Student Call Board

One-Acts Fall 2026
CASTING CALL & BREAKDOWN  

Sign-up for Auditions HERE Tuesday 9/29 at 6pm
Callbacks by invitation on Wednesday 9/30 at 6pm Studio Theater

CALLING ALL PERFORMERS!  
You are invited to audition for the UCSB Department of Theater & Dance Directing Seniors’ ONE-ACT projects.  Each play is approx. 20 minutes and will have four weeks of rehearsal, including one week tech.  

Performances are Oct 30th at 7pm and Oct 31st at 2pm and 7pm in the Studio Theater. 

IMPORTANT:  Please fill out the following Google Form before auditions and select your audition time HERE.  All plays and audition materials can be found at the end of each show and cast description below.  

INCLUSIVITY STATEMENT: We invite actors to audition who identify as/with any gender, race, age, sexual orientation, disability, and/or religious or political belief and affiliation. ALL enrolled UCSB students are encouraged to participate!

REHEARSALS: May vary, but generally Oct 5-Oct 29th 6pm-10pm

CREDIT: 1 unit of THTR 49 and/or 149 will be given to cast members. 

THE PLAYS

A Gaggle of Saints by Neil Labute
Directed by Daegan Bowers
Synopsis
A young Mormon couple recounts the same night of attending a fancy party in New York City. Their retellings of this night are similar until the two separate in their stories, with one version becoming incredibly dark and violent showing just how far religious hatred can push someone. (TW: extreme descriptions of violence, homophobia; themes of religious hypocrisy)  

Cast of characters:  

JOHN (male, early 20s) : An attractive ‘All American’ guy with Mormon morals and values. Seemingly approachable, calm, and detailed with a hidden tendency for extreme violence as a problem solver.  

SUE (female, early 20s) : An ‘All American’ girl with Mormon morals and values. Innocent and sweet; looks at the world through ‘rose colored glasses’.  

A Gaggle of Saints script HERE  
Audition cut HERE  

The Bear by Anton Chekhov
Directed by Can Basoglu
Synopsis
When a grieving widow is disturbed  by her rude landlord whom she owes money to, an argument erupts between the two which reveals their true emotions.  

Cast of characters:

Elena Ivanovna Popova (Female, mid 20s) A young and overly emotional  landowner who is in deep grieving over her late husband in spite of his flaws

LUKA (Any Gender, mid 40s) Popova’s loyal and aging butler who is determined to get Popova out of her grieving state and make her join society.  

GRIGORY STEPANOVITCH SMIRNOV (Female, Late 2os) An older landowner with an army background who desperately wants to collect the debt that Popova’s late husband owes her. Her nickname “The Bear” comes from her due to her short temper, loud personality and terrible manners.

The Bear script HERE

Audition sides HERE 

Man in the Basement by Arlene Hutton
Directed by Justin Macaraeg  
Synopsis  
A strange intruder prompts a peace-seeking wife to make a desperate call to her hotshot husband and loud-mouth sister. However, when three minds think unalike, a course of action is impossible to find—leaving only a matter of time before the threat meets them.

Cast of characters:

WIFE (female, mid 20s) An expert overthinker, overcompensates with generosity, constantly overstimulated.

HUSBAND (male, mid 20s) Man of the law because it funds his extravagance, a tryhard at affluence, a voice of “reason.”

WIFE’S SISTER (female, early 20s) A competitive yapaholic, can’t read a room, seeks attention for her “brilliance.”

THE MAN (male) A Mark Zuckerberg in headlights, otherworldly, driven by weekly hyperfixations.

Man in the Basement script can be found HERE  
Audition materials can be found HERE  

Funeral in the Rain by FJ Hartland  
Directed by Sarah Kondas
Synopsis
Two actors play all the mourners at the funeral of an ordinary woman who touched the lives of all of those around her.

Cast of characters:

WOMAN (plays Doris, Mildred, Flo, Enid and Heidi)

MAN (plays Rev. Bramblatt, Laird, Roland, Orvil, Nick and Dr.Pruitt)

Open to all races/ethnicities! Must have emotional range and ability to rapidly switch characters!

