Defying Gravity
By Jane Anderson
Directed by Richard Vines
This free-structured look at the 1986 Challenger disaster places the teacher who died with six others as they hurtled into space at the center of an exploration of our need to reach beyond ourselves and dare the universe. Defying Gravity artfully interweaves the past with the present and the lives of participants and bystanders, drawing parallels among painter Claude Monet's artistic quest, the zest of the teacher selected to the first civilian astronaut, the perspectives of her grieving daughter, the aspirations of elderly tourists who drive their Winnebago to Florida to watch the space shot and dream of hotels in space, the guilt felt by a NASA mechanic, and his girlfriend's fear of heights. In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff. It was the first spaceflight disaster for NASA, all the more tragic because it was the first time a civilian, teacher Christa McAuliffe, was chosen to travel into space. Jane Anderson’s Defying Gravity combines the lives of the past and present into a philosophical journey around the Challenger disaster. Five-year-old Elizabeth doesn’t understand how or why her mother, a social studies teacher (based on McAuliffe), became part of the crew. The teacher engages her class in discussions of humankind’s attempts to reach God through art and architecture. Retired couple Betty and Ed travel across the country to see interesting things, including a shuttle launch. Donna tends the bar where NASA employees often hang out, including C.B., an engineer and her casual love interest. And overlooking all of these lives is Claude Monet, the French Impressionist painter seeking to discover God’s view of the world. Embedded in realism while also enjoying nonconventional drama, Defying Gravityrecreates the circumstances of the people involved in the Challenger’s story and the dreams they had, before the shuttle (to quote Ronald Reagan) “slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."
*Content Warning: Mild Adult Language
Recommended for those 13 Years and Up.
Characters
Performers of ALL ethnicities, physical abilities, and gender dentities are encouraged to audition.
ELIZABETH: A five year old, played by an adult (Female identifying, 20s – 30s)
TEACHER: Elizabeth's Mother (Female identifying, 30s)
MONET: The Painter (Male identifying, 30s – 40s)
CB: A mechanic on the NASA ground crew (Male identifying, 20s - 40s)
DONNA: A bartender in a Cocoa Beach hangout (Female identifying, 20s-40s, African American)
ED & BETTY: A retired couple (50s+)
Audition Information:
When: Audition Date: Saturday November 8th 10am-1pm
The show will run Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from January 28th-February 8th, with a special opening performance on Wednesday January 28th, the anniversary date of the tragic event.
What: Auditions will consist of cold reads from the script.
Where: Ghostlight Theatre, 13541 West Camino Del Sol, Sun City West, AZ 85375.
Video auditions can be sent to admin@ghostlightaz.com and will be accepted until end of day November 7th for anyone who cannot attend in person.
For questions, please email us at productionmanager@ghostlightaz.com.
Callbacks will be held by invitation TBD.
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