STUPID F##KING BIRD Cast Breakdown

Conrad: male, age 20s-30s: Passionate young artist – an author, poet, performance creator who is struggling to find new forms of creative expression; childish and petulant, argumentative and fiery but still attractive in that tortured artist way, he feels everything very deeply, too deeply; desperately craves the love and approval of his mother, the famous actress Emma Arkadina, and is madly in love with Nina. 

Emma: female, age 40s-50s:  Conrad’s mother, a very famous actress of stage and screen; glamorous and beautiful, and striving valiantly to cling to her youth, she is charismatic with a big personality and has a quick and often caustic wit; dotes on her brilliant lover, the renowned author Doyle Trigorin; a pretty terrible mother, her love for Conrad mostly masked by her competition with him and her narcissism and insensitivity. . 

Nina: female, age 20s-30s: A beautiful and luminous aspiring actress; a neighbor of Dr. Sorn, she is a disarming contradiction of youthful naïveté and calculated ambition; in love with Conrad, but pursues Trigorin both out of attraction to his brilliance, and for the boost he can give her career; her openness and radiance at the beginning of the play give way to a shockingly raw, damaged and fragile young woman in the final act.

Doyle Trigorin: male, age 30s-50s: A brilliant, acclaimed and celebrated author, and Emma’s lover; highly intelligent and well spoken, and has a confidence that borders on arrogance; but beneath that is a vulnerable, misfit kid who didn’t get laid enough in his youth and is trying to make up for lost time, and who becomes disarmed by the charm and beauty of Nina; unquestionably attractive because of his fame, brilliance and self-assurance, but not necessarily conventionally handsome. 

Dev: male, age 20s-30s: Conrad’s best childhood friend, the hanger-on or second banana; an always-broke, simple, good-natured, video game-playing schlub; probably a distinctive physical type – either overweight or skinny, or maybe prematurely balding; totally in love with Mash. Sings, and possibly also plays a musical instrument.

Mash: female, age 20s-30s: Conrad’s cousin. In love with Conrad. Emma’s house worker. Strong and moody. Hates the world and most of the people in it. Deeply in love with Conrad. Sings and plays the ukulele or similar instrument.

Dr. Sorn male, age 50s-60s: The owner of the lake house where the play takes place, he’s Emma’s brother and Conrad’s uncle, and a compassionate admirer of both of their talents; the eternal observer, he’s a patient listener, a confidant to all, and he has suppressed his own needs in support of those he loves; by the end of the play, he looks back on a life lived as a witness rather than a participant with regret.

MANIFEST DESTINITIS CAST BREAKDOWN

DON ARAGON: the patriarch of the family and owner of the large Rancho Aragon he inherited from his Spanish father who acquired from a huge Spanish land grant. Born in Spain, he was brought to California as a child. Never assimilated and always believed he was ill. Yes in fact, now at his old age of 60, he is a certified hypochondriac. Actually, he is very close to insanity in the style of Don Quixote who fought imaginary windmills. Don Aragon imagines all his maladies and his certain death with a certain pleasure and wears it like a proud badge. A pessimist for certain. He was born to kvetch. Lovable, energetic, intelligent and totally out of his mind. He can go from discreet sophistication to unleashed vulgarity.

TONIA: wise, loud mouth native india, servant. She knows and hears everything and really runs the house. She is sweet and understanding to the two daughters but has no patience for Don Aragon’s imaginary illnesses. They butt heads and are a comedic team doing so! She does not trust his second wife Belen de Aragon, and knows she only married el Don for his money. She is a native and and does not mince words with the Spanish or Mestizos (mixed blood). Oh, she loves to hit people too, especially Don Aragon. (originally played by a male in drag, but may be played by any gender)

ANGELICA: the beautiful eldest Californio daughter of Don Aragon. She is a loyal daughter and a true romantic. Truly naïve but has a spine. She is first generation Californio and she speaks modern sometimes. She loves Charlie Sutter and nothing else.

LUISA: (Played by the same actor as Angelica) Don Aragon’s youngest daughter. She actually wants to go to the convent to become a nun and be close to her best “friend” or join the rodeo. Maybe the first lesbian Californio? A “Mari-Macha” and a big fan of the feminist Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.

BELEN de ARAGON: also Spanish born, a dark gothic personality that always wears black. She is Don Aragon’s second wife. She disguises her evil intentions well but is really the stepmother from hell. She is having an affair with Sr. Mayo, (Robert McDonald) the notary who is really a Yankee Marine and both are plotting to extort Don Aragon and send the two daughters off to a nun convent. 

CHARLIE SUTTER is the handsome Anglo bohemian in love with Angelica. He is a kind surfer dude (the first surfer!) and not that smart. He is also a Sutter, a family that is very wealthy because they just discovered gold on their mill on the Sacramento River.

DOCTOR BURGOS: Don Aragon’s private and wealthy physician. Spanish born, very arrogant and self-aware of his status on the hacienda. But is a quack! He misdiagnoses everything.

