Key dates:
- 16 Feb: Opportunity closes
- w/c 26 Feb: Auditions
- 1 March: Performers Confirmed
- 20-26 May: 6 days of rehearsals, London
- 27/28 May 2024: 2-night performance at Camden People’s Theatre
Do you exist in the kind of visibly disabled body that cannot enter a room without being stared at?
The Crip Monologues is an exciting new show from creator Jamie Hale and writers Hayleigh Morrow, Sonera Theo Angel, Emily Brenchi, and Simone Roach, produced by CRIPtic Arts, and directed by Jamil Dhillon. It is about observation, scrutiny, and how the disabled body becomes public property, and has 4 distinct monologues woven into one show:
Hayleigh Morrow’s Ava’s Story unravels the aftermath of a kinky one-night stand under the gaze of a judgemental carer. Sonera Theo Angel’s Just Short of Saintly explores the cost and compromises of navigating the world when you’re not a sympathetic victim. Emily Brenchi’s Mother narrates the impact of disbelief and discrimination giving birth as a disabled woman, while Simone Roach writes a captivating love letter to the beauty, heritage, and heart of the disabled community in The Moon Jellyfish.
We are looking to cast 4 disabled performers for The Crip Monologues. The performances involve full or partial nudity.
Casting requirements:
Ava’s Story – by Hayleigh Morrow
A woman (or happy to play a character who is a woman), wheelchair user, any ethnicity (heavily sexual elements)
Just Short of Saintly – by Sonera Theo Angel
A person from the global majority, trans (any or no gender identity, but identifying as part of the trans community), wheelchair user (discussion of medical malpractice and the intersections of racism, sexism, queer/transphobia and ableism)
Mother – by Emily Brenchi
A woman (or happy to play a character who is a woman exploring giving birth and becoming a mother), wheelchair user, any ethnicity (discussions of medical abuse of power, discrimination and disbelief)
The Moon Jellyfish – by Simone Roach
A person from the global majority, any gender, any visible impairment
It is an open casting: we’re looking for performers of all levels of experience and background who feel a connection with the work discussed and meet the outline criteria associated with each part.
The show explores the theme of scrutiny and the ways the disabled body is nonconsensually scrutinised. Disabled people are used to stares and curiosity about our bodies. In this show, by performing fully or partially nude while telling our own stories, disabled performers reclaim the power of having chosen to be stared at by the audience, but also of being present to stare back.
As each of these pieces involves full or partial nudity (performers may wear nipple/modesty covers and underwear may be worn on the lower body), we are looking for performers who are comfortable with this and have ideally performed in similar circumstances previously.
Any nudity further to that proposed above will be based on the comfort levels of the performer.
Interested in performing?