Echo Theater Collective and the Reverb Ensemble announces its season "Connections" auditions for 2020 featuring:

Exit Strategy
Rimers Of Eldritch* (Reverb Production)
Hedwig And The Angry Inch
A.R.C. Trials

About Echo Theater Collective
Founded and incorporated in 2017, the mission of Echo Theater Collective (Echo) is to embody inclusion, transformation, and creation through the performing arts. The brainchild of visionary founder and executive director Kamau "Maui" Jones, Echo strives to redefine community theater by choosing works that amplify the voices of those in our communities who need it the most. Echo is an artistic initiative designed, with community input, to promote unity and cultural understanding using theater and music. Echo is based in the Oak Park/Forest Park area and includes strong ties to Austin, Berwyn and Maywood.

Auditions will be held at Euclid Avenue United Methodist Church - 405 S. Euclid Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302

Show Descriptions:

Exit Strategy by Ike Holter
"Exit Strategy" is A Call to Arms to Reclaim our Public School System

The teachers of Tumbldn High School don't live in an inspirational teacher movie. They bring mousetraps from home, they make the toilet paper last, and they show up for the kids nobody else shows up for. So when the school is slated for closure at the end of the year, and the weight of the inevitable bears down on the community, students and teachers alike discover their breaking points. Ricky, the vice principal, has stayed firmly on the sidelines for all of the teachers' previous battles, but now in the eleventh hour, he's compelled to step up with a plan to save the school. Some risk their futures to follow his lead-- But does he actually have any idea what he's doing? Spiked with humor and brimming with fury, Exit Strategy is an exhilarating call to arms about what we owe each other.

WHAT: Ike Holter's Exit Strategy
Rehearsal availability: Tuesday evenings, Wednesday evenings, and Saturday Afternoons from February to April

WHEN: April 10th-11th, 17th-19th 2020

WHERE: Maywood Park District, 921 S. 9th Ave., Maywood, IL 6015

SEEKING:
-RICKY: 30. White. Vice Principal. Hipster headcase with a nervous twitch and a professional ability to say the worst thing at the best time.

-PAM: 40's - 50's. Open Race. The tough love teacher who knows every student by name and has their parents on speed dial.

-ARNOLD: 50's. Open Race. Been-there-done-that high school teacher.

-LUCE: Late 20's. Latinx. Queer Ex-frat boy turned math teacher. Loud and effervescent; a hype man and best friend whenever necessary.

-SADIE: 30's. Black. A wannabe Oprah who doesn't realize she has more in common with Steve Harvey.

-JANIA: 20's. Latinx. The youngest person in the room but also the smartest.

-DONNIE: 18. Black. Spits out words like hand grenades. A charismatic fighter. Chance the Rapper meets Holden Caulfield.

Rimers Of Eldritch by Lanford Wilson
Rimers is a telling tale of how a community deals with trauma

The Rimers of Eldritch, centers around the residents of the titular town, Eldritch, Missouri. It was once a prosperous coal mining community, but is now a decaying Bible Belt town. The contemporary play is a murder mystery at it's heart. Through a series of intense vignettes between characters, the mysterious and twisted realities of the townspeople of Eldritch are unwound, all centered around the question: Who was Scully Mannor, and who murdered him? Wilson incorporates several socially and even economically relevant themes in the play, such as: love, sexuality, justice, the position of women in society, stereotypes, religion, faith, disability, and the never-ending battle between good and evil.

WHAT: Lanford Wilson's Rimers of Eldritch

WHEN: May 8th-9th, and 15th-16th 2020

WHERE: Euclid Avenue United Methodist Church - 405 S. Euclid Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302

Open call - all races, ages, and gender-identities.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch by Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell
Groundbreaking story of "internationally ignored song stylist" Hedwig Schmidt

A German emigrant living in a trailer in Kansas is the victim of a botched sex-change operation. Adapted from the critically acclaimed off-Broadway rock theater hit, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" tells the story of the "internationally ignored" rock singer, Hedwig, and her search for stardom and love.

WHAT: Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch

WHEN: June 2020

WHERE: OUTTASpace - 6840 32nd St, Berwyn, IL 60402

Open call - all races, ages, and gender-identities.

A.R.C. Trials by Jose Nateras
A.R.C. Trials tells our youth that is is ok to fight for what you believe in

In a future where earth can no longer support life, a select group of children lives aboard the A.R.C., an interstellar spaceship. Raised and educated by humanoid robots, they learn about "Earth That Was" and the distant planet to which they are headed. But something isn't quite right aboard the A.R.C. Important information is missing from the children's lessons. Memories are missing from their heads. Those who ask too many questions are sent to the med bay and come back... different. It's up to a young girl named Cressida to get to the bottom of the mystery before it's too late. A.R.C Trials is an exploration of the intersection of environmental racism and youth led movements.

WHAT: Jose Nateras A.R.C. Trials

WHEN: Fall/Winter 2020

WHERE: TBD

SEEKING
-16 kids, all races, ages range 10-16

-1 female-identifying Latinx

-1 open gender, POC

-2 adults, open gender, white

A Note on Casting: It is imperative that casting should be inclusive and diverse. This is color conscious casting, not color "blind," color "conscious." ALSO, the roles of DAX, NOSO, and Andi are specifically written to be Gender Neutral (so the casting is open to actors of any and all genders/gender identities) and the pronouns for those characters should remain neutral.

ETC is so proud to share with you our second season: Connections. Connection is such an important part of our shared experience. These four stories explore the various ways we find connection and use our shared bonds. From finding your tribe to finding love to finding others with similar experiences and identities, is an important part of feeling seen and heard. This gets to the very core of what it means to #echolove