W&M Featured Events
[PAST EVENT] Auditions for "Rollover"
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Do you like science? Do you like theater? Then we have a unique opportunity for you! Some people at VIMS are working with some people in the W&M theater department to produce a one-act play written by a marine scientist. The play is about people living on a barrier island trying to figure out the way forward after a hurricane.
We are holding auditions on November 19 (@W&M) and November 20 (@VIMS) and would like to encourage anyone interested to come try out, this means any students, staff, and faculty! Do not worry if you have no prior acting experience, we are looking for the right person for each role, whatever their experience. If you are interested, please sign up for a 10-minute timeslot.
Auditions are at W&M on the 19th and at VIMS on the 20th, people can sign up for a spot at whatever location is most convenient for them. Callbacks are scheduled for November 21 at 7pm at W&M, if we decide we need them. Room bookings will be confirmed for auditions.
Performance dates are February 15th (2pm and 7pm) at W&M and February 22nd (2pm and 7pm) at VIMS. Anyone who is cast must be available for all performances and will be expected to memorize their lines ahead of when rehearsals begin the week of January 6th. We are having a lighter rehearsal schedule to accommodate those with research and other work loads, hoping for Monday and Wed evening rehearsals and some weekend times. We are hoping to make this work for all interested!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Holly Maples ([[hamaples]], Professor of Theatre, Department Chair) and Dr. Nicole Millette ([[v|nmillette]], Assistant Professor at VIMS).
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Rollover
By Laura Jean Moore
Dramaturgy by Jules Odendahl-James
Developed in collaboration with Kathryn Hunter-Williams
Winds howl. Warnings sound. Water rises. A barrier island community battens down for a hurricane. Sister and brother, Leena and Bill, a college Earth science professor and a deputy fire chief, experience its impact. They are well versed in storm preparations and cleanup but this time the health of their elderly mother hangs in the balance. Will this be just another “once in a lifetime” storm with massive destruction that quickly dissipates from public attention, or will this be the storm that finally forces this family, and their community, to confront the rapidly changing nature of their existence?
This synopsis describes Rollover, an 85-minute, one-act, six-character, fictional story, set in a fictional community but grounded in the scientific understanding of human-natural dynamics along barrier island coastlines and real stories from those living in such communities. The play immerses audiences in the decision-making of a multi-generational, multi-racial family in the aftermath of a hurricane while considering the question, “What does it mean to lose, or give up, home?”
CHARACTERS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
WOMAN (OLDER LEENA) – 65, white, retired college professor, similar to LEENA in build, form and character.
LEENA IRVING – 35, white, unmarried, tenured college professor, living 60 miles away from her hometown of Rollover, daughter of SANDRA and DARRELL, half- sister of BILL and niece of MARK; short, attractive, strong build, of white descent.
MR. WISE – (played by actor who plays Mr. BIGGS), early 20s, student in LEENA’s class.
MARK LANDRY – late 60s, white, land surveyor, older brother of SANDRA, born and raised in Rollover, tall, lanky, thinker.
BILL IRVING – 33, biracial, unmarried, deputy fire chief, son of SANDRA and DARRELL, half-brother of LEENA, nephew of MARK; born and raised in Rollover; tall, strong.
YARA LANDRY– early 60s, wife of MARK, aunt of LEENA and BILL, born and raised in a small town on the coast of Brazil, emigrated to the U.S. 30 years prior, beautiful, soft around the middle, warm.
SANDRA IRVING – 65, (embodied by the actor who plays WOMAN), white, mother of LEENA and BILL, younger sister of MARK, appears only in dreams, born and raised in Rollover; on the short side, attractive, strong build.
MR. BIGGS – 40, real estate developer, tall, fit, with matter-of-fact personality. He is not from Rollover. Ideally, of any race not already reflected in the other characters.
WILLIAM IRVING – 30, BILL and TRISH’s son (played by same character as BILL), present for the dedication.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ROLLOVER
Extreme storms, high-tide flooding, and erosion experienced by coastal communities will continue to be amplified by increasing hurricane intensity, rising sea level, and growing coastal populations. Rollover fuses the scientific understanding of climate change impacts at the coast with the human side of the story—what is it that compels some homeowners and communities to relocate while others are determined to rebuild despite the odds? What outside forces, beyond the destruction of storms, influence decision making at familial, community, and national levels? How can individuals plan for a future that seems so far away, but whose possibilities are being written by policies and choices made right now?
Since 2015, coastal scientist Laura J. Moore (with avocational experience in acting, directing and creative writing) and dramaturg and director Odendahl-James (with special expertise in science theater) have been considering how these questions that motivate scientific and policy research might be explored in the context of a play. In 2016, the collaboration expanded to include actor, director and PlayMakers Repertory Company Member Kathryn Hunter-Williams (who has special expertise in devised theater), and the team was awarded a FIRE Grant from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for “radically interdisciplinary collaboration.” This grant allowed Moore and Hunter-Williams to interview coastal residents who survived Hurricane Ike in Bolivar, TX where over 1000 homes were lost, and provided support for a series of developmental workshops over the course of two years. The FIRE Grant work culminated with a staged reading in 2018, which provided fodder for further development of Rollover. In March 2022, UNC’s new play development engine, The Process Series, produced a two-night run of a second staged reading with vibrant post-show discussions, regarding the play’s central questions about legacy, high-stakes decision making, and mutually beneficial paths to a sustainable future
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Laura Jean Moore is Professor of Coastal Geomorphology in the Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences Department at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also serves as the Director of the Collaboratory for Coastal Adaptation over Space and Time (C-CoAST) and chairs the North Carolina Coastal Resource Commission’s Science Hazards Panel. Moore’s interdisciplinary research program in coastal geomorphology focuses on the response of low-lying coastal environments to climate change. With an avocational background in creative writing and performance, including as a singer, actor, directory and producer, Moore merged her passions in the creation of Rollover, which communicates—through story—state-of-the-art environmental science that is critical to the future of coastal habitation as we know it.
Sponsored by: Department of Theatre & Performance
Contact
[[hamaples, Holly Maples]]