How to Leave (and Also Stay) Auditions

About the project and the company

Annex Theatre is excited to bring to life a new filmed theater piece by Marcus Gorman and Kiki Penoyer, directed by Brendan Mack, How to Leave (and Also Stay). This will be filmed on location at Annex Theatre, located in Capitol Hill. This is a non-union project and for conceptual purposes is closer to a filmed-play with no live audience than a full film production. 

SYNOPSIS

“Do you want to move in with me?”

“Will you marry me?”

“Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I want a divorce.”

Four people, four moments in a romantic relationship, four tough decisions, four monologues. A young actor coming down from a breakup contemplates the cost of his career of moving in with his dashing director. A photographer stuck working at a department store considers a marriage proposal from the high school sweetheart who may not be the right one for her. A washed-up singer reflects on the disaster of his first marriage just seconds away from his second. A failed writer’s struggle with depression threatens to ruin the one good thing in her life—her wife.

CHARACTERS 

ANNETTE (f): journalist, 40s

SARA (f): photographer, 20s

JUSTIN (m): actor, 30s

ROD (m): former musician, 50s

Though the characters are gendered, they can be cast across the gender spectrum. Ages listed are also indicative of the life experience of the character, not a restriction on the age of the actors for casting purposes.

REHEARSAL / PRODUCTION DETAILS

Rehearsals will take place largely during the month of August and will be a combination of virtual rehearsals and on-site at Annex Theatre, Monday-Friday after 5 PM. Filming will be during the same time frame with the potential to add weekend dates for longer filming sections, to be determined by actor/crew schedules. 

We anticipate wrapping filming by late-September. Film release is not yet scheduled and contingent on finalized video editing. The film will be available on streaming services as determined by Annex Theatre for a limited run; we are not anticipating a theatrical release or making the content available online indefinitely at this time. 

Stipend

The stipend for actors is $150.

Location of Audition

Virtual

Audition requirements

We will be holding virtual auditions on Thursday, July 7 from 5 PM - 8 PM PST. Actors should choose and prepare any of the sides (please copy and paste this link to access slide folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WCOp1dTPAOCAHQFi1GgXGAbyFektnZna?usp=sharing) or choose another short section of the script. This does NOT need to be memorized. Please bring yourself to the role; we are looking for authentic, real people to make this storytelling feel REAL. We want to see YOU as you would experience the situations the characters find themselves in. All roles are open to submissions from any gender/age. You may submit multiple sides; please limit submissions to 2 characters. If you cannot make the audition date/time you can submit a headshot, resume and audition recordings via Google Drive, YouTube, or Vimeo links to kayla.walker@annextheatre.org. Please submit by July 8, 2022 to be considered. We commit to viewing and considering all submissions and responding to all submissions on casting decisions.