Sign Up for An Audition Slot

The Department of Theatre and Dance will hold auditions for “Parity” on will be March 13 and 14 from 6-9 p.m. in Arena Theatre, Wright Hall.  Callbacks will be March 15 6-9 p.m. also in Arena. Auditions are open to all UC Davis students, faculty and staff.  

“Parity” is the work of Andrew Nicholls, spring 2019 Granada Artist-in-Residence. The play was showcased in the 2018 Ground and Field Theatre Festival. 

The production will be directed by alumna Josy Miller.

“Parity” will perform in Wyatt Pavilion Theatre May 16-18 and May 23-25 (Memorial Day weekend), with 7pm performances on Thursday Friday and Saturday and a matinee at 2pm on Saturday. The show will begin rehearsals in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall and move to the Wyatt on April 14.  

Miller asks for a two to five-minute contemporary monologue of any content (comedic or dramatic or anything in between). Please bring a resume and a head shot if they are able and be prepared to have a photo taken to help identify the auditioner for the director.

In “Parity,” two conference-bound theoretical physicists, set to debate the parity of the universe, meet in a Swiss train hallway, where each is by a concatenation of ridiculous coincidences unable to pass the other. As Daniel and Bronwen shuffle and spar, the situation turns haltingly romantic. A world away, in California, Daniel’s manipulative twin brother makes an unusual proposal to the woman he loves, setting up a parallel showdown between love and logic that will reverberate over 18 years.  

“The play is a masterpiece in physical comedy and a simultaneous critique of contemporary gender and power relationships,” said Miller. “Reality is many-layered, and actors embody characters real, imagined, and that occupy the spaces in between.”

Cast Breakdown:

DANIEL: m, late 20s, theoretical physicist, Californian 

BRONWEN: f, late 20s, theoretical physicist, originally Southern 

MICHAEL: m, tech whiz, late 20s, then 30s, mid 40s  

CAROL: f, Michael’s wife, gallery owner, same ages 

SUZANNE: f, Michael and Carol’s daughter, 18 

ELAINE: f, a temptress, (about) 30 and 40 

“Parity” will feature scenic design by John Iacovelli, lighting design by Pamila Z Gray and costume design by Kikyou Yan.

Josy Miller has been directing professionally and in educational settings since she moved to Northern California from New York in the early 2000s. An alumna of the UC Davis Performance Studies PhD program, Miller’s original production of The Dogs of War premiered at the University in 2014 and played the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the summer of 2015. Prior to her work at UCD, Miller spent five years as the Artistic Director at Hapgood Theatre Company in the East Bay, where she directed more than a dozen productions, worked alongside guest directors from around the state, and produced both new work and classic American and European drama. Other regional directing credits include Atmos Theatre Company (SF) and the Eugene O’Neill Foundation Theater (Danville). Since 2016, Miller has worked as the Arts Education Programs Specialist for the California Arts Council.