AUDITIONS: Dept. of Theater Spring 2026

TIME/SETTING: The action of the play takes place in a kitchen/family room, of a ranch-style house, in the central valley of California, during a particularly hot summer, in August. It is the kind of home that, no matter how hard you clean, will always seem dirty. Dishes are piled up in the sink, cracking wallpaper and decade old stains, piles of laundry (to the point where it's difficult to walk) are strewn about, and there seems to be a layer of dust on everything. It is an absolute disaster in terms of its disorder.The house was built in the early 70s, not with the intent to last as long as it has. It is a starter home that never really got started and can't seem to end.
 

CAST:

4 actors for the ensemble

• In terms of racial identity: all racial identities will be considered for all roles of the play.
• In terms of accessibility: all abilities will be considered for all roles of the play.

CHARACTERS:

• Isaac Connor: 24. Cisgender son of Paige and Arnold. Brother to Isaac. Isaac's main actions are to assess the situation, assert himself, convert, and keep things under control. The play is, for Isaac, one long attempt at squashing down a major PTSD explosion. At times he is more successful (meaning he can almost relax) than others and he uses different tactics (including the slightly more fun action of teasing) but ultimately fails. There should be peaks and valleys but a slow burn is what's been crafted into the play.
   
• Paige Connor: 45-55. Cisgender mother to Max and Isaac. Wife to Arnold. Main actions are to entertain, excite (with new information she’s discovered), and tear apart the old regimes.
   
• Max Connor: 17. Transgender child of Paige and Arnold. Sibling to Isaac. Main actions are to excite (with new information about what Ze’s* discovered), ward off attacks, showboat, raise hir status on the family totem pole and stake hir intellectual territory. It's important to the playwright that the actor playing Max be someone who was a biological female and now identifies as transgender or gender-queer.
   
• Arnold Connor: 50-58. Cisgender father to Isaac and Max and husband to Paige. Main actions are those of an old dog: eat, sleep and be comfortable. Arnold was an angry man but has had a stroke, which turned him into more of a clown. Rather like a slower/older Harpo.When he feels something, he feels it with no censors. He can easily switch from complete joy to complete sorrow and back again, in a heartbeat.
  
   * “ze” is usually pronounced with a long “e” as in the word "beet." Ze is a non-binary pronoun that the character of Max prefers. This is often the preferred pronoun used by and for people who don’t identify with “he” or “she."
  
   

PLOT SYNOPSIS

“An absurd realism play about a changing America.” 

After a dishonorable discharge from the Marines for drug-related offenses, Isaac returns home from serving in Afghanistan, expecting to confront his abusive father, protect his mother and sister, and relax into his old bedroom. But his return home from war is upended when he walks into a different kind of chaos now enveloping his family’s suburban home.

Isaac’s father Arnold, who once ruled the family with an iron fist, has had a debilitating stroke and has turned into a helpless, childlike creature. Isaac’s mother Paige, now liberated from her oppressive marriage, is determined to be free of any responsibility toward her formerly abusive husband. She refuses to clean or maintain the house and feeds Arnold milkshakes mixed with estrogen to keep him docile. Paige fervently believes she can lead the way to a "new world order" now that Arnold has been enfeebled. Isaac’s little sister Max, having come out recently as transgender, is now on a crusade to dismantle the patriarchy. Paige welcomes Isaac home to her “new regime” with eager, if not open, arms, more than willing to educate him on the brave new post-gender world—even as in the process, she appropriates the experience of her child Max. Isaac, however is on shaky mental ground, scarred by his years working in Mortuary Services for the Marines, and reacts badly to the changes in his family. He is desperate to exert control and rebuild something resembling the life he knew—even if this means reinstating Arnold in his place of patriarchal power beside the television. When waning male privilege and PTSD collide with clown makeup and radical Faerie commune dreams, the result is an explosive, trailblazing. disarmingly funny comedy, where annihilating the past doesn’t always mean it frees you from it.

Taylor Mac’s hilarious and terrifying play Hir is a dysfunctional family dramedy for a new era, a highly intelligent, tenderly heartfelt, and deeply, darkly humorous portrayal of a family in crisis, in which domestic abuse, the trauma of war, and the acceptance of gender-queerness are illustrated in a nearly absurd, emotionally gripping, intensely real dynamic. With shadow puppets.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
A MacArthur “genius” grant winner and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-nominee, Taylor Mac is a playwright, actor, singer-songwriter, performance artist, director, and producer. Named “one of the most exciting theater artists of our time,” by Time Out NY magazine, Taylor Mac is the author of 17 full-length plays and performance pieces including the hit play Hir, which was placed on each of the prestigious “Top Ten Theater of 2015” lists curated by The New York Times, and New York Magazine, and Time Out NY. With over 80 different productions worldwide Hir was named one of "25 Most Influential Works of Postwar Queer Literature" by The New York Times.

