Silk Road Rising is seeking two understudies for their currently running production of Through the Elevated Line by Novid Parsi, directed by Carin Silkaitis.

Having fled Iran where he was imprisoned for being a gay man, a damaged Razi arrives at his sister's Chicago doorstep only to disrupt the life she and her American husband have built together. As the Chicago Cubs vie to make history, rivalries of a different kind simmer in the Uptown two-flat that Razi tries to call home. With echoes of A Streetcar Named Desire, Novid Parsi's world premiere drama probes the boundaries between family, loss, prejudice, and desire.

Characters:
Razi Gol, M, 31, Iranian. Razi has fled Iran, where he was imprisoned for being a gay man. Razi is handsome, slender, almost slight, with short, neatly parted hair and carefully tended clothes, but he is also worn beyond his years. His homesick love for the culture and especially the poetry of Iran conflicts with his experience living there. There is more to Razi's past than he reveals. He has a sharp wit and speaks near-fluent English with an Iranian accent. Actor must be comfortable with partial nudity and stage combat.

Vendor/Cesar/immigration officer, M, all Mexican-American. The three characters, who are all played by the same actor, represent increasingly Americanized Mexican immigrants. The street vendor does not speak English. Cesar, a construction worker, has a family at home and a sex life outside the home. And the immigration officer, a child of Mexican immigrants who speaks with an American accent, embodies the "successful" transition into American identity. Actor must be good with stage combat.