Funeral in the Rain script & audition material can be found HERE 

 

ALL MY SONS by Arthur Miller 

Directed by – Sara Rademacher

 

PERFORMANCE DATES:

Thursday, November 12 -- 7:30pm

Friday, November 13 -- 7:30pm

Saturday, November 14 -- 2:00pm & 7:30pm

Sunday, November 15 -- 7:30pm

 

GENERAL AUDITIONS*

Thursday, September 24

6pm until 10pm

CALLBACKS

Friday, September 25

6pm until 11pm

 

REHEARSALS

First Rehearsal: Monday, September 28th, 2026

Rehearsals will be conducted Monday – Friday
between the hours of 6PM-10PM. 

Hours may extend during Tech Rehearsals. 

 

LOCATION

UCSB - Performing Arts Theatre (PAT)

 

*Auditions are OPEN TO ALL ENROLLED UCSB STUDENTS MAJORS AND NON-MAJORS

 

INCLUSIVITY STATEMENT:

We encourage any UCSB enrolled student actor who identify as/with any gender, race, age, sexual orientation, disability, religious or political belief and affiliation to audition. ALL ARE WELCOME!!!

 

COURSE CREDIT:

All enrolled UCSB students are eligible to participate and receive course credit! Actors cast in this production have the option or earning 3 units of THTR 49 and/or 149 course credit.

 

VERY IMPORTANT REHEARSAL INFORMATION:

Rehearsals will be conducted Monday – Friday between the hours of 6PM-10PM.

Hours may extend during Tech Rehearsals. 

 

SCRIPT:

The expectation for this audition is that all actors have read the script and are very familiar with the given circumstances.
ALL MY SONS by Arthur Miller - Script

  

AUDITION REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION 

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AS ALL 3 STEPS ARE CRUCIAL TO A SMOOTH AUDITION!

STEP 1

Reserve a time slot for auditions on Thursday, September 24  

Audition Time Slot Sign-up

STEP 2

Please thoroughly complete the electronic audition form that you receive after you sign up for a time-slot.  Forms must be complete BEFORE your audition.  

Audition Form

STEP 3

Choose and prepare one of the attached monologues from the play. PLEASE DO NOT READ FROM YOUR PHONE. (Sides will be available at the audition)

 

◼ PLEASE NOTE: Your text need not be memorized but please be very familiar with it and thoroughly invest yourself in the language, situation, and needs of

the character.

ABOUT THE PLAY:  Arthur Miller received the 1949 Best Play of the Year Tony for this groundbreaking and controversial play.  Inspired by true events, All My Sons is story of a successful self-made businessman, Joe Keller, who sold the government defective airplane parts during WWII. The blame for the subsequent death of 21 airmen fell on his partner, with Joe exonerated for the crime. Now, after the war, Joe and his wife Kate live with the ghosts of the past – especially the status of their oldest son Larry, missing in action and presumed dead by all but his mother. Eager to move on with his life, their youngest son Chris prepares to propose to the woman he loves – Larry’s ex-fiancée. A day of reunions becomes a day of reckonings and the fragility of the American dream. (U. of M. context)

 

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: After his first foray on Broadway failed miserably; Arthur Miller seriously considered giving up writing. He set his sights on his next play to decide his fate. Fortunately for the literary world All My Sons was an immediate hit; establishing Miller as a leading voice in the theatre. The debut of Death of a Salesman just two years later and The Crucible (1953) would cement his place as a preeminent American playwright. All My Sons earned Miller his first of three Tony Awards along with the 1947 Drama Critics Award for Best Play.

 

SETTING:  The longtime home of Joe and Kate Keller

ACT ONE A warm, sunny, August morning in America

ACT TWO Same day - afternoon

ACT THREE Same day – evening

 

CHARACTERS:

Joe Keller — Joe, middle-aged, was exonerated after being charged with shipping defective aircraft engine cylinder heads during the war. For over three years he has placed the blame on his partner and former neighbor, Steve Deever, although he himself committed the crime. 

 

Kate Keller (Mother) — Kate, middle-aged, knows that Joe is guilty but lives in denial while mourning for her eldest son Larry, who has been “missing in action” for three years. She refuses to believe that Larry is dead and maintains that Ann Deever — who returns for a visit at the request of Larry’s brother Chris

— is still “Larry’s girl.” 

