SUMO (OBwy) - NYC EPA Ma-Yi Theatre Company | New York, NY
Notice: Audition Call Type: EPA
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM (E)
Lunch 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Off Broadway
$1200 weekly minimum (Tier 4)
Equity actors for roles in SUMO (See breakdown).
Actors of size are encouraged to apply.
Japanese/Japanese American actors as well as Asian/AAPI actors are encouraged to audition and we are open to considering BIPOC actors of size as well.
There are no Equity stage manager positions available at this time.
Please prepare Sides for the role that you are interested in. Sides may be found at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1irqTZTXbyezcXjLh0SIh_mL0wFaj60K7?usp=sharing.
For KANNUSHI - read all as one character. Also, please bring your headshot and resume stapled together.
Actors' Equity New York Audition Center 165 W 46th St
16th Fl
New York, NY 10036
Presented by The Public Theater
A co-production of Ma-Yi Theater Company and La Jolla Playhouse
Artistic Directors: Ralph B. Peña (Ma-Yi), Oskar Eustis (Public Theater), Christopher Ashley (La Jolla Playhouse)
Writer: Lisa Sanaye Dring
Director: Ralph B. Peña
Expected to attend:
Erica Jensen (Casting Director) or Paul Davis (Casting Director) or Addie Saltz (Casting Assistant)
Jakob Carter (Executive Producer Ma-Yi Theater Company)
Borna Barzin (Associate, Ma-Yi Theater)
First Rehearsal: Week of January 6,, 2025
Tech: Week of February 10, 2025
Previews: Week of February 17, 2025
Opening: Week of March 3, 2025
Closing: March 30, 2025
Possible Extension: April 20, 2025
OTHER
Venue: The Public Theater / Anspacher Theater (425 Lafayette Street, NYC)
EPA Procedures are in effect for this audition. An Equity Monitor will be provided.
Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination.
Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to attend every audition.
Always bring your Equity Membership card to auditions.
SUMO (Off Broadway)
Entrenched in an elite sumo training facility in Tokyo, six men practice, eat, love, play, and ultimately fight. Step into the sacred world of sumo wrestling, with the New York premiere of Lisa Sanaye Dring’s mesmerizing new drama, SUMO.?Akio arrives as an angry, ambitious 18-year-old with a lot to learn. Expecting validation, dominance, and fame, and desperate to move up the ranks, he slams headlong into his fellow wrestlers. With sponsorship money at stake, their bodies on the line, and their futures at risk, the wrestlers struggle to carve themselves—and one another—into the men they dream of being.? SUMO is a thrilling new play set in an elite and rarely explored world. Obie Award winner Ralph B. Peña directs this powerhouse drama.?
NOTE: Sumo wrestling requires strength and mass. They train extensively to build strength and flexibility and maintain their weight to make it harder to push them out of the ring. The weight factor is a nod to the basic principles of physics where acceleration, mass and force work together to the wrestler’s advantage. Our play is a celebration of this sport and its traditions. Actors will be asked to maintain their weight and train throughout the run of the show. We are working with experts to ensure everyone’s safety and comfort.
SEEKING:
AVAILABLE ROLES / Character, Rank:
REN, j?ry? – 29, solid, critical, the work horse of the heya
FUMIO, makushita: Character is Male late 20s; Asian/AAPI. A mid-level wrestler, Fumio is loyal - equally conformist and romantic. Presents as hyper-masculine cultivated through years of hiding. Fumio has a good head on his shoulders but hasn’t quite figured out how to use it.
SO, jonidan: Character is Male mid 20s Asian/AAPI. Lowest ranked besides Akio, a sensationally optimistic underachiever.
KANNUSHI 2 & 3: Characters are Male 20s - 30s Asian/AAPI. Shinto priests who also act as opponents in various sumo matches, the tate gyoji, the boss and the other junior wrestlers/servants who populate the heya.
3 UNDERSTUDIES (Male 20s-30s) Asian/AAPI:
Understudy 1 - Mitsuo, Ren, Kannushi 1
Understudy 2 - Fumio, So, Kannushi 2, Tate gyoji
Understudy 3 - Akio, Shinta, Kannushi 3
UNAVAILABLE ROLES / Character, Rank
MITSUO, ?zeki: Character is Male; early 30s; Asian/AAPI. He is the highest ranked wrestler in the stable, one tournament away from becoming a Yokozuna (the highest of sumo rankings.) Mitsuo has a profound, undeniable power—he can conquer a man just by looking at him. Has a tinge of sardonic humor.
SHINTA, sandanme: Character is late 20s; Asian/AAPI. Free thinker, philosophical, doesn’t take anything too seriously. Lacks the immense hunger one needs to be a champion—a trait which will ultimately serve him. Has a big laugh.
AKIO, maezumo: Character is 18 Asian/AAPI, the newcomer, driven in a feral way
KANNUSHI 1: Character is Male 20s - 30s Asian/AAPI. Shinto priest who also act as opponents in various sumo matches, the tate gyoji, the boss and the other junior wrestlers/servants who populate the heya.
Videos
