The Outsider

by Paul Slade Smith, Directed by Dave MacKeigan 

AUDITIONS:
Monday Nov. 9 and Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 7:00 pm
Workshop Players Theater
44820 Middle Ridge Rd,
Amherst, OH 44001

• 3 Women 4 men: Ages late 20’s to 60’s.
• Cold reading from the script
• Rehearsals will be Sun thru Thursday (times TBD)
• No parts have been precast
  
  

SUMMARY:

Ned Newley doesn’t even want to be governor. He’s terrified of public speaking; his poll numbers are impressively bad. To his ever-supportive Chief of Staff, Ned seems destined to fail. But political consultant Arthur Vance sees things differently: Ned might be the worst candidate to ever run for office. Unless the public is looking for the worst candidate to ever run for office.... A timely and hilarious comedy that skewers politics and celebrates democracy.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:

Paige Caldwell: Polished, strategic, politically fluent; sees politics as competition and understands how to win.

Dave Riley: Intelligent and experienced but genuinely idealistic about how government and politics work. His earnestness is the comic vulnerability.

Louise Peakes: The accidental politician. Warm, confident, socially intuitive—and spectacularly incompetent at the actual job.

Ned Newley: Capable but deeply insecure. His central contradiction is that he has the authority of Governor but behaves as though he needs someone else’s approval.

Arthur Vance: The charismatic political operator. Arrogant, theatrical and opinionated, but so delighted by politics that his enthusiasm makes him irresistible.

Rachel Parsons: The grounded observer. Smart, skeptical and direct, with enough humor to keep her cynicism from becoming bitterness.

A.C. Petersen: The silent observer. Competent, practical and unimpressed; his minimal interaction can itself become a source of comedy.