Play
Human Pinball
Details
Union:
Non union
Area of media:
Play
Network:
Paid?:
Yes
Rates:
Rate: $25 CAD per hour Minimum: Three paid hours per scheduled workshop or rehearsal session
Deadline:
July 31, 2026
Auditions:
Initial submissions will be reviewed online.
Callbacks:
Callbacks will be scheduled if applicable.
Cities for response:
Vancouver
Storyline
Casting Vancouver-based performers for Human Pinball Live, a paid, nonunion development workshop and staged proof-of-concept based on an original dark comedy-drama pilot.

The story follows Ren, a trans man revisiting a chaotic period of his life involving dating, identity, police encounters, sobriety, and the gap between how events felt at the time and how he understands them now.

The live version will use minimal staging, direct address, voiceover, theatrical doubling, and fast transitions between past and present. This first phase is a small creative lab focused on testing selected scenes, character dynamics, pacing, and staging rather than mounting a complete public production.
Roles
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadPAST RENAll 19 - 40 Years old
Description
PAST REN - Lead
Playing age: Late 20s to early 30s
Gender: Trans man
Ethnicity: Open

Ren before medical and social transition. He is impulsive, sincere, defensive, resourceful, romantically overconfident, emotionally chaotic, and unintentionally funny.

Past Ren must be played as the same boy and man we meet later in the timeline—not as a lesbian, a woman performing masculinity, or someone consciously trying to appear masculine. He is already completely Ren internally, even though the people around him perceive him differently.

The role requires grounded comic instincts, emotional vulnerability, romantic confidence, and the ability to make Ren's wildly optimistic interpretations feel completely sincere.

Performers of all gender identities are welcome to submit if they are comfortable portraying the character on these terms.
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadPRESENT RENMale 19 - 40 Years old
Description
PRESENT REN - Lead
Early 30s. East Asian trans man. Trans men and transmasculine actors strongly encouraged to apply.

Present Ren is sober, observant, controlled, dryly funny, hypervigilant, and constantly analyzing the gap between what happens and what it means.

Applicants may submit for either Ren role. Performers comfortable being considered for both may indicate that in their submission. Casting one actor in both roles is being explored but is not required.
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadMINAFemale 19 - 40 Years old
Description
MINA - Supporting Lead
Woman, late 20s–early 30s. Ethnicity open.

Warm, intelligent, expressive, emotionally candid, and slightly chaotic. Requires grounded conversational acting, natural chemistry, and subtle comic and dramatic instincts.
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadENSEMBLE PERFORMERS - 2 RolesAll 19 - 70 Years old
Description
ENSEMBLE PERFORMERS - 2 Roles
Any gender, approximately 20s–60s. Ethnicity open.

Versatile performers who may portray police officers, baristas, servers, security personnel, hotel or rental-car staff, dates, and other supporting characters. Strong character instincts, grounded comic timing, physical storytelling, and the ability to shift quickly between roles are preferred.
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadJuneFemale 19 - 40 Years old
Description
June - Supporting

Playing age: Mid-20s to early 30s
Gender: Woman
Ethnicity: Open

Confident, socially fluid, attractive without performing for attention, and difficult for Ren to read accurately.

The role requires understated comic timing, natural presence, and the ability to create believable romantic and sexual tension through genuine connection rather than heightened performance.
Role typeRoleGender & Age range
LeadEliseFemale 19 - 40 Years old
Description
Elise - Supporting

Playing age: Mid-20s to early 30s
Gender: Woman
Ethnicity: Open

Direct, charismatic, emotionally intelligent, and comfortable challenging Ren's assumptions.

Requires grounded flirtation, strong chemistry, quick comic instincts, and ease with emotionally charged dialogue.