New Federal Theatre (www.newfederaltheatre.org) is accepting submissions for KNOCK ME A KISS by Charles Smith. Directed by Chuck Smith. Equity showcase. Some pay.
Please e-mail pictures and resumes to Lawrence Evans. Auditions will be held by appointment only on August 13, 2010. Callbacks are scheduled for August 16th.
1st rehearsal: October 18, 2010.
The show runs November 10 – December 5, 2010. Performances are Wednesday – Sunday (two performances on Saturdays -and an adjusted Thanksgiving week schedule) at Henry Street Settlement’s Abrons Arts Center/Recital Hall in lower Manhattan.
On April 9, 1928, Countee Cullen was married to Yolande DuBois, the daughter of W. E. B. DuBois. The Reverend Cullen, Countee’s father, officiated over the wedding which W. E. B. DuBois called “the symbolic march of young and black America . . . it was a new race, a new thought, a new thing rejoicing in a ceremony as old as the world.” Two months later, Countee Cullen sailed to Paris with the best man from the wedding, Harold
Jackman, leaving Yolande, his young bride, behind. Yolande was granted a divorce from Countee on December 9, 1929. This play is a fictional account inspired by those factual events.
Time: 1928 Place: Harlem.
SEEKING THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS:
YOLANDE DU BOIS: Black woman. The 26-year-old daughter of W.E.B. DuBois and Nina DuBois. Yolande is a romantic who has led a very sheltered life. The greatest love in her life is the love she has for her father.
NINA DU BOIS: Black woman. Mid 60′s. She is the wife of W.E.B. DuBois. Nina has a very provincial attitude towards sex, which she doesn’t enjoy but considers to be necessary. She lives in the shadow of her husband whom she met when she was a student and he was her professor. She never fully recovered from the death of her eighteen-month-old son Burghardt. His death was fundamental in forming her attitude towards her daughter, Yolande, who was born later, and towards her husband, W.E.B., whom she considered responsible for Burghardt’s death.
COUNTEE CULLEN: Black man. 25-year-old young boy-poet genius and protégée of W.E.B. DuBois, he is clearly a product of the Ivory Tower,Talented Tenth machine. He is very warm and charming, a man who has used words to get into and out of any situation. Although he’s a poet, there is nothing effeminate about him.
LENORA: Black woman. Late 20′s-early-30′s. Friend and confidant of Yolande, she’s the down-to-earth, no nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is type of friend we all would like to have.
Contact Email: LEvans912@aol.com
