WORD FOR WORD / Z SPACE 2024 SEASON 

Word for Word Auditions
March 2024 

Word for Word Auditions Overview 
Seeking Actors for Word for Word’s Upcoming Productions of Stories by Kevin Barry and Stories by Haruki Murakami (working titles). 

Auditions: 
Sunday, March 3rd from 10 am - 6 pm, at Z Below, 470 Florida St, SF
Monday, March 4th from 10 am - 6 pm, at Noh Space, 2840 Mariposa St, SF

Submit Headshot and Resume to: casting@zspace.org by February 23, 2024

Callbacks: Sunday, March 10th from 10 am- 6pm and  Monday, March 11th from 12 pm to 8 pm, at Z Below (470 Florida St, SF) . 

Word for Word and Z Space are casting multiple roles for their upcoming production of Stories by Kevin Barry and Stories by Haruki Murakami. 

Local AEA and non-AEA actors are highly encouraged to submit. 

PLEASE NOTE: We are happy to receive submissions from non-local performers but we are unfortunately unable to provide local housing or transportation assistance. 

Please see below for descriptions of the production and audition requirements. 

Stories by Kevin Barry
(a Word for Word/ Z Space production) 

Director: Paul Finocchiaro

  • Rehearsals Begin: Week of May 26th

  • Load-in/Tech: Week of June 16

  • Dress/Preview: June 26-28

  • Opening: June 29

  • Closing: July 21

“Who’s Dead McCarthy” is a hilarious tale of a self-appointed messenger of death for his small Irish city. He moves one man to look to his own mortality for meaning. 

In “The Wintersongs,” two strangers travel by train to Dublin. One, a world-weary old busybody, cautions a younger woman whose life journey has just begun.

In "Coast of Leitrim", a lonely Irish man falls in love with a Polish woman after meeting her in a café. What could be a perfect relationship turns south when he learns that his solitude and her history aren’t quite so easy to erase.

Roles for Stories by Barry: 

  • One young woman, any ethnicity, should be able to play 18-22-ish, Irish girl.

  • One older man, 60’s-80’s any ethnicity - to play the titular character in "Who's-Dead McCarthy" - a man who spends his days reciting news of the recent dead for any local audience he can find along O’Connell Street in Limerick. 

PLEASE NOTE: If called back for Stories by Kevin Barry you will be asked to prepare sides with an Irish dialect. 

Stories by Haruki Murakami (a Word for Word/ Z Space production) 

Directors: Keiko Carreiro Shimosato and Lisa Hori-Garcia

  • Rehearsals begin the week of: October 14

  • Tech week begins the week of: November 4

  • Previews: November 13-15

  • Opening: November 16

  • Closing: December 8

Three related stories by one of fiction's most beloved authors.

In “The Second Bakery Attack”, a newly married couple realizes they have a lot to learn about each other after they're both seized by an insatiable hunger in the middle of the night. 

In “Where I’m Likely to Find It”, a husband goes missing, a volunteer detective takes on the case and spends weeks in the staircase of the man's apartment, where he was last seen.

Roles for Stories by Haruki Murakami: 

  • 3 Men: AAPI; 20's-40's

  • 2 Women: AAPI; 20's-40's

All actors will play multiple roles, mostly young adult to young middle age, with a couple of older characters. Actors should be agile at making quick and distinct character transformations and be good movers. Dance experience not required but a plus.

Audition Requirements for these Word for Word Productions : please send a resume, headshot, and prepare one monologue for an in-person audition, no more than 3 minutes. Be prepared to read from sides that will be provided upon making an appointment. 

Headshots/resume, and any questions, should be emailed to casting@zspace.org 

Contract - Stories by Kevin Barry: 
AEA BAT Tier II $508 /wk + health & pension. 
NON-UNION $508 /wk

Contract - Stories by Haruki Murakami
AEA BAT Tier II $508 /wk + health & pension. 
NON-UNION $ 508 /wk

Personnel 
Z Space Artistic Collaborators: 
Word for Word Artistic Director: JoAnne Winter 
Word for Word Associate Artistic Director: Vanessa Flores Chacko
Executive Director: Shafer Mazow 
Curatorial Director: Nikki Meñez 

Questions? Contact: casting@zspace.org or visit www.zspace.org 

Auditions will be reviewed and/or seen by: 
JoAnne Winter - Word for Word Artistic Director 
Vanessa Flores Chacko - Word for Word Associate Artistic Director
Paul Finocchiaro - Director of Stories by Kevin Barry
Keiko Carreiro Shimosato and Lisa Hori-Garcia - Co-Directors of Stories by Haruki Murakami  
Word for Word Core Company members

Word for Word Performing Arts Company performs short works of fiction, without changing a word, preserving the author’s voice and honoring their intent with inventive staging and theatrical distribution of the text. Word for Word believes in the power of the short story to provide solace, compassion, and insight into our daily lives. We bring stories from diverse cultures to our diverse communities and develop future audiences’ love for the printed and spoken word. Some of the many authors whose works we have produced include Alice Munro, Edward P. Jones, Tobias Wolff, George Saunders, Amy Tan, Colm Toíbin, Zora Neale Hurston and Sandra Cisneros. 

Z Space empowers artistic risk, collaboration, and camaraderie amongst artists, audience, and community in the service of creating, developing, and presenting new work. In addition to being home to local and international artists and organizations, Z Space develops and produces its own new work. Over the past few years, Z Space has built a national reputation for developing and producing large-scale new works that reimagine the traditional musical theater form, receiving critical acclaim for Hundred Days (The Bengsons), The Lucky Ones (The Bengsons), and Weightless (The Kilbanes). 

Z Space and Word for Word Casting Commitments 
Z Space and Word for Word’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Z Space and Word for Word are committed to diversity and encourage all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Z Space and Word for Word encourage performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit. 

Z SPACE COVID SAFETY PROTOCOLS 
All productions will follow COVID protocols as determined by Z Space and Actor’s Equity Association. All performers will be required to show proof of full vaccination upon hire. Safety is a top priority. 

Note: COVID protocols are subject to change based on public health guidance and safety requirements at the time of the event.