Taylor Mac’s acclaimed, immersive, cabaret-based performance work A 24-Decade History of Popular Music has also received wide acclaim and numerous awards, including a finalist nomination for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 2023, a concert film of A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (directed by Academy Award winners Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman) premiered and was released on HBO.

This show will be performed on:

• WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15 @ 7:30PM
• THURSDAY, APRIL 16 @ 7:30PM
• FRIDAY, APRIL 17 @ 7:30PM
• SATURDAY, APRIL 18 @ 7:30PM

4 Performances Total. The week before performances, April 6 - 11, most especially, is a busy time for all actors, and actors are required to attend ALL rehearsals on these dates. 

Rehearsals for a play are super, super, SUPER FUN! But there are many, many rehearsals that actors need to attend in order to prepare a play.

Rehearsals will begin on JANUARY 29 and continue to the dates of performances: April 15, 16, 17 & 18, 2026.  

Rehearsal will be held 4 days a week in 3 hour blocks of time. Because this is a small ensemble show, actors should expect to attend almost all rehearsal meetings.

The rehearsal schedule is a collaboration with cast members: we pay attention to your class and/or work schedule to create the rehearsal schedule. We do our very best to help take care of you. But, we cannot work around every cast member's packed personal schedule.

We make use of mostly evenings for rehearsal meeting times. We may make use of Friday evenings & Saturday afternoons because folks tend to be free at these times. 

• If you audition for this play, it is an expectation that you have adequate time in your college and personal schedule to attend ALL scheduled rehearsals to develop this production.
• If you audition for this play, it is an expectation that you will arrive 10 minutes before each scheduled rehearsal in order to be present at the start time of rehearsal meetings.

Please don't worry about the needs of our rehearsal schedule, timing tends to work itself out: anything well-made takes time! And remember: rehearsals are fun because the focus is on YOU!

You can also register to take this experience for 1 – 3 course credits, fulfilling NHCC Goal 6 requirements. 

We also seek technical / backstage crew personnel for this production! You can register to take this experience of working in a technical role as a 1 credit course, fulfilling some of the NHCC Goal 6 requirement. 

Auditions will take place in FAC 178 which is the NHCC Main Theater. Auditions will have a check-in table located in the lobby area of the theater, which is located directly across from FAC rooms 119 & 120.

• Please plan on about 45 mins. of time for your audition. Please don’t schedule an activity immediately after your planned audition time as you don’t want to feel rushed and the audition may take a bit more time than planned.
• There will be a table for check-in in the lobby of the FAC, immediately outside the Main Theater and across from FAC rooms 119 & 120.
• We need you to fill out a form that asks about information for you:
  • Your course schedule
  • Your work schedule (if applicable)
  • Your contact information
  • Any skills or talents you have​
• You are also welcome to bring an acting resume for your audition if you have one available (completely optional, not required)
• Please download this tipsheet for auditions!
• We will audition actors one or two at a time in the Main Theater.
• The people present in the room to observe your audition will be the show's director.
• You will be asked to read a short selection from the play, with a script, and you will also be guided through physical movement activities during your audition.
• Readings/scripts will be provided! You do not have to prepare a memorized monologue.
  • If you are a theater major, you are more than welcome to prepare a 1 - 2 minute dramatic monologue (perhaps something you've worked on for Acting I, Movement & Voice, or Acting II) for this audition. But, you will also read sides provided at the audition.
  • Keep in mind that this play is in the acting style of Realism.

• Please download this tipsheet for auditions!
• If you would like to prepare a 1 - 2 minute spoken monologue, we'd appreciate that! But, it is not required that actors prepare a monologue for auditions; we realize you are busy.
  • If you are a theater major, you are more than welcome to prepare a 1 - 2 minute dramatic monologue (perhaps something you've worked on for Acting I, Movement & Voice, or Acting II) for this audition. But, you will also read sides provided at the audition.
  • Keep in mind that this play is in the style of Realism. Monologues with realistic, contemporary "feeling" language/dialogue are preferred.
• We will provide monologues from the play at auditions for you to read aloud. Please arrive early to look over the selections that can be found at the check-in table.  
• We will also ask you to move for guided physical activities during your audition.
  
   

You do not need to sign-up in advance for a time slot. 

• Auditions are held on a "drop-in" basis. We will see people as they arrive - in the order of their arrival. We hold "drop-in" auditions to help out with busy schedules.
• We are holding auditions on Saturday (January 24), and this might be a better day to think about for your audition as you may have more open time on a Saturday.
• More Questions? No problem - send an email, and we'll help you find answers. All Qs welcome.
• This production will be directed by Dr. Mayorga (NHCC Theater Faculty).
• Email Qs about auditions to: irma.mayorga@nhcc.edu