Key art for "Samsara" by Lauren Yee and co-directed by Jamie M. Rea and Ajai Tripathi. A man and woman look at their dating-like profile on a laptop. The laptop shows their picture, and the image of a pregnant south asian woman and the text "It's a Match!" Show title, playwright credits, and director credits are in large white text, with a vaguely sanskrit font.

Samsara Auditions

Rehearsals – Dec 30, 2024 – Jan 25, 2025 | Performances – Jan 26 – Feb 9

CONTRACT

Small Professional Theatre/$545 weekly (SPT 5)

AUDITION DATE

Wednesday, 11/20

1-9pm

at 21ten Theatre

2110 SE 10th Ave, Portland, OR, 97214

To Audition

Equity Actors –  Please send your top three preferred audition availability times in one-hour blocks to casting@profiletheatre.org. Auditions will consist of 2 contrasting contemporary monologues, and auditions should be no more than 5 minutes total.

Non-Equity Actors – to request an audition please email casting@profiletheatre.org with the following information:

  • Headshot or current photo
  • Performance resume or list of relevant experience
  • Your availability on Wednesday, 11/20 between 1-9pm.

Invited non-equity actors will be asked to present one contemporary monologue.  Auditions should be no longer than 2 minutes in length. 

Samsara by Lauren Yee

Katie and Craig are having a baby… with a surrogate… who lives in India. A month before the baby’s due date, Craig reluctantly travels to Ahmedabad, where he meets Suraiya, their young, less-than-thrilled surrogate. As all three “parents” anxiously wait for the baby to be born, flights of fancy attack them from all sides, in the form of an unctuous Frenchman and a smart-mouthed fetus. A whimsical take on modern day colonialism.

Casting the following roles:

KATIE, 30s-40s, female, Caucasian, the more assertive partner in the relationship, maybe a little tightly wound? Fantasizes about passion, romance, and impulsivity as an escape from the reliable, pragmatic, unglamorous reality of her life as a non-profit arts administrator, married to a reliable, if somewhat unadventurous man.

CRAIG, 30s-40s, male, Caucasian, her husband – a construction worker, but also plays bass in a band that’s kind of a big deal….amongst their friends. Earnest and well-intentioned, he is content to let Katie take the lead in their relationship, and feels somewhat lost and untethered when they are apart. 

SURAIYA, 18, female, Indian, their surrogate (also plays BABY). Driven and pragmatic, surrogacy is a means to an end to achieve her goal of attending medical school. Doing her best to stay detached from the child currently inhabiting her body…not always successfully.

AMIT, appears to be the same age as Suraiya, male, Indian, a fetus. Spirited, curious, new to consciousness but ready to make bold choices based on limited information. Willful, impetuous, and foul-mouthed, he will not abide being ignored. (also plays a FATHER-TO-BE, INDIAN WOMAN IN LABOR, SURROGATE 1, MAILMAN, MOTHER)

FRENCHMAN, any age, male, very French, a figment of Katie’s imagination – and idealized version of the seductive, French leading man whose singular purpose is to induce spontaneous swooning. (also plays two DOCTORS, SURROGATE 2)

[Note: BABY and MOTHER speak a couple lines in Gujarati. Also of the two DOCTORS in the play, the first is an American doctor and the second is a white British doctor living in India]

COVID-19 Compliance

Vaccination: Profile Theatre requires documentation of vaccination.

Testing: If you are offered a role, you must be willing to take a COVID test as documentation of a negative test result is required 72 hours prior to first rehearsal. Additional testing may be required as needed. Profile will provide and/or pay for this and any additional tests necessary to the scope of participation.