CALLING ALL BLACK/AFRICAN DIASPORA ACTORS

To try out forThe Messiah Complex by Nia Witherspoon, Choreography by Ni’Ja Whitson and

Dramaturgy by Cherríe Moraga

 

THE MESSIAH COMPLEX will be holding auditions on Saturday, December 12, 2015 , 10:00am- 6:00pm & Sunday, December 13, 2015 10:00am-6:00pm.

*Location to be determined

New York, NY

 

The Messiah Complex is a black queer origin story about the legacy of the Panthers in the age of crack. It’s set in a world where a scratch at the DJ booth stages a ritual re-play of the past that can heal generations of violence. The play follows Messiah, a masculine-of-center DJ, and son/daughter of two Panthers, as she she uncovers the repressed memory of a murder she committed on the subway as a distraught teen. It is a non-linear, participatory tale of redemption that asserts that the black queer body is at the center of the revolution.

 

*Roles for non-gender conforming folks*

 

ROLES:
 

YOUNG MESSIAH/Malika: (referred to in the script as “YOUNG”): 16, confused about her unconventional masculinity, passes as a boy, black. Can see and hear the dead.

DJ MESSIAH (referred to in the script as “DJ”): 27, the grown-up version of YOUNG MESSIAH. DJ at a bar/club called The Spot.  Connected to music in uncanny ways.

BASIMAH: 30, DJ MESSIAH's girlfriend of 2 years, mixed. The world moves too slow for her. A flirt but hopelessly devoted to DJ MESSIAH.

BELINDA: 56, MESSIAH's mother, ex-Black Panther. Alcoholic. Black. Suffers from PTSD.

CURTIS: 59, MESSIAH's father, ex-Black Panther. Alcoholic. In past scenes he is robust. In Present, he has aged beyond his years. Missing teeth.

MAYBELLINE CHAMPAGNE: Ghost. 37, Dominican MTF stripper who has undergone chest surgery, and black-market estrogen ingestion for 6 years. Speaks Spanish.

RA/Rafik: 35, an MC who works as a Rapper and manager/owner at The Spot.

PIPE: 27, bouncer at The Spot, RA’S little brother, DJ MESSIAH’S best friend

 

The World Premiere of The Messiah Complex will take place on May 2016 at BRIC Media Arts in Brooklyn, NY.

All interested participants please RSVP to Ricarrdo Valentine [at] themessiahcomplex2016@gmail.com with your contact info to schedule a time to come in, along with your resume and headshot.

“I had a dream we was back in slave times.  I had my stick.  They called my name.  Alabua, Alacuata, Panchagayé. They tricked us so good we tricked ourselves.”-DJ Messiah