EMERGING PLAYWRIGHTS
Casting Call for 2026 Festival
Riverwalk Theatre is recruiting approximately 10 actors to appear in five short plays to be presented at the Emerging Playwrights Festival on Saturday August 1 at Riverwalk Theatre.
Each script is 12 pages or less. Two scripts will be staged as full productions; three will be staged readings. All are original plays written by students who won the 2026 Emerging Playwrights Competition.
Approximately twenty roles are involved, so actors will potentially play more than 1 role. Actors in a full production may also have a role in a staged reading; actors in a staged reading may also have a role in a full production. In addition to their acting roles, actors may also be assigned as narrators for a staged reading to read the stage directions.
Play synopses and details about the characters (including ages and genders) are broken down on page 2. Rehearsals will occur Sunday-Thursday evenings from 6:30-8:30pm beginning with a readthrough of all plays on Sunday, July 5- time TBD. Staged readings will have 3 rehearsals before the performance on Saturday, August 1. Full productions will have 12 rehearsals before the performance on August 1.
If interested, please contact Tom Ferris via email with your resume and headshot.
Email: tjferris49@gmail.com
Any questions, please feel free to text:
Tom Ferris at 517-242-4742 or Holly Kay-Cannon at 323-633-4014
EMERGING PLAYWRIGHTS 2026 -
SHOW SYNOPSES & CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
**Ages of characters may be subject to change.
**Genders of characters are written below as male and/or female based on the
script directions. Any actor who is male and/or female presenting is included in
this verbiage. Gender of characters may also be subject to change.
HOPE (staged reading)
Children navigate the scary and adult world of factory work with a twist ending.
LOUIS – 12 yr old male; factory worker
LAURA – 13 yr old female, factory worker
GEORGE/WILLIAM – homeless male / 11 yr old bully male
MARY/ANNA – homeless woman / 10 yr old bully female
NARRATOR to read stage directions
HOBO HOTEL (full production)
Two seemingly different men share conversation and understanding in a hotel lobby.
GRANT HAROLD – 30 yr old male; hotel owner
FRED THE HOBO – 60 yr old male; hairy, homeless man
MARTHA – 25 yr old female; front desk worker
JERRY HAROLD – 8 yr old male; son of Grant
ST. DYMPHNA (staged reading)
A mental hospital patient shares his disjointed thoughts regarding his family and life.
PATIENT – 37 yr old schizophrenic man
FIGURE 1 – female adult; interchanging characters including Mental Illness, Agnes, the Mother, the
Nurse
FIGURE 2 – male adult; interchanging characters including Patroclus, the Doctor
FIGURE 3 – androgynous adult; interchanging characters including Arnold, the Father, the Attendant
NARRATOR to read stage directions
THERE IS NO COFFEE IN NORTH BALTIMORE (full production)
Two people meet at an empty coffee house and secrets slowly unfold.
JACOB CANE – 53 yr old; screenwriter
MARA GAISLER – 22 yr old; author and con-woman
LIVE WITH A SMILE (staged reading)
Close friends gather to offer wisdom and support to a friend who needs it most.
EREN ACKROMAN – 16 yr old male; often depressed with low confidence
ANECIA YEAGER – 16 yr old female; kind and sweet, speaks directly
FERRIS – 60 yr old male; wise and noble, thinks before speaking
MIRA – teenage female; energetic, supportive, friendly
NARRATOR to read stage directions