Script-in-hand, partially-staged reading at the 30thannual conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education-an academic conference for theatre professors-at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. This reading will be a featured all-conference event. Actors will also have the opportunity to work directly with renowned playwright Naomi Wallace, who will participate in the rehearsals and the reading itself, which will be directed by Meredith Alexander.

Note: As this is a reading, we seek actors with precise attention to language.

Character Description for One-Person Play The Retreating World by Naomi Wallace

ALI, an Iraqi man, late twenties, addressing the International Pigeon Convention, bookish. Speaks English fluently, with a mild Iraqi accent. This short one-person play "weaves his love of books, his hobby of raising pigeons, and the devastation that war and sanctions-the play is set in 2000-have left behind in his nation" (Journal of American Drama and Theatre).

Character List for the two excerpts of Things of Dry Hours by Naomi Wallace

CALI HOGAN, African-American woman, twenty-nine years old; mild Alabama accent.

TICE HOGAN, African-American man, Callie's father, mid to late fifties, wide range of vocal and emotional presence; mild Alabama accent.

CORBIN TEEL, white, mid to late thirties, Iowan; mild Iowan accent.

Synopsis of Things of Dry Hours: "In Depression-era Alabama, black Sunday school teacher and Communist Party member Tice Hogan lives on the edge of trouble. When a white factory worker on the run demands sanctuary, Tice and his daughter may be pushed over that edge."