Grand Pistachio seeking Performer for theater piece

Grand Pistachio is seeking one non-equity performer to join our company for a NY metro area tour of Layer the Walls Part II. Competitive pay for rehearsals and performance.

CASTING BREAKDOWN
Performer A: Chinese performer/puppeteer:
This performer will serve as an actor and puppeteer for a variety of roles including: puppeting a rod puppet of a Chinese man coming to NYC from the Guangdong Province; playing a 19 year old Puerto Rican person who is a member of the Young Lords with shadow puppetry and in human form; and taking on multiple supporting characters as an actor and puppeteer.

• Please note we are flexible with age and gender as long as the performer can capture the essence of the characters.

SCHEDULE
Rehearsals October -mid December (1-2x/week in Brooklyn)
Performances Jan 22-Feb 9 and/or March 5-13. (Exact dates confirmed by 9/25)

PAYMENT
Rehearsal flat fee: $1500
Tech day rate: $125-150
Performance Rate (for a 2-show day) $250-$300
Weekly rate: $1200-$1650 (depending on the number of performances)

ABOUT THE SHOW
Layer the Walls is an original live puppet theater piece for young audiences ages 8-14, focusing on immigration and universal struggles surrounding discrimination. While visiting the NYC Tenement Museum, the Grand Pistachio creators learned that 40 layers of wallpaper were found on the walls of an old apartment. Each piece had been applied by a new immigrant family in an attempt to make the space their own – every layer filled with hopes, dreams, and incredible stories of survival. Inspired by this history, Layer the Walls takes place in a Lower East Side tenement apartment. As layers of wallpaper are peeled away from the set, stories of immigration are brought to life with shadow puppetry, Bunraku style puppets, and half masks.

Layer the Walls Part I explored stories from 1870-1909. Following successful national and virtual tour seasons, we created Layer the Walls Part II, which spans 1948 - 1970. In this new piece, we meet (1) a Chinese man who travels to America, jumps off a boat to reach the shore, and spends 35 years working and waiting to reunite with his family. To his surprise his granddaughter finally arrives and discovers a love of Chinese ribbon dancing. (2) A young Jewish person who survives the Holocaust and must build a new life in NYC (3) Puerto Rican siblings who are at odds with becoming involved with the Young Lords in 1970.

Layer the Walls Part II is a 60 minute performance with four actors. Performers/puppeteers handle multiple roles and puppetry styles (rod puppetry, shadow puppetry, half mask). We tour to large houses (400-800 seats) across the five boroughs of New York City as well as the Northeast. Performances are typically followed by actor-led Q&As or public workshops.

Layer the Walls Part II is written by Liz Parker, David Quiñones, Rachel Sullivan, & Peiyi Wong. Directed by Elise Thoron with Puppets by Spica Wobbe.

To get a sense of our aesthetics:
Layer the Walls Part I trailer: https://vimeo.com/309206167
Layer the Walls Part I photos: http://grandpistachio.com/ltw-images

Requirements

Seeking Performers Who:
-Thrive in a collaborative company
-Bring a flexible nature and can easily adapt to the many changes inherent in touring
-Have a respect for young people and a desire to perform for young audiences
-Have the ability to learn detailed movement sequences and styles quickly and precisely.

-Have puppetry experience OR the willingness to learn
-Possess vocal dexterity and wide performance range - each performer will play multiple roles
-Will ideally like to work with the company long-term (2+ years) as we grow and add more shows to our roster! Tours are planned many months in advance and mostly take place in November, January, February and early March. We take performer schedules into account when planning.