 

Chris Keller — Chris, early 30’s, idolizes his father, a good listener, and capable of immense affection and loyalty.  He has returned home from the war two years before the play begins, disturbed by the realization that the world was continuing as if nothing had happened. He has summoned Ann Deever to the Keller house ask her hand in marriage. 

 

Ann Deever — Ann, 26, arrives at the Keller home having shunned her “guilty” father, Steve, since his imprisonment.  She is gentle with a backbone and strong moral code. She had a relationship with Larry Keller before his disappearance and has since moved on because she knows the truth of his fate. She hopes that the Kellers will consent to her marriage to Larry’s younger brother, Chris, with whom she has corresponded by mail for two years. 

 

George Deever — George, 31, is Ann’s older brother: a successful New York lawyer, veteran, and a childhood friend of Chris. He initially believed in his father’s guilt, but upon visiting Steve in jail, realizes his innocence and becomes enraged at the Kellers for deceiving him. He returns to save his sister from her marriage to Chris, creating the catalyzing final events.

 

Dr. Jim Bayliss — Jim, 40, is a successful doctor.  A wry and self-controlled man, an easy talker, but with a wisp of sadness. He wants to become a medical researcher but continues in his job as it pays the bills. He is a close friend to the Keller family and spends a lot of time in their backyard.

 

Sue Bayliss — Sue, 40, is Jim’s wife: at once needling and affectionate. She too is a friend of the Keller family but is secretly resentful of what she sees as Chris’s idealistic influence on Jim.  She places high importance on ambition and wealth.  

 

Frank Lubey — Frank, 33, was always one year ahead of the draft, so he never served in the war, instead stayed home to marry George’s former sweetheart, Lydia.

 

Lydia Lubey — Lydia, 27, was George’s love interest before the war; after he went away, she married Frank and they soon had three children. She is robust, straightforward, positive and a model of peaceful domesticity.

 

Bert — Bert, elementary school-aged child who lives in the neighborhood; he is friends with the Bayliss’ son, Tommy, and frequently visits the Kellers’ yard to play “jail” with Joe. (This role will be cast with an actor of any gender or age)

 

Questions:  Please contact Sara Rademacher- saradrad@ucsb.edu

 

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT AUDITIONS!

 

 

Audition Monologues

Please choose and prepare one of the following monologues for your audition.

 

CHRIS KELLER

It takes a little time to toss that off. Because they weren’t just men. For instance, one time it’d been raining several days, and this kid came to me, and gave me his last pair of dry socks. Put them in my pocket. That’s only a little thing . . . but . . . that’s the kind of guys I had. They didn’t die; they killed themselves for each other. I mean that exactly; a little more selfish and they’d’ve been here today. And I got an idea—watching them go down. Everything was being destroyed, see, but it seemed to me that one new thing was made. A kind of . . . responsibility. Man for man. You understand me? — To show that, to bring that on to the earth again like some kind of a monument and everyone would feel it standing there, behind him, and it would make a difference to him. (pause) And then I came home and it was incredible. I . . . there was no meaning in it here; the whole thing to them was a kind of a—bus accident. I went to work with Dad, and that rat-race again. I felt . . . what you said . . . ashamed somehow. Because nobody was changed at all. It seemed to make suckers out of a lot of guys. I felt wrong to be alive, to open the bank book, to drive the new car, to see the new refrigerator. I mean you can take those things out of a war, but when you drive that car, you’ve got to know that it came out of the love a man can have for a man, you’ve got to be a little better because of that. Otherwise, what you have is really loot, and there’s blood on it. I didn’t want to take any of it. And I guess that included you.

 

JOE KELLER

The man was a fool but don’t make a murderer out of him. You got no sense? Look what it does to her! (to Ann) Listen, you gotta appreciate what was doin’ in that shop in the war. The both of you! It was a madhouse. Every half hour the Major callin’ for cylinder heads, they were whippin’ us with the telephone. The trucks were hauling them away hot, damn near. I mean just try to see it human, see it human. All of a sudden, a batch comes out with a crack. That happens, that’s the business. A fine, hairline crack. All right, so . . . so he’s a little man, your father, always scared of loud voices. What’ll the Major say? —Half a day’s production shot. . . What’ll I say? You know what I mean? Human.  (he pauses) So he takes out his tools and he . . . covers over the cracks. All right . . . that’s bad, it’s wrong, but that’s what a little man does. If I could have gone in that day I’d a told him—junk ’em, Steve, we can afford it. But alone he was afraid. But I know he meant no harm. He believed they’d hold up a hundred percent. That’s a mistake, but it ain’t murder. You mustn’t feel that way about him. You understand me? It ain’t right.

