Auditions-The Outsider by Paul Slade Smith

Name: Auditions-The Outsider by Paul Slade Smith
Start: 2025-11-01T10:30:00-04:00
Location: 32332 W 12 Mile Rd, Farmington Hills, MI, United States, Michigan 48334

Schedule

Sat, 01 Nov, 2025 at 10:30 am

UTC-04:00

Location

32332 W 12 Mile Rd, Farmington Hills, MI, United States, Michigan 48334 | Farmington Hills, MI

[*NOTE: The Outsider (singular) is not to be confused with the musical The Outsiders (plural)]
Registration begins at 10:30 am
Auditions begin at 11:00 am
Email [email protected] if you have any questions
Production Team
Director: Tony Targan
Asst. Director: Stefan Potter
Producers: Tim Timmer and Anne Craft
Stage Manager: Nicole Jahr
Show Dates: February 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28
Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm
Sundays at 2:00pm
Rehearsals: Rehearsals will begin in November, likely three nights per week, depending on cast availability and schedules. Some time off will be given around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays, but actors who have excessive conflicts may not be cast.
Mandatory Rehearsal Dates: Tech: Saturday, February 7
Dress Rehearsals: February 9, 10, 11
While every effort will be made to cast actors who audition on November 1st, if you have an unavoidable conflict and wish to submit a video audition or schedule an early audition, or if you have other questions, please contact me by email at [email protected].
Audition monologues will be available at www.farmingtonplayers.org/auditions All auditioners will read a monologue from the character they are most interested in. Additional dialogue cuts will be provided at auditions.
SYNOPSIS
The Outsider is a timely and hilarious workplace comedy – in the vein of The Office – that skewers politics and celebrates democracy. Accidental governor Ned Newley is terrified of public speaking and his poll numbers are impressively bad. But a political consultant thinks the very qualities that make Ned a terrible politician might just make him what the public is looking for: the ideal outsider to govern the state.
DIRECTOR'S NOTES
The Outsider was first performed in 2015 and is set in the modern day. The setting is the Governor’s office of a small state. The play is a workplace comedy about politics without being political. It pokes fun at our system of government while ultimately making a positive statement about democracy, or at least what our democracy aspires to be. Pacing and timing are very important in this comedy, and there are several scenes with rapid-fire and overlapping dialogue. Therefore, actors must be committed to getting off-book as quickly as possible.
CHARACTERS
Note: Ages are approximate. Most “speeches” are one line of text
Paige Caldwell (F: 20s – 40s) [Speeches: 185]
A professional pollster. A smart, confident woman with a professional view of politics. She sees it as a series of contests to be won.
Dave Riley (M: 30s – 40s) [Speeches: 447]
The Chief of Staff to the new Governor. Very smart, but despite years of experience in government, endearingly earnest and naïve in the subject of politics.
Louise “Lulu” Peakes (F: 30s – 50s) [Speeches: 201]
A temporary employee hired as the Governor’s executive assistant. Personable, likable, impressively confident, and entirely inept. Without knowing it, she has the air of a politician about her. The friendliness of her smile, and the confident way she looks you in the eye would make you think, “I’d vote for her!”
Ned Newley (M: 50s – 60s) [Speeches: 285]
The new Governor. A person of impressive ability but completely lacks confidence. A man awaiting permission to enter a room in which he is already standing.
Arthur Vance (M: 40s – 60s) [Speeches: 258]
One of the most experienced and successful political consultants in the country. His overbearing personality and confidence in his own opinions should make him dislikable, but his ego is more than tempered by the joy, even glee, he brings into the room. He is a showman, but his excitement is 100% genuine, and it’s contagious.
Rachel Parsons (F: 20s – 40s) [Speeches: 131]
A TV news reporter. She has the “looks” to be an on-air correspondent; though, if television had never been invented, she still would have been a journalist. Straightforward, honest, and inquisitive by nature. She has seen enough of life and politics to be cynical, but she is more apt to make a wry joke.
A.C. Petersen (M or F*: 30s – 60s) [Speeches: 46]
A TV cameraman. A working man and “the guy you didn’t even notice was there,” which is fine with him. He has a low tolerance for idiocy and would rather not interact with anyone. His silence doesn’t make him seem unfriendly, just mysterious. [*NOTE: With the playwright’s permission, A.C. may be cast either as a man or a woman, and if female, we will adjust pronouns accordingly.]