Short plays by local & national creators
Director: Caitlin Lewins, CPT’s Director of Audience Engagement & Media Relations
Associate Director: Ananias J. Dixon

Looking to cast 7-10 ensemble members who will play a variety of roles.

The ensemble includes roles that are Black, Latinx, white, and open/undefined. We are seeking a diverse ensemble. We are especially interested in actors who are comfortable with singing and/or play musical instruments (though not required).

No equity agreements are available for this production.

Cleveland Public Theatre is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, CPT encourages performers of all races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to attend every audition.

About The Play…

No matter what you celebrate during December, the holidays can bring joy, communal meals, loneliness, family, pressure, parties, warm hugs on cold nights, incredible stress, romance, anxiety, disaster, hope, dysfunction, and so much more! This holiday season, CPT shares humor, heart, and a party-like celebration, wrapped in a montage of short holiday (or non-holiday) plays. Part variety show, part cabaret, and part 10-minute play festival, 10 Minutes to Midnight celebrates the breadth of holiday happenings (or non-happenings) in this seasonal extravaganza dosed with live music, fun-sized scenes, hilarity, and humanity. World Premiere.

About The Process…

The production will be semi-scripted and semi-devised/created in rehearsal. The full script will be assembled during the rehearsal process and actors who are cast in this production will be involved in multiple scenes and transitional pieces. Music will also be created in the rehearsal process in collaboration with the Music Director and creative team.

Rehearsals will begin on or around October 18 or October 25, 2021. Rehearsals are 5-6 times a week, with evening weekday rehearsals and some daytime weekend rehearsals.

Performances begin with one preview on December 2. The production opens on December 3. 10 Minutes to Midnight runs December 2 – 18, Wed/Thu/Fri/Sat at 7:30pm, and Sun at 3:00pm in the Gordon Square Theatre.

Important Information about The Play…

10 Minutes to Midnight is in the process of being created. Themes currently known include race, loss, gender identity and self-love, and pregnancy.

Important Information about COVID-19…

All artists and staff members working on 10 Minutes to Midnight are required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

Auditions…

Wednesday, October 13, 6pm-9m

Sunday, October 17, 12pm-3pm

Callbacks, if needed, will be on Sunday, October 17 from 5pm-7pm.

Auditions are by appointment only and will be scheduled in 10-minute increments. Prepared auditions will be individual, but you may be asked to stay and read with a fellow actor. Actors should plan to stay at the audition for up to 75 minutes, though you may be released sooner. The Director and Associate Director, Caitlin Lewins and Ananias J. Dixon, will be watching the auditions. All actors will be required to wear a mask when not actively auditioning.

What to Prepare…

• Two minutes of prepared material (monologue, contrasting monologues, or 16 bars of a song a cappella)
• Some actors may be asked to do cold readings from sides provided by CPT at the audition
• Headshot and resume

To schedule an audition appointment, please email auditions@cptonline.org. Please include [10 Minutes to Midnight Auditions] in your subject line. Be sure to include your name, email address, phone number, preferred audition time, and COVID-19 vaccination status. No phone calls please.

If you are unable to attend the audition dates listed above, email auditions@cptonline.org and attach a resume and headshot, expressing your interest in being considered.

About the Director:

Caitlin Lewins is a writer, composer/musician, performer, director, and designer/crafter. Caitlin was named a 2019 Finalist for the National Directors Fellowship and a 2019 Finalist for The MITTEN Lab. Recently, Caitlin directed the Zoom Premiere of Savory Taṇhā (sixteen short plays performed by a rotating ensemble), and co-directed Awakenings, A Celebration of Cleveland Public Theatre, a one-hour television special created in collaboration with WKYC Studios and The Cleveland Film Company (Regional Emmy Nominee, Telly Award Winner). Caitlin was Assistant Director of Clue at Cleveland Play House (directed by Casey Hushion). Caitlin was awarded a 2016/2017 Nord Family Foundation Playwright Fellowship which culminated in the World Premiere of Everything is Okay (and other helpful lies), a dark musical comedy co-created with Melissa Crum which received readings inside the 2019 New York Musical Festival (NYMF). Caitlin completed the 2013/2014 Joan Yellen Horvitz Director Fellowship which culminated in the production Left in Ink which she conceived, directed, and co-created. Previously at CPT, Caitlin co-directed (with Dan Kilbane) and music directed 44 Plays For 44 Presidents and created and performed The Cleveland Line Dance as a part of Light the Lights, Ol’ Moses CLE! (A Wild Holiday Romp). Caitlin directed Canon Fodder – a Nord Fellowship Reading, music directed Frankenstein’s Wake, and assistant directed/contributed to The Loush Sisters Love Dick’ns: Great Expectations. Caitlin co-created and directed Edison and Ford which appeared in Air Waves (Part Three of the Elements Cycle). In the 2012/2013 season, Caitlin was Assistant Director/Stage Manager to Raymond Bobgan for Rusted Heart Broadcast and made her writing/directing debut at CPT with The Environmented in Earth Plays (Part Two of the Elements Cycle).

About the Associate Director:

Ananias J. Dixon Regional Theatre: Lyon’s Den and Sweat at Pittsburgh Public Theatre; John Henry at Cleveland Play House. Off-Broadway: Black Angels Over Tuskegee at Actor’s Temple. Film: Antwone Fisher; Criminal Activity, Home:__, Slavery By Another Name. Television: Law and Order: SVU, Blue Bloods, Boardwalk Empire, NYC 22, Person of Interest. Other Theatre: An Octoroon, Skeleton Crew, The Effect, and Sunset Baby at Dobama Theatre; Rastus and Hattie, The Good Heart and The Family Claxon at Cleveland Public Theatre; Detroit 67, Julius X, The Blacks: A Clown Show at Karamu House; The Toilet at New Federal Theatre; Anne Frank at Haneulyean Theater (South Korea); An Octoroon at Kinetic Theatre. Additional Credits: Cleveland Public Theatre Premiere Fellow 2021. For more information, please visit ananiasjdixon.com or @Ananias_jd on Instagram.