Perhaps Beth Henley’s profoundest play, Abundance turns the dusty spirit of the Old West on its head. Two mail-order brides, Bess and Macon, meet when they come to the Wyoming territory in the late 1860s, looking for love and adventure. Of course they find neither and both. Abundance recasts the mythic American landscape in the most intimate terms of love & violence, giving & stealing of self, sheltering a friend & “tearing the wings off an angel” to fly away.

     Performances will be at the Northampton Center for the Arts on September 16, 17, & 18, 2010.

     Preparation: All auditioners should memorize one passage from a published text—except not from a play and not from a song; any other source is okay (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)—no more than 2 minutes in length (1–2 stanzas of verse, or a short paragraph of prose). Ideally, the text you memorize should be something you love or at least like very much, that was written by someone other than yourself.
     You may also be asked to do short cold readings from Abundance, as well as simple movement exercises. Wear loose, comfortable clothing.
     Auditioners for the role of Bess will be asked to sing, a capella, 1–2 verses from any song.

     Roles:
 
     Bess Johnson (F, 20s, sings): Mail-order bride, looking for true love. Vulnerable & determined. Marries Jack Flan.
     Macon Hill (F, 20s, whistles): Mail-order bride, looking for boundless adventure. Passionate & practical. Marries William Curtis.
     Jack Flan (M, 20s–30s): Frontiersman, looking for a woman to call home. Indolent & brutish.
     William Curtis (M, 30s–40s): One-eyed frontiersman, looking for “happily ever after.” Industrious & ineffectual.
     Elmore Crome (M, 20s–40s): Professor, looking for a Wild West story. Entrepreneurial & amoral.

     All roles are available. Scheherazade Theatre practices multi-racial/multi-ethnic casting.
     Actors will be paid an honorarium of $50 each.

     The play takes place in the Wyoming territory, late 1800s. Here is a partial preview of the script on books.google.com. You can also ask questions by submitting an audition form.