Auditions for “The Crowd You’re In With” by Rebecca Gilman

MELINDA: female in her 30’s contemplating becoming pregnant. She is married to Jasper. They have just begun the process of trying to have a child which produces some stress in their relationship. She is very intelligent and does not want to quit work after she becomes pregnant. She is kind and somewhat soft spoken but is hiding hidden feelings of frustration in her marriage.

JASPER: male in his 30’s. He is working on an economic textbook. He is intelligent, and a thinker. You find him analyzing how he feels about things in the play. He loves Melinda, but from Gilman’s script you begin to see he is questioning whether to have children and other areas of his marriage.

DAN: male in his 30s. He is a Music critic for the Chicago Tribune. He is fun-loving who loves a good time. He loves music and has formed a band with Jasper and Dwight. They rehearse in the basement of the two-flat. He loves the prospect of becoming a father with Windsong and finds himself defending their decision to have children throughout the play.

WINDSONG: female in her 30’s. She has her Masters in English. She works at the Polish American Museum as a Publications director. She is a child of hippies. She is looking forward to quitting her job and possibly working from home as an editor. She is totally consumed with love of her child that she and Dan will be bringing into this world.

TOM: male in his 60’s. He has been working on political campaigns all his life. He is married to Karen, whom he deeply loves. Both he and Karen feel that “they were enough” for each other, and did not want to have children. They fell in love while working on a political campaign together. Both driven in their careers and in their political positions. Their feelings toward children are well evident and brought out in the script.

KAREN: female in her 60’s. She is very committed to the Unions and fighting the government for better programs for the working class. She also has feminist views on woman working and having children that she does not seem to have a filter when she is engaging in conversations. She loves Tom and loves their marriage to one another. There are wonderful conversations in the play that bring to the audience a look into their marriage, and their decision not to have children.

DWIGHT: male neighborhood “stoner” friend as he is described in one of the reviews I read. He comes late to the party, but Gilman has given him a comic monologue that becomes the center of comic relief that breaks the tension at the party.