Auditions
DOCTOR VOYNICH AND HER CHILDREN
DOCTOR VOYNICH AND HER CHILDREN
A Prediction by Leanna Keyes
Director: Kari Warfield
For questions or concerns, contact the Director at:
civil-51hugest@icloud.com
Performances:
March 13-22, 2026
Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm;
Sundays at 2:00 pm
Auditions:
Sunday, November 30, 2025 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Non-AEA and no stipend. This is an all volunteer production.
Audition Requirements:
Reading from the script and/ monologues.
Please bring headshot and resume and be prepared to provide ALL rehearsal and performance conflicts at your audition.
Auditions are in-person in small groups. Whatever COVID requirements are in effect at the time of the auditions will be followed.
Callbacks (by invitation only)
Sunday, December 7, 2025 6:00 pm
LOCATION: Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Pt. Richmond
Note from the Director: My hope for Dr. Voynich is to continue to hold up the voices and works of trans and non binary artists in the Bay Area. Diversity in theatre is necessary to keep it alive. And the telling of stories belongs to everyone. Simple stories of needs and hope and defiance belong to everyone. When we are all regular people, stories transcend. We should be able to see a part of ourselves in every character. If we can't, what does that say about the telling?
SYNOPSIS: In the near future of a divided United States, Doctor Rue Voynich and her apprentice, Fade, travel the American Heartland dispensing herbal medications. Covertly, they perform abortions--long ago made illegal.
Using knowledge from an ancient manuscript, Fade tries to help local youth Hannah obtain an abortion without her mother and the sheriff finding out and charging them for the attempted murder of an unborn person. This post-Dobbs play about mothers and daughters is poetic, sexy, vulgar, queer, and a little too real.
CHARACTERS:
RUE, AN HERBALIST - (this role is precast)
Rue is a middle-aged trans woman who performs illegal abortions
in secret. She’s not unkind, but she’s a shrewd businesswoman who is pragmatic to a fault. (“VoyniCH,” not “VoyniCK”)
FADE, AN APPRENTICE
Age: Late Teens (18 or over) – Gender: female, non-binary
Fade is a mouthy teenager and Rue’s apprentice, too naïve for her own good. Her heart speaks more loudly than her head. A gay disaster.
HANNAH, A YOUNG WOMAN SEEKING AN ABORTION
Age: Late Teens (18 or over) – Gender: female
Hannah is a pregnant young woman who is naturally clever and quite uneducated. She’s persuasive, persistent, and impatient.
JESS, A MOTHER
Age: 40+ Gender: female
Jess, Hannah’s mother, never really learned how to understand herself as an independent human with agency rather than as an extension of “the family.” She’s protective, anxious, and image-conscious.
HARRISON, AN OFFICER OF THE LAW
Age: 40+ Gender: female
The local sheriff, Harrison, is the kind of woman who believes that abortion is murder and poor people should get better jobs. She enjoys her power without understanding what it does to people she cares about. In secretive relationship with Rue.
Masquers Playhouse does not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. We are seeking a diverse list of artists for every role and encouraging all to submit.
NOTE: Actors do not need to be gender of character, but do need to be comfortable presenting as such. Please note that the play discusses abortion in detail and has strong language and sexual content.
COME PLAY WITH US!
