
ABOUT GRADUATE REPERTORY
TAPS’s Annual Grad Rep presents directorial works by TAPS’s second-year PhD students in the Nitery Theater over two weekends in February. Presented in rep, these roughly hour-long pieces are selected/created by the graduate students to explore their areas of interest in performance-making and provide undergraduate actors, designers, and crew members with student collaborations in the exploration of theory-led practice.
Stanford TAPS seeks to build a diverse cast for this production and encourages members of any race, gender identity, and ability to audition. If any accessibility accommodations are needed please email tapsinformation@stanford.edu for assistance.
In addition to its scheduled performances, this production may be live-streamed or recorded for public viewing.
ABOUT AUDITIONS
Auditions will be held as 10-minute individual timeslots. If you are unable to attend auditions in person, please email tapsinformation@stanford.edu to explore alternatives.
SIGN UP HEREWHAT TO PREPARE
No preparation is required, but auditioners are welcome to consider any of the below options to help them feel more comfortable and confident in their audition. There is no pressure to bring anything in. Suggested preparation options include:
- Bring in a photo and one story—Roughly 1 min.
- Describe a performance of everyday life through movement—Roughly 1 min.
- Choose one monologue from the two slides provided—Roughly 1 min.
The directors would love to get to know you and about your artistic practice, so even if you don’t bring or prepare, it’s perfectly fine.
DESIGN POSITIONS
In addition to performers, these pieces are also looking for designers, assistants and support crew, all of whom can be involved in multiple pieces in the same or various positions.
Exorcism is seeking:
- Costume Designer
- Scenic Designer
- Lighting Designer
- Projection Designer
- Stage Manager
- Assistant Designers (all areas)
Interested? Email Marlon Ariyasinghe marlona [at] stanford.edu to express your interest
Wanderer is seeking:
- Costume Designer
- Scenic Designer
- Lighting Designer
Interested? Email Pauline Mornet pmornet [at] stanford.edu to express your interest
What Remains? Is seeking:
- Costume Designer
- Scenic Designer
- Lighting Designer
- Projection Designer
Interested? Email eli melgar jmelgar [at] stanford.edu to express your interest
ABOUT THE PRODUCTIONS
Exorcism
Directed by Marlon Ariyasinghe
Exorcism, aims to explore the themes of decolonization, repatriation, and cultural restoration through a theatrical performance set in a contemporary U.S. museum exhibit. Using a combination of Sri Lankan embodied performance practices like Rukada (Sri Lankan puppetry) and Kolam (Sri Lankan masked drama) the play will offer a unique artistic critique of colonial theft and the continued presence of cultural objects in Western institutions.
By integrating Angam Mechanics, an experimental actor-training methodology founded on Sri Lankan martial arts, Angampora into the training and performance process, this project not only creates an innovative artistic methodology but also aligns with the broader objectives of decolonizing performance practice.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Marlon Ariyasinghe (he/him) is a theater practitioner and researcher from Sri Lanka. At the center of his approach to theater is the exploration of systematized psychophysical acts and building cohesion between text, image, speech, body and performance as collective. He has over 15 years of experience as a theater practitioner in Sri Lanka and Switzerland. Through his work and collaborations, he often engages with Sri Lanka’s socio-political, historical and economic concerns and focus on notions such as identity, gender, migrancy and embodiment. Click here to access his artistic profile.
EXORCISM IS SEEKING TO CAST
- Dancers and choreographers who are interested in learning the basic forms of Sri Lankan martial arts Angampora and to create an original performance.
- Narrator: Will appear at the end of the performance.
- Amaya: Coming from the diaspora unsure about their roots and identity.
- Yaka: A Sri Lankan Demon. Agent of chaos. Playful.
- Police Kolama: Responsible for safeguarding the artifacts.
EXORCISM REHEARSAL AND TECH
Rehearsal Process: October 26-January 31
Tech & Performances: February 01-15
- In Fall Quarter: 3 rehearsals per week (roughly 8 hours/week)
- In start of Winter Quarter: 5 rehearsals per week (roughly 16 hours/week
- View Tentative Rehearsal Schedule
QUESTIONS ABOUT EXORCISM?
Email Marlon Ariyasinghe marlona [at] stanford.edu
Wanderer
Directed by Pauline Mornet
Wanderer is a devised performance that incorporates music, text and movement. Loosely inspired by The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll, the play follows the story of an unexpected phone call that spins our protagonist on a journey to the desert where she encounters different characters and challenges all the while exploring the theme of movement and migration. Inspired by the theories of ‘polydisciplinamory’ as coined by scholar-artist Natalie Loveless, this performance is focalised on the process in which we create by engaging with theory, embodied practices, play, and the ways in which they move us.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Pauline Mornet is an interdisciplinary theater maker and performer. She has 10 years of experience in performance-making, across Australia, France, Mexico and the US. Her award-winning devised play Titre Provisoire has toured around France and played on the national stage. She has worked with various performance artists and makers including Julian Juhlin for the NYC Virgin Tour, and Alexis Michalik translating his Molière-winning Le Porteur d’Histoire. She was most recently project manager on the honorarium installation HEARTH for Burning Man based in Djerassi Artist Residency Center, CA. Pauline is passionate about the creative process and building spaces that are joyful, sustainable and non-hierarchical.
WANDERER IS SEEKING TO CAST
- Collaborators with a music and/or movement practice who are interested in the devising process.
WANDERER REHEARSAL AND TECH
Rehearsal Process: October 26-January 31
Tech & Performances: February 01-15
- In Fall and start of Winter Quarter: 1-2 rehearsals per week (4-5 hours per week) on Thursday 7pm and/or Tuesday 7pm.
QUESTIONS ABOUT WANDERER?
Email Pauline Mornet pmornet [at] stanford.edu
What Remains?
Directed by eli melgar
What Remains? is a biodrama performance based on the collaboration between the playwright-director and the performers. Inspired by the Argentinian director Vivi Tellas’ biodrama, this performance will explore themes such as displacement, climate change, mourning, and survival to tackle the question: what remains?
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
eli melgar is a playwright from Sihuatehuacan (Santa Ana, El Salvador). gravedad, their first play, tells the story of a trans* person who, after being outside “home” for more than a decade, returns to their native country. Q, the main character, arrives with a “new” body in a place, in a society, in a family that requests of them a body they no longer have.
WHAT REMAINS? IS SEEKING TO CAST
- storytellers
- dancers/ movers
WHAT REMAINS? REHEARSAL AND TECH
Rehearsal Process: October 26-January 31
Tech & Performances: February 01-15
- In Fall Quarter: 1-2 rehearsals per week (~ 2-5 hours/week)
- In start of Winter Quarter: 5 rehearsals per week (roughly 16 hours/week)
WHEN + WHERE
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 16
7-10PM | ROBLE GYM 137
ACCESSIBILITY NOTE
If any accessibility accommodations with auditions or callbacks are needed please email tapsinformation@stanford.edu for assistance.
SPONSORS
This Repertory was made possible in part by the Pigott Fund for Drama, the May Ellen Ritter Production Fund, and the Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson Fund.