Deadline: Auditions must be received by noon (EDT) on 4/9/10
Requirements for audition submission:
* Recording quality is important!
* Please record at a moderate sound level and eliminate as much background noise as possible.
* Please record in MONO 44100hz 24-bit (preferred, 16-bit minimum) WAV or MP3 (128kbps)
* Please submit all lines listed with the character audition.
* All recordings should be saved as: "A_(Role Name)_(Line Number)_(ActorName).MP3/WAV
* All e-mails should be titled "Auditions for HG World GOOGIES" and sent to:
zebrapix@gmail.com HG WORLD
TURN AND FACE THE STRANGE
BY ROY WINGER
KEN & OLD KEN...
I might cast this with one actor, perhaps two. The roles carries all three episodes.
Young Ken is a man of 25-ish (who sounds a world-weary 50) from Central PA who has fought the system all his life. Young Ken is a cross between Han Solo, Eastwood's gunfighter and Joe Pesci, wary of people, cynical and totally self-motivated. He lives in the aftermath of the eater uprising and it seems to prove his world view that if you can't take care of yourself, you die and nobody owns anything. He works hard, is fiercely loyal to his benefactors and lives for the day. In his off time, he drinks and cavorts with prostitutes rather than foster relationships with people. He also cares more for people than he lets on, but unlike the usual antihero, he doesn't allow it to distract him from his priorities.
L1 ~ I don't care. Not about you, your cause or your feelings. I care about what I can do for you so I can get YOU to do for ME. Simple as that. You want a friend? Keep buying be drinks and I'll be your best friend all night. But don't expect me to have your back if you get into it with the local thuggery. That costs extra.
L2 ~ You're right. There's really little difference between me and a whore. I guess that's why they and I get along so well.
This story is narrated by Old Ken, a man who sounds in his mid-70s, but who can deliver a story (and carry the show). OLD KEN must be a storyteller above all. In his old age, Ken has become more Joe Pesci than gunslinger or rouge smuggler. Bedridden and at the end of his life, Ken is still someone who controls the room. His experiences make him a bit of a celebrity to historians who want to learn about the uprising 30 years in the past. Old Ken is an old man who needs people now, but still tries to keep them at bay with insults or by being lewd. However, when he tells the story, we hear his real character; a tired but proud man of much experience.
L1 ~ Like I said, boy: life was different back then. When the war started, I was 26. I'd been working since I was 15 or so. No family. No kids...no wife, thank god. Some kids went to work stocking shelves or waiting tables. When I turned 17 I took this job jockeyin' a register for some mom'n'pop video store. One day the till came up short and "Pop" thought I had somethin' to do with it. I punched him in the crotch for callin' me a liar, threw my name tag at him and headed over to the city labor pool to sign up for real work. The pay was enough to get me by, three times what they were paying to scrub dishes or fold sweaters. The thing was you had to be strong. You had to work hard and be there when they needed you. You couldn't take off for a hangover or the sniffles. If you flaked on them once they'd blacklist you like a kid diddler.
You also had to not be scared of these huge, stupid brutes who weren't trained to do nothin' but move big things or break them. You know the type, kid: Drop-outs, Burn-outs, Criminal-types. Most were just there to make the rent or to stay out of jail. Some, though...they would shove an arm up your ass and make you their personal Muppet if you disturbed the air they breathed. Me and about a hundred bigger, older guys...men who couldn't get work anywhere else...men who could barely read words off the page but who could rip a fence post out the ground with one hand and throw a new one into place with the other...guys who were one missed support payment away from jail. Again. Every morning, rain or shine, I stood out there in the rain -- the big men got to stand under the awning -- waiting for some idiot in a truck to come up and pick a dozen of us. I learned you didn't want to look pretty or happy. You wanted to look hungry. You wanted to look ready to work.
SCOTT
Scott is introduced as Ken's "boss" on The Popcorn Express. He's a trucker by trade and is modeled on Han Solo. (minor role)
L1 ~ I drive. I don't think. We do an hour there, we drop the load. We deadhead back an hour and collect our pay. Just remember that this is as free as you're ever gonna get along this strip. If you stop and another driver sees, you're fucked. If you ask about what's in back, you're fucked.
HELPLESS WOMAN
A passenger on The Popcorn Express (extra)
L1 ~ PLEASE for the love of sweet Jesus: help us!!!