DON PEDRO DIAZ: Well to do Californio land owner. His son Tomas is to wed Angelica. This idea is fully endorsed by Don Aragon. He would love to have a physician as a son in law to attend to him.

TOMAS DIAZ : (Recently arrived from Spain and is a doctor and will ask for Angelica’s hand in an arranged marriage by their fathers. Tomas is well read, well versed in medicine and poetry but is a total dweeb, nerdy looking and sickly. Not a bone of courage or romance in his beating heart. Angelica dislikes him, of course.

ROBERTO MAYO: Aka Robert “Bob” McDonald. A gringo who is having an affair with Belen de Aragon. He is passing as a Californio notary public but is a Yankee Marine. He and Belen are planning to extort Don Aragon of his riches and run away to San Francisco.

FRIAR BETO ARAGON: A Franciscan friar. He is Don Aragon’s older brother and is very sensible, logical, and liberal. He warns his brother of his false maladies and lack of faith. He is against the arranged marriage and is looking out for Angelicas and Luisa’s interests. 

PUEBLO BOY (Kid performer?) the classic “Little Panchito”

Shakespeare PERFORMER

PARK RANGER SAL:

PARK RANGER MARK:)

PIONEER FAMILY

Palomar Theatre Arts Season 2023-24

Three Theatre Classics Reinvented for the 21st Century & A Musical

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STUPID F##KING BIRD

By Aaron Posner
Sort of adapted from The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
September 29 – October 8

Multigenerational love triangles and artistic differences explode with comic and tragic consequences in this provocative riff on Chekhov’s classic. Conrad, an aspiring avant-garde artist, longs for two things: the approval of his movie-star mother, Emma; and the love of his leading lady, Nina.  Unfortunately, Nina falls for Emma’s lover, the renowned novelist Trigorin. And so, the f**cking game of life is on!  Love, death, beauty, despair and one unfortunate seagull collide as the characters strive to make meaning from the absurdities of the human condition.

Auditions Tuesday August 15 • 6-9 PM (Please note that this is the week prior to the beginning of classes)
Callbacks Wednesday, August 16th • 5PM – 10:30 PM

MANIFEST DESTINITIS

by Herbert Siguenza
Based on Moliere’s classic comedy, The Imaginary Invalid.
December 1 – December 10

Herbert Siguenza, A founding member of the iconic Chicano/Latino Performance Group Culture Clash, reinvents this classic with satirical genius worthy of Moliere.  Set in Alta California on the eve of U.S. annexation, A Spanish landowner, Don Aragon, suffers from anxiety over the encroaching invasion. His   unscrupulous doctor dubs the illness ‘Manifest Destinitis’. When the medical bills start to pile up, Don Aragon arranges to marry his daughter off to a bumbling young doctor. Of course, she has her sights set on someone else. And, by the way, so does Don Aragon’s wife. Thank goodness for Tonia, Don Aragon’s loudmouth native India servant who hears all, sees all, knows all and fixes all with much laughter and clowning. With this outrageous satirical mixture of medicine and history, Siguenza’s prescription of laughter and lessons might do wonders for what ails us.

Audtions  Tuesday August 15  or Monday, October 2 • 6-9 PM
Callbacks Tuesday, October 3 • 5PM – 10:30 PM

HEDDATRON

by Elizabeth Meriwether
Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler in the age of Artificial Intelligence
May 3 – 12

A wildly creative, absurd and surprising reinvention of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. Jane Gordon, a pregnant housewife, is abducted by robots, taken to the rainforest, and forced to perform Hedda Gabler by her robot captors. Meanwhile Nugget, her ten-year-old daughter, with the aid of her milquetoast father, an eager documentary filmmaker and her small arms dealing uncle must rescue Jane – whether she wants to be saved or not. As we approach the AI singularity, Heddatron constructs a  bizarre and strangely familiar world of reality TV and rocket launchers where everyone, artificial or otherwise, just wants to feel a little bit human.

Auditions Tuesday March 12 • 6-9PM
Callbacks Wednesday 13 • 5PM – 10:30 PM

STUPID F##KING BIRD Cast Breakdown

Conrad: male, age 20s-30s: Passionate young artist – an author, poet, performance creator who is struggling to find new forms of creative expression; childish and petulant, argumentative and fiery but still attractive in that tortured artist way, he feels everything very deeply, too deeply; desperately craves the love and approval of his mother, the famous actress Emma Arkadina, and is madly in love with Nina. 

Emma: female, age 40s-50s:  Conrad’s mother, a very famous actress of stage and screen; glamorous and beautiful, and striving valiantly to cling to her youth, she is charismatic with a big personality and has a quick and often caustic wit; dotes on her brilliant lover, the renowned author Doyle Trigorin; a pretty terrible mother, her love for Conrad mostly masked by her competition with him and her narcissism and insensitivity. . 

Nina: female, age 20s-30s: A beautiful and luminous aspiring actress; a neighbor of Dr. Sorn, she is a disarming contradiction of youthful naïveté and calculated ambition; in love with Conrad, but pursues Trigorin both out of attraction to his brilliance, and for the boost he can give her career; her openness and radiance at the beginning of the play give way to a shockingly raw, damaged and fragile young woman in the final act.