 

 

 

KATE KELLER 

I was fast asleep, and . . . Remember the way he used to fly low past the house when he was in training? When we used to see his face in the cockpit going by? That’s the way I saw him. Only high up. Way, way up, where the clouds are. He was so real I could reach out and touch him. And suddenly he started to fall. And crying, crying to me . . . Mom, Mom! I could hear him like he was in the room. Mom! . . . it was his voice! If I could touch him, I knew I could stop him, if I could only . . . (breaks off, allowing her outstretched hand to fall). I woke up and it was so funny . . . The wind . . . it was like the roaring of his engine. I came out here . . . I must’ve still been half asleep. I could hear that roaring like he was going by. The tree snapped right in front of me . . . and I like . . . came awake. (to Joe)  See? We should never have planted that tree. I said so in the first place; it was too soon to plant a tree for him.

 

GEORGE DEEVER (edited)

I couldn't go back to work when you left.  I wanted to go to Dad and tell him you were going to be married. It seemed impossible not to tell him. He loved you so much. (pause) Annie... we did a terrible thing. We can never be forgiven. Not even

to send him a card at Christmas. I didn't see him once since I got home from the war! Annie, you don't know what was done to that man.  You can't know, you wouldn't be here. (pause) Dad came to work that day. The night foreman came to

him and showed him the cylinder heads... they were coming out of the process with defects. There was something wrong with the process. So Dad went directly to the phone and called here and told Joe to come down right away. But the morning passed. No sign of Joe. So Dad called again. By this time he had over a hundred defectives. The Army was screaming for stuff, and Dad didn't have anything to ship.

So Joe told him... on the phone he told him to weld, cover up the cracks in any way he could, and ship them out. Dad was afraid. He wanted Joe there if he was going to do it. But Joe can't come down... He's sick. Sick! He suddenly gets the flu! Suddenly! But he promised to take responsibility. Do you understand what I'm saying? On the telephone you can't have responsibility! In a court you can always deny a phone call and that's exactly what he did. Joe is a big shot and your father is the patsy.  Now what're you going to do? Eat his food, sleep in his bed?  Answer me. What're you going to do?

 

ANN DEEVER

Never mind, Kate, I’m all right. They are unable to speak to each other. There’s something I want to tell you. I’m not going to do anything about it. . .  I’ll do nothing about Joe, but you’re going to do something for me. (directly to Kate):  You made Chris feel guilty with me. Whether you wanted to or not, you’ve crippled him in front of me. I’d like you to tell him that Larry is dead and that you know it. You understand me? I’m not going out of here alone. There’s no life for me that way. I want you to set him free. And then I promise you, everything will end, and we’ll go away, and that’s all. I know what I’m asking, Kate. You had two sons. But you’ve only got one now. And you’ve got to say it to him so he knows.

 

SUE BAYLISS (edited)

Jim's a successful doctor. But he's got an idea he'd like to do medical research. Discover things. You see?  (pause) Research pays twenty-five dollars a week minus laundering the hair shirt. You've got to give up your life to go into it. Chris makes people want to be better that it's possible to be. He does that to people.

And my husband has a family, dear. Every time he has a session with Chris, he feels as though he's compromising by not giving up everything for research. As though Chris or anybody else isn't compromising.  Chris is working with his father, isn't he? He's taking money out of that business every week in the year.  (pause) I resent living next to the Holy Family. It makes me look like a bum, you understand?  So, if Chris wants people to put on the hair shirt let him take off the broadcloth. He's driving my husband crazy with that phony idealism of his and I'm at the end of my rope on it!

