence.
Whether you are an actor, a storyteller, a dancer, a writer, or a performance artist interested in pushing your creative frontier, this workshop will challenge you to find richer dynamics, increased sensitivity, and greater expression in your work.
ABOUT ROBLIN:
Roblin Gray Davis is a performer, director, and teacher of innovational, collaborative performance. Mask-making and mask movement in performance, puppetry, and devised theatre is the heart of his endeavors. Roblin has traveled and studied internationally in pursuit of dynamic physical performance and currently lives in Juneau, Alaska.
Cold Case Talk backs with AWARE
Perseverance Theatre be hosting two talkbacks during the Juneau run of Cold Case with team members from AWARE.
AWARE’s mission is to provide safe shelter and supportive services for survivors of domestic or sexual violence; and to effect the social, political, and legal changes needed to eliminate oppression, gender violence, and violence against children.
TALKBACK 1:
Sunday, Sept. 15th
30-45 minutes post-show.
Sunday’s talkback will feature members of the Cold Case Cast and Mandy Cole, AWARE’s Executive Director.
TALKBACK 2:
Thursday, Sept. 19
30-45 minutes post-show.
Thursday’s talkback will feature members of the Cold Case Cast and Swarupa Toth, AWARE’s Legal and Sexual Assault Director.
NOW HIRING: LITERARY COORDINATOR / PRODUCING ASSISTANT
Perseverance Theatre is seeking candidates for the role of LITERARY COORDINATOR / PRODUCING ASSISTANT
This is a full-time, non-exempt, hourly position, paid at $24/hr. This position is eligible for health/vision/dental insurance and vacation benefits. This position is based in Juneau or Anchorage, Alaska, with a mixture of in-person and work-from-home responsibilities. This is a temporary position, fully funded for 16 months, from August 1, 2024 to November 30, 2025, with possibility but not guarantee to continue after that time.
Perseverance Theatre’s mission is to create professional theatre by and for Alaskans. We value community engagement, cross-cultural collaboration, professional rigor, and regional voice.
Perseverance is an equal opportunity employer. Perseverance is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive team/community of staff, fellows, and apprentices, and individuals from groups which are under-represented in the theatre field are strongly encouraged to apply.
Duties of the Position:
As the Literary Coordinator, this position shall report directly to the Artistic Director, and may also coordinate and/or work with the Literary Associate and other departments. This position is responsible for the management of new play commissions and development, as well as assisting the producing of events and programming in the mainstage season. This shall include communication with artists under commission or under consideration for commission, project management of new work development and workshops, exploring partnership opportunities related to new play development with community groups and other organizations, and involvement in the premiering of these works. This will include collaborating with Alaska Native and BIPOC organizations and their community leaders, elders, culture bearers, and artists.
As the Producing Assistant, this position shall report to the Associate Producer. This may also include assisting other staff project managers in the curation, budgeting, hiring, contracting, communication, coordination, and/or reporting related to their events or programming.
All positions at Perseverance Theatre complete duties separate from their area of focus. This might include general office tasks, full-staff cleaning days, strike, shoveling snow, etc.
Required Qualifications:
- 2+ years of professional theatre experience
- Ability to perform dramaturgical analysis of new and existing plays in a workshop or production setting
- Experience with best practices of Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Access in theatre processes and community-based work
- Proficiency with Microsoft and Google office programs (docs/word, sheets/excel, etc.)
- Effective communication both in conversation and written word
- Self-motivated, collaborative, and an enjoyable team player
Desired Qualifications:
- 4+ years of professional theatre experience
- Experience leading new play development projects
- Established community relationships in Alaska and/or community building/organizing experience
- Experience and/or enthusiasm to learn and practice decolonizing and re-Indigenizing processes and models
- Established relationships across national regional theatre literary initiatives, including theatres of color and BIPOC theatre networks.
- Familiarity and/or experience with logistics of theatre production
- Grant writing and reporting experience
To apply, please email a cover letter and resume to frankd@ptalaska.org with the subject line “Lit Coordinator / Producing Asst. Posting”
Perseverance Theatre announces 2024/2025
Perseverance Theatre, Alaska’s premiere regional theatre, will present three titles in Juneau and Anchorage for their 2024-2025 season. Led by Artistic Director Leslie Ishii, Perseverance Theatre’s upcoming Season will bring powerful stories by, for, and of Alaska to Juneau and Anchorage. This season will feature two world premieres, a historic Broadway comedy, as well as Alaskan artists from all over the state.
Kicking off the season is the world premiere of Cold Case, by Cathy Tagnak Rexford (Iñupiaq). Winner of the 2022 National Theatre Conference Barry and Bernice Stavis Playwright’s Award, Cold Case depicts the heartbreaking story of an Iñupiaq woman in rural Alaska as she fights to recover her aunt’s body from an Anchorage morgue. This world premiere production will be directed by DeLanna Studi, citizen of Cherokee Nation and current Artistic Director of Native Voices at the Autry in Los Angeles, California. Cold Case will perform in Yaa Andagan Yé (Douglas) from September 6th through September 22nd, 2024 before transferring to Dgheyaytnu (Anchorage) from October 11 through October 20, 2024.