Doyle Trigorin: male, age 30s-50s: A brilliant, acclaimed and celebrated author, and Emma’s lover; highly intelligent and well spoken, and has a confidence that borders on arrogance; but beneath that is a vulnerable, misfit kid who didn’t get laid enough in his youth and is trying to make up for lost time, and who becomes disarmed by the charm and beauty of Nina; unquestionably attractive because of his fame, brilliance and self-assurance, but not necessarily conventionally handsome. 

Dev: male, age 20s-30s: Conrad’s best childhood friend, the hanger-on or second banana; an always-broke, simple, good-natured, video game-playing schlub; probably a distinctive physical type – either overweight or skinny, or maybe prematurely balding; totally in love with Mash. Sings, and possibly also plays a musical instrument.

Mash: female, age 20s-30s: Conrad’s cousin. In love with Conrad. Emma’s house worker. Strong and moody. Hates the world and most of the people in it. Deeply in love with Conrad. Sings and plays the ukulele or similar instrument.

Dr. Sorn male, age 50s-60s: The owner of the lake house where the play takes place, he’s Emma’s brother and Conrad’s uncle, and a compassionate admirer of both of their talents; the eternal observer, he’s a patient listener, a confidant to all, and he has suppressed his own needs in support of those he loves; by the end of the play, he looks back on a life lived as a witness rather than a participant with regret.

MANIFEST DESTINITIS CAST BREAKDOWN

DON ARAGON: the patriarch of the family and owner of the large Rancho Aragon he inherited from his Spanish father who acquired from a huge Spanish land grant. Born in Spain, he was brought to California as a child. Never assimilated and always believed he was ill. Yes in fact, now at his old age of 60, he is a certified hypochondriac. Actually, he is very close to insanity in the style of Don Quixote who fought imaginary windmills. Don Aragon imagines all his maladies and his certain death with a certain pleasure and wears it like a proud badge. A pessimist for certain. He was born to kvetch. Lovable, energetic, intelligent and totally out of his mind. He can go from discreet sophistication to unleashed vulgarity.

TONIA: wise, loud mouth native india, servant. She knows and hears everything and really runs the house. She is sweet and understanding to the two daughters but has no patience for Don Aragon’s imaginary illnesses. They butt heads and are a comedic team doing so! She does not trust his second wife Belen de Aragon, and knows she only married el Don for his money. She is a native and and does not mince words with the Spanish or Mestizos (mixed blood). Oh, she loves to hit people too, especially Don Aragon. (originally played by a male in drag, but may be played by any gender)

ANGELICA: the beautiful eldest Californio daughter of Don Aragon. She is a loyal daughter and a true romantic. Truly naïve but has a spine. She is first generation Californio and she speaks modern sometimes. She loves Charlie Sutter and nothing else.

LUISA: (Played by the same actor as Angelica) Don Aragon’s youngest daughter. She actually wants to go to the convent to become a nun and be close to her best “friend” or join the rodeo. Maybe the first lesbian Californio? A “Mari-Macha” and a big fan of the feminist Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.

BELEN de ARAGON: also Spanish born, a dark gothic personality that always wears black. She is Don Aragon’s second wife. She disguises her evil intentions well but is really the stepmother from hell. She is having an affair with Sr. Mayo, (Robert McDonald) the notary who is really a Yankee Marine and both are plotting to extort Don Aragon and send the two daughters off to a nun convent. 

CHARLIE SUTTER is the handsome Anglo bohemian in love with Angelica. He is a kind surfer dude (the first surfer!) and not that smart. He is also a Sutter, a family that is very wealthy because they just discovered gold on their mill on the Sacramento River.

DOCTOR BURGOS: Don Aragon’s private and wealthy physician. Spanish born, very arrogant and self-aware of his status on the hacienda. But is a quack! He misdiagnoses everything.

DON PEDRO DIAZ: Well to do Californio land owner. His son Tomas is to wed Angelica. This idea is fully endorsed by Don Aragon. He would love to have a physician as a son in law to attend to him.

TOMAS DIAZ : (Recently arrived from Spain and is a doctor and will ask for Angelica’s hand in an arranged marriage by their fathers. Tomas is well read, well versed in medicine and poetry but is a total dweeb, nerdy looking and sickly. Not a bone of courage or romance in his beating heart. Angelica dislikes him, of course.

ROBERTO MAYO: Aka Robert “Bob” McDonald. A gringo who is having an affair with Belen de Aragon. He is passing as a Californio notary public but is a Yankee Marine. He and Belen are planning to extort Don Aragon of his riches and run away to San Francisco.

FRIAR BETO ARAGON: A Franciscan friar. He is Don Aragon’s older brother and is very sensible, logical, and liberal. He warns his brother of his false maladies and lack of faith. He is against the arranged marriage and is looking out for Angelicas and Luisa’s interests. 

PUEBLO BOY (Kid performer?) the classic “Little Panchito”

Shakespeare PERFORMER

PARK RANGER SAL:

PARK RANGER MARK:)

PIONEER FAMILY