Workshop
Details
Union:
Union or Non union
Area of media:
Workshop
Network:
Paid?:
Yes
Rates:
All rates conform to the Ontario Living Wage Network recommendations for Toronto, and significantly exceed CAEA DOT rates: $26.00/hour for rehearsals, plus $150 presentation fee.
Deadline:
Nov 3, 2025
Auditions:
Tuesday and Thursday
Callbacks:
Nov 10, 2025 Callbacks may not be necessary.
Cities for response:
Toronto
Comments
This is a WORKSHOP production. Actors will be seated and reading/singing from script, in front of a live audience. There will be no movement (blocking) or costumes, but there will be some pre-recorded background music and occasional sound effects. Lighting will be general stage wash. Rehearsals will take place in Toronto on March 10-14, 2026. Reading will take place in Toronto on March 15, 2026. There is the possibility that some actors cast for the workshop may be invited to perform at a private event on November 15, 2025.
Storyline
It is the mid-1960s. Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael emerge as just three of the undisputed heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. A Canadian hero is also rising: Nova Scotia's Rocky Jones, supported by his wife, Joan Jones. Walter Borden has barely reached his mid-twenties when he meets the Joneses (long before he becomes Canada's preeminent actor of Black-Indigenous origin). Committed to making positive change for Black Nova Scotians, these three very nearly incite a revolution, all while the RCMP tries to suppress them.
Roles
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadWalter BordenMale 21 - 28 Years old
Description
BLACK NOVA SCOTIAN. Young, bright, highly articulate, but a bit lost until he meets Rocky and Joan, at which point his dual passions ignite: activism and theatre. Deeply supportive and loyal, especially to Joan. Proud of his Blackness. Homosexual, but not in any way conforming to gay stereotypes.
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadRocky JonesMale 22 - 29 Years old
Description
BLACK NOVA SCOTIAN. Tall, articulate, charismatic, handsome. Aimless adventure-seeker until he gets put on the spot, and his inner activist comes to life. Transforms into a "Black radical", and the face of a growing liberation movement. Loves and respects his wife, Joan, but has a wandering eye. Fearless in the face of opposition.
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadMulti-Character 1Male 22 - 30 Years old
Description
BLACK MALE. This is one of six multi-character roles, and requires real flexibility in terms of the actor's ability to convincingly perform distinct character voices. Characters include middle school student, university student, protester, W. P. Oliver (church minister), Buddy Daye (community organizer), rough-and-tumble club patron, and doo-wop singer (some singing ability would be beneficial).
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadMulti-Character 2Male 22 - 30 Years old
Description
BLACK MALE. This is one of six multi-character roles, and requires real flexibility in terms of the actor's ability to convincingly perform distinct character voices. Characters include Stokely Carmichael (legendary African-American activist - New York raised but Caribbean-born), Buddy Daye (Halifax community organizer, Black Nova Scotian), student, resident, and conference attendee.
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadMulti-Character 3Female 22 - 30 Years old
Description
BLACK FEMALE. This is one of six multi-character roles, and requires real flexibility in terms of the actor's ability to convincingly perform distinct character voices. Characters include Miriam Makeba (legendary South African singer and activist), Leontyne Price (legendary Black opera star), Caribbean woman, student, and protester. Singing ability in multiple styles is a real asset.
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadMulti-Character 4Male 30 - 40 Years old
Description
WHITE MALE: This is one of six multi-character roles, and requires real flexibility in terms of the actor's ability to convincingly perform distinct character voices. Characters include middle school Principal, medical doctor, White ally (activist), School Headmaster, prosecution lawyer.
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadMulti-Character 5Male 30 - 40 Years old
Description
WHITE MALE: This is one of six multi-character roles, and requires real flexibility in terms of the actor's ability to convincingly perform distinct character voices. Characters include news reporter, Treasury department boss, student, police officer, judge. Most important character for this role is Inspector J. Mudge - an undercover RCMP officer who tracks the Jones' every move. This character must have the stereotypical sound of 1960s-era law enforcement officer.
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadMulti-Character 6Female 23 - 30 Years old
Description
WHITE FEMALE: This is one of six multi-character roles, and requires real flexibility in terms of the actor's ability to convincingly perform distinct character voices. Characters include Lynn Burrows (White ally/activist), Margie Davis (daughter to Bishop Davis), White Scotian woman in relationship with a Black Nova Scotian man, and Sharon, who will later become Rocky's second wife.