 

A LAUNCH PAD Amplify Reading Series Festival 
 

Regina by Bernardo Cubría

The Ballad of the Unfallen by Maggie Lee

In Case of Bruising by Kamila Boga

Marble Rooftop by Eliana Theologides Rodriguez

PERFORMANCES:

Friday, November 20

Saturday, November 21

Studio Theater

GENERAL AUDITIONS:

Thursday, September 24

  6pm-10pm

  Studio Theater

CALLBACKS:  

Friday, September 25

6pm-10pm

Studio Theater

1ST REHEARSAL:

Monday, November 16, 2026

 

INCLUSIVITY STATEMENT:

We invite actors to audition who identify as/with any gender, race, age, sexual orientation, disability, and/or religious or political belief and affiliation. ALL enrolled UCSB students are encouraged to participate! 

 

REHEARSALS: 

Monday, November 16th - Thursday, November 19th from 6pm-10pm. 

Friday, November 20th 1-4pm. and Saturday, November 21st 10-1pm.

 

CREDIT: 

1 unit of THTR 49 and/or 149 will be given to cast members.

 

AUDITION REQUIREMENTS:

Any full time UCSB student is welcome and encouraged to audition. 

 

SIGN UP TO AUDITION HERE: 

1. FILL OUT OUR AUDITION FORM
2. SIGN UP FOR AN AUDITION SLOT

 

CHARACTERS and CASTING:

LAUNCH PAD is dedicated to providing opportunities for students and professionals to work side by side in the process. 

 

All roles are open to students:

The Ballad of the Unfallen by Maggie Lee

Synopsis

In a distant land of swords and steel, twenty-five years have passed since the end of the War of the Divide between the Kaji and the Tsuka clans that tore the country apart. Tensions are now rising again as the new generation seeks to awaken the old rivalries and reclaim their heritage. Up in the mountains at the Temple of the Lightning Eel, a legendary school for the fighting arts, a safe haven exists where their students can ignore the growing turmoil of the outside world. The Ballad of the Unfallen, a new play with music and movement, is about loyalty, connection, and courage in the face of overwhelming odds, asking the question, “Can anyone ever truly choose not to take a side?”

PIRI (female, 20s), a new bard looking to make a name for herself. Earnest and well-meaning, struggling to stay impartial in observing events for her latest ballad. Sings and plays a lute or similar stringed instrument

CORVIS (male, mid 20s) a senior student of the Temple. Academic and analytical, a thinker more than a fighter. An orphan, his only home has ever been the Temple.

VANASHA (female, 20s) a student of the Temple. Outspoken and friendly, full of mischievous humor, rarely takes anything seriously. Her family is from a wealthy Tsuka merchant class.

ENSO (male, late teen/ 20s), a novice student of the Temple. Strict and naively honorable, with a tendency to glorify the past. His family is from Kaji nobility. Nephew to Selim.

JACINTH (female, mid-40s), the Voltai of the Temple. Gruff and sensible, fiercely protective of the school and her students. Originally from a noble Kaji family but abandoned her highborn life for the Temple during the war.

SELIM  male mid-40s ), a Kaji noble. Charismatic and smooth talking, troubled by recent events but ultimately loyal to his clan. Uncle to Enso and childhood friend of Jacinth.

SOMEI (female, late teen-20s), a second daughter of Kaji nobility, raised by neglect and stifling rules. Guarded and soft spoken but possesses a surprisingly fierce inner strength

 

In Case of Bruising by Kamila Boga 

Synopsis

Triplets Milo, Otis, and Della’s lives are very different from other kids. They’re too big for second grade, they don’t know when they’ll have food for lunch, and they don’t go home if their father is in a bad mood. They know their Mama spends more time in the hospital than other mothers. They know she is sad again. One afternoon, the triplets meet Calico, an odd boy with an odd name. They accept him quickly. As Daddy and Mama get worse, each child finds new ways to cope - some safer than others.

MILO BROOKS (M, 8-28) The leader. Black.

OTIS BROOKS  (M, 8-28)  The jokester. Black.

DELIA  BROOKS (F, 8-28) The girl. Lighter than her brothers. Black.

CALICO JAMES (M, 8). Scrawny. Slow to warm up. Any ethnicity. 