Next up on Tlingít Aaní will be the world premiere of Ariel Estrada’s one-man show, Full Contact, which interrogates actor and writer Estrada’s experiences of heavy training in martial arts in a known New York dojo for 20 years. Estrada’s narrative interweaves the story of his late Filipino father’s immigration to the United States with Estrada’s own childhood in Sitka, Alaska and his coming-of-age as a gay man in NYC at the height of the AIDS crisis. This title will perform in Yaa Andagan Yé on the Perseverance Theatre Mainstage from December 1st through December 22nd, 2024.
Closing out the season will be The Thanksgiving Play, the Broadway comedy by previous Perseverance Theatre collaborator and 2020 MacArthur Fellow playwright Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation). This wacky story of wokeness centers around a group of four well-meaning but culturally insensitive white theater artists who attempt to create a politically correct elementary school play about the first Thanksgiving while struggling with their own biases and the lack of Native representation. The Thanksgiving Play will perform in Yaa Andagan Yé February 28th through March 16th, 2025 , and will transfer to Dgheyaytnu April 4th through April 13th, 2025.
“As our Perseverance Team continues to deeply listen and learn in-community, we have curated this season in response to the relationships and issues that surfaced with these playwrights and their/our communities,” says Artistic Director Leslie Ishii. “This is truly a season of power and the return of dear friends and esteemed colleagues to Perseverance Theatre and Alaska. Watch for important programming where we invite you in to support awareness building as this 2024-2025 season’s plays are already creating national impact”, says Ishii, who is entering her fifth season as Artistic Director at Perseverance Theatre.
Please Support Perseverance Theatre Before the End of the Fiscal Year!
Our Fiscal Year Ends on June 30th Please help Perseverance go From Surviving to Thriving by Contributing Today!
There’s still time to help Perseverance reach the $100,000 goal and YOU CAN HELP
UNLOCK THE MATCH!
Help Perseverance create professional theatre by and for Alaskans, and many thanks to those who have already donated to help Perseverance go …
FROM SURVIVING TO THRIVING!
Perseverance thanks all our supporters who have helped us survive and thrive through the past few years of unique and unprecedented challenges.
Cold Case Casting Call
CASTING CALL
Cold Case by Cathy Tagnak Rexford
Directed by DeLanna Studi
Perseverance Theatre is officially accepting auditions for an upcoming world-premiere production of Cold Case by Cathy Tagnak Rexford, a recipient of the Stavis Playwright Award and producer for True Detective: Night Country. Those auditioning will receive sides from the play and will be asked to record and submit a self-taped video for consideration.
Juneau Rehearsals: Jul 30 – Sept 5, 2024
Juneau Performances: Sept 6 – Sept 22, 2024
Anchorage Rehearsals: Oct 8 – Oct 10, 2024
Anchorage Performances: Oct 11 – Oct 20, 2024
Perseverance Theatre provides round-trip travel, housing, and local transportation when away from your home city.
SHOW DESCRIPTION
Cold Case depicts the heartbreaking story of an Iñupiaq woman in rural Alaska as she fights to recover her aunt’s body from an Anchorage morgue. The play is focused on the subject of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), an issue that is painfully real and devastatingly present in the state of Alaska and throughout the rest of the country. The unusual structure and simplicity of writing and the play’s unique representation of life in an off-road Alaska Native village brings home the claustrophobia of being smothered, not just by a blizzard but by the bureaucracy and circumlocution of a government intent on dismantling village life.
AUDITIONS
Looking for non-union actors to play the roles listed below. The priority deadline for submissions is June 28, 2024.
To request audition sides, please email casting@ptalaska.org with a headshot/photo and resume/experience.
OPEN CHARACTERS
JOANNA – Late 20s – late 30s, Iñupiaq woman. Responsible. Humble. Fierce but fun. She’s the type that gets things done but often without any acknowledgment or recognition of her efforts. Her current situation is pushing all her buttons and possibly driving her to the edge.
Note about below characters:
While some of the roles will be performed live, some will also be backstage camera work or voiceover.
ALASKA NATIVE FEMALE OFFSTAGE CHARACTERS – Alaska native, plays many roles. Must be able to differentiate characters vocally. Characters voiced: Voice on the Phone, Phone Recording, Paralegal, Airline Agent, Facetimer, & Magnolia (the deceased aunt).
ALASKA NATIVE MALE OFFSTAGE CHARACTERS – Alaska Native, plays many roles. Must be able to differentiate characters vocally. Characters voiced: Facebooker, Random Radio User, & Texter.
MALE OFFSTAGE CHARACTERS – Plays many roles. Must be able to differentiate characters vocally. Characters played: KBRW Radio Man, Voices on the phone, & Lawyer
We hope to see your audition! Please reach out to casting@ptalaska.org with any questions.