Join the Department of Performing and Media Arts for upcoming auditions! We're casting roles for I WANT A COUNTRY, a play by Andreas Flourakis, translated by Eleni Drivas. We're pleased to welcome Sam Buggeln, Artistic and Executive Director of the Cherry Arts, as our director for this production.
Auditions will be held on Tuesday, September 2, from 5pm to 9pm in the Flex Theatre, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. All Cornell students, faculty, and staff are welcome to participate. Secure your audition slot at https://bit.ly/m/PMA-Auditions-IWAC. Callbacks will be scheduled on Thursday, September 4, 5pm - 9pm, in the Flex Theatre. Performances will take place on October 24, 25, 31, and November 1. We look forward to seeing you at the auditions!
About I WANT A COUNTRY and the director Samuel Buggeln:
What do you do when the country you considered yourself at home in suddenly seems to be falling apart? What even makes it the same country that it was in the past? What is the status of the migrant who no longer has a country? In general: are we all doomed, or is there hope?
In the decade since it was written, I Want a Country has been produced over 25 times around the world. Since its debut in London (Royal Court), the play has had productions in New York (Lincoln Center Directors’ Lab), Greece, Mexico, Germany, India, Colombia, Peru, Switzerland, and beyond. This playful, passionate, unlikely script has rapidly become one of the most important pieces of international theater writing in the last decade.
Part of the appeal of the show is probably the fact that it’s an “open text”. Dialogue is not assigned to characters but emerges from the ensemble, which can take literally any size. This kind of experimental text shifts much of the creative process onto the cast and director rather than guarding it at the playwright’s desk. The creative team are thus afforded, and tasked with, a new, richer kind of process—truly one of creation rather than merely interpretation.
The director, Samuel Buggeln, is the founding Artistic Director of Ithaca’s the Cherry Arts, which in its decade of producing has become one of the most important creators of new international playwriting in the US. He can’t wait to dive into this thrilling play with a group of passionate, creative Cornell students and see what we can make together!