DISPATCH & SIGNA
Two of the latest in our series of generic "voices on the other end of the phone" I don't care what he/she sounds like as long as it is unobtrusively interesting. (minor roles)
L1 ~ Be advised: Keep an eye out when you hit the last overpass. We've had issues with bandits.
L2 ~ 1-Adam-15, 1-Adam-12, see the man running naked through the poppy fields. 1-Adam-15/12 respond.
CREW 1 & CREW 2
Two corpse-disposal professionals, they work at a quarry and work like a flight line crew at an airport directing trucks to "docks" where bodies are dumped. They are all about procedure and getting the drivers of big, dangerous trucks to do what they are told. Minor Characters.
L1 ~ Get those hatches open and get the nozzles hooked up!! C'mon! Go! Go! Go!
L2 ~ You two! Get this rig out of here! What the fuck did you idiots do, put a fireworks factory inside there?!
NURSE
The long-suffering caregiver for Old Ken. She is probably the latest in a long line of female nurses who endure Ken's brand of harassment, but she is just at the start of allowing her bitterness and outrage to show. (small part, recurring)
L1 ~ I’ve changed out your bags and added a mild sedative to your drip, Mr. Peters. You should feel relaxed now. Your 2pm appointment is here.
MRS PETERS
Old Ken's long-suffering wife. She is probably the latest in a line of wives who endure Ken's brand of...yeah....you get it.... (small role in 2 episodes)
L1 ~ Oh, Kenneth. This young man is a FAN! Don't be so hard on him!
L2 ~ (disgusted) Oh, Kenneth. MUST you be so vulgar?
MARK SHEARER
An NPR reporter, young and eager, sent to his first major story. He is smart, but knows very little about the world. He is the "journalist of the future" who tells the story his corporate handlers want him to tell. In this show, Mark is the person to whom Ken tells his story. (Major role)
L1~ (eager) Mr Peters? Mr. Peters, hi. My name is Mark Shearer from National Public Podcasts. You talked to Meghan, my producer. Is this a good time?
L2 ~ Well. Um. I'd like to record your memories of the time; where you were and what you did, but I'd also like to talk a little bit about...the (hard "g") googies.
FRANTZ
Frantz is a General in the Happy Valley Militia. He is a recruiter and a salesman with a comfortable understanding of the world in which he lives. He believes in the Googies and their mission. He's a man of comfort and leisure, but relishes the challenge of converting those who resist the faith.
L1 ~ Look, Mr. Peters...our concern needs drivers. We're setting up a new provisional government in north-central PA. People up there are doing okay, but they need leadership and...
L2 ~ So now what? Take your ill-gotten booty back to your little cot at the back of the warehouse, smoke, drink and jerk off until you pass out?
LENNY the DISPATCHER
Lenny is a happy old man who hands out assignments and pay to drivers. Santa Claus is his role model. (very small part)
L1 ~ (A Hearty laugh! But no "ho"s)
L2 ~ Here ya go, Herbie. One carton of smokes, one pack of willy wraps, a shirt, toothpaste...AND...
EMCEE (MALE)
A nightclub host with a rich, sensual voice. (small role)
L1 ~ Ladies and gentlemen, I want to welcome you to The Crossroads. To get your mind off the cold, here's something hot. Shadows and shades, put your hands together for The Crossroads' mistress of leather'n lace...India Argento.
CROMP
Cromp is a huge, drunken frat boy who believe he's survived the crisis because he's awesome. He drives a truck and hates Ken because Ken doesn't call off sick. Cromp has a huge penis.
L1 ~ Y'know, when little turds like you come around, you make us all work harder. Cuz if a little turd like you can do all that work, MY boss think I should too. So you see why I call you Mr. Turd. I think that's funny. "Mister Turd...Misturd.." (dumb laugh).
BROTHER LOVING
A Googie. Think a D&D player doing a bad Dr. Orpheus impression. (recurring support role over three episodes)
L1 ~ Magic is science unexplained. Prophecy is science and statistics and psychology and stagecraft.
L2 ~ We saw the signs and knew the faithless would bring its false Eden crashing down upon themselves. Where once we were a generation of builders, we've handed our children a world of automation and convenience and consumption and sloth! SLOTH!
MURPH
Murph is an enthusiastic killer. His favorite weapon against Eaters is a flame thrower.
L1 ~ Man, it is like Woodstock out here! (beat) Man, I fuckin' HATE Woodstock.
L2 ~ You got about a 50 foot circle, man. It's still hot and you've got burning eaters heading our way.
HG World: Audition- The Googies 
Linear Mode