ADULT FEMALE (30-65) Various women around town. Black

 

Regina by Bernardo Cubría

Synopsis

Regina is a contemporary adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, set in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire. Regina, a young live-in housekeeper raised by a wealthy Mexican family, eagerly awaits the return of the family's son from Paris, believing he represents her chance at a different life. But as he returns transformed by new political convictions, old family secrets, class tensions, grief, and long-buried lies begin to surface. Blending biting comedy, supernatural elements, and the emotional intensity of a classic telenovela, Regina examines identity, privilege, faith, immigration, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

REGINA (Early 20s, Mexican) A live-in housekeeper raised by the Ferriz family after her mother's death. Intelligent, earnest, funny, deeply loyal, and quietly yearning for a larger life.

JUAN PABLO FERRIZ (late 20s, Whitexican) The privileged son of a wealthy Mexican family, returning home after studying film in Paris. Brilliant, earnest, contradictory, funny, infuriating, and emotionally wounded.

SEÑORA FERRIZ (50s, Whitexican) A wealthy widow whose entire identity revolves around preserving her husband's legacy and protecting her son. Glamorous, conservative, theatrical, manipulative, hilarious, and unexpectedly vulnerable.

PASTOR IBSEN, (50s, white AF) The Ferriz family's pastor and longtime confidant. Earnest, politically conservative, opportunistic, and deeply repressed. His forbidden relationship with Señora Ferriz becomes increasingly absurd.

LUIS MORA (20s, Mexican American) A wildfire cleanup worker whose worldview immediately clashes with Regina's. Funny, outspoken, compassionate, and politically direct.

ERIKA VILLANUEVA (40s, Mexican) Regina's late mother, who appears as a ghost/vision throughout the play. Once the maid of the Ferriz family, she is wise, loving, funny, and deeply grounded.

 

Marble Rooftop by Eliana Theologides Rodriguez

Synopsis 

Mia, an unpopular and embarrassingly desperate high school sophomore, has found herself hosting this year's dance team bonding sleepover. She’ll do anything for the approval of the older girls, who appear confident and worldly—especially when it comes to sex. Throughout the night, the girls compete to outdo one another with stories of their exploits, even when those stories blur the line between consent and coercion. In a room where sexual experience equals social currency, Mia invents experiences of her own to prove she belongs. Unfortunately, her lies are obvious, and her efforts to fit in only isolate her further. When the older girls invite boys over, Mia sees her chance to finally prove herself. She makes a choice she can never take back, forcing everyone in the room to reexamine consent, complicity, and the stories they’ve told themselves about their own empowerment.

CAST OF CHARACTERS (all are female identifying; in high school)

LUCY (F) Team captain.  Takes her authority way too seriously. Senior. White

NINA (F) Co-captain. Weaponizes her feminism at times, but makes up for it with her oddly motherly instincts. Senior. POC

VIVI ROSE (F) Bases her entire identity off of her supposed sexual prowess. Junior. Any ethnicity

FAITH (F) Feels weird about femininity. Compensates by trying too hard to be a bitch. Junior. Any ethnicity

CHRISTINE (F) Spent most of her life unpopular and has mild imposter syndrome on the dance team. Things cutting Sweden’s hair will cure that. Junior. POC

MIA (F) Almost too confident to ever be cool because she’ll always slightly lack both self and social awareness. Sophomore. POC 

SWEDEN (F) Newest. Youngest. Really does not want a haircut. Freshman. White

 

AUDITION PREPARATION:

The current drafts of all four scripts are currently available to read READ SCRIPT HERE. 

Please read the script carefully and choose a short scene or monologue from any play to perform for your audition. You do not need to memorize the material, but it should be prepared well.

If you choose a scene, you may also choose a partner and prepare together. It is possible to have a partner who is not auditioning for the role that they read in the scene. If you want to do a scene and don’t have a partner a reader will be provided. 

Selections should be no more than 2-3 minutes. Time your scene, please. Please specify which role you are reading for on the sign-up sheet. If you are reading with a partner, please sign up for two 3 minute slots back to back.

If you have questions or need more information contact Artistic Director Risa Brainin at rbrainin@ucsb.edu or Pesha Rudnick at pesha@ucsb.edu

 

LAUNCH PAD:

LAUNCH PAD is our new play development program housed in the Department of Theater and Dance. For more information about our program visit the LAUNCH PAD website.