Dreamwell Seeks Actor for The Whipping Man

Iowa City - "Dreamwell is holding auditions for the role of Caleb in The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez at 2:30pm Saturday Nov. 23 at the Iowa City Public Library. The show will be directed by Rachael Lindhart and performances are scheduled for January 10, 11, 17, and 18 at the Unitarian Universalist Society 10 S. Gilbert Street and in the Mt Vernon Community Center on Sat., January 25.

There will be a script available on reserve in the Library and readings from the script will be used for the auditions. Everyone auditioning will read Caleb's letter, scene 1 of Act II (pg. 57-58); then each actor will be assigned a scene with Simon or John to read. Caleb is in his early 20s and has been fighting hard for the Confederacy for 4 years--in other words, he is quite sick and worn out.

The play is about a Jewish family of slaveowners and two of their now-free slaves. Simon, an older man, has been left behind to guard the house as best he can while the master & mistress of the house have fled the city, accompanied by Simon's wife & daughter. Simon is alone in the house when Caleb arrives, the son of the household who has been in the Confederate army. He is badly wounded in one leg which has to be amputated. These two are joined by John, who is a now-free slave about the same age as Caleb and has grown up in the household. Eventually, amid the revelation of many old family secrets, the three hold a makeshift Seder to commemorate, as it does each Passover, the freedom of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.

The two freed slaves will be played by Roe Lloyd as Simon and Rueben LeBron as John. Rehearsals will begin on December 1 and be scheduled with flexibility around the Christmas & New Year's holidays. We will probably rehearse 5 times (nights/weekend days) per week because we will need to be off for the holidays. Rehearsals will be held at the First Baptist Church on Clinton Street (across from Burge Hall).

For questions or to schedule an audition at another time, please call director Rachael Lindhart at 319-337-2206."

(SOURCE: Dreamwell Newsletter)