The Lake Michigan College Visual & Performing Arts Department has announced audition dates for its Fall production, "Exit Strategy," Ike Holter's play about a struggling Chicago high school facing imminent extinction.
Auditions are scheduled for 6-8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16 and Tuesday, Sept. 17 in Deckmann Studio at The Mendel Center on LMC's Benton Harbor campus, and 3-5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18 in Room 117 at Benton Harbor High School.
"We are so incredibly pleased to offer Ike Holter's exhilaratingly poignant and irreverent contemporary play to our Lake Michigan College students and our audiences," LMC Theatre Coordinator and Stage Director Paul Mow said. "It also happens to be incredibly relevant, and adds to the discussions already taking place in our community."
"Exit Strategy" centers on a group of educators from fictional Tumbldn High School, who show up for the kids nobody else does. So, when the school is slated for closure at the end of the year, and the weight bears down on the community, students and teachers alike discover their breaking points. Ricky, the vice-principal, has stayed on the sidelines for the teachers' previous battles, but now in the eleventh hour, he's compelled to step up with a plan to save the school. But does he have any idea what he's doing?
"Exit Strategy" features three female characters (one Latinx, one African-American, and one that is not race-specific), and four males (one Latinx, one African-American, one white and one non-race specific). Those auditioning should prepare a 30-90 second dramatic or comedic monologue, and also may be asked to cold read from the script.
Performance dates are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15-16, and 22-23, and 3 p.m. Nov. 17 and 24. Due to renovations at The Mendel Center's Hanson Theatre, "Exit Strategy" will be staged over two weekends at The GhostLight Theatre, 101 Hinkley St., Benton Harbor.
"We are so fortunate to have the Hanson Theatre renovated this semester, and it's doubly rewarding to get the chance to stage this play at The GhostLight," said Mow, who is the co-founder and artistic director of the Benton Harbor theatre. "I couldn't be more excited as a director to produce such an important piece of theatre in and for our community."
In addition to Mow, the production crew features Susan Salas Graham, Assistant Director; Les Rorick, Stagecraft Class Instructor; Landon Horne and Martel Burton, Student Directors; and Julie Smiy, Costume Designer.
For questions or more information, email pmow@lakemichigancollege.edu or contact the Lake Michigan College Visual & Performing Arts Department by calling 269-927-8876 or visiting www.lakemichigancollege.edu/perf-arts.
