Audition Info for The Language Archive
Directed by Elizabeth Lanspery
Audition Dates:
Lead Actor Self-tape Auditions - Accepting Submissions October 10 - November 7. Scroll down for character descriptions and downloadable monologues, then follow the instructions on the audition portal linked here.
In-Person Auditions/Call Backs for all parts - November 2026 - TBD. Please follow us on social media for all the latest casting news.
Rehearsal Dates:
January-March 2027 - TBD (3 evenings a week) at the Old Town Hall in Woodbury, CT.
Performance Dates:
Friday, March 12, 2027 7:30 PM
Saturday, March 13, 2027 7:30 PM
Sunday, March 14, 2027 2:00 PM
Friday, March 19, 2027 7:30 PM
Saturday, March 20, 2027 7:30 PM
Sunday, March 21, 2027 2:00 PM
Show Summary:
George is a man consumed with preserving and documenting the dying languages of far-flung cultures. Closer to home, though, language is failing him. He doesn’t know what to say to his wife Mary to keep her from leaving him, and he doesn’t recognize the deep feelings that his lab assistant Emma has for him.
The Language Archive premiered at South Coast Repertory, produced by special arrangement with Roundabout Theatre Company. It then debuted off-Broadway at The Roundabout Theatre’s Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre on October 17, 2010.
Julia Cho's plays include The Language Archive (2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), The Piano Teacher, Durango, BFE, The Architecture of Loss, and 99 Histories. Her plays have been produced at South Coast Repertory, The Vineyard Theatre, The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, East West Players and the Cincinnati Playhouse, among others.
Character Breakdown
01. Choose a character below and download the audition monologue.
02. Prepare your selected monologue and upload your submission here.
Man - 30s or 40sA linguist. A linguist consumed with recording and preserving dying languages but has trouble expressing himself in words and matters of the heart. *Choose 1 monologue
GEORGE
MARY
Woman - 30s or 40s. George’s wife. A woman who rediscovers herself when she leaves her partner. *Choose 1 monologue
Woman - 20s or 30s. George’s earnest, devoted lab assistant. She is secretly and deeply in love with George.
EMMA
Man - 50s+ Alta’s husband. Stubborn, earthy, and prone to comedic, heated domestic squabbles with his wife. Must be comfortable with dialect work and speaking a made up language.
RESTEN
Woman - 50s+. She and her husband are the last two living native speakers of a fictional dying language. Must be comfortable with dialect work and speaking a made up language.
ALTA
Additionally, we are casting adults of all ages for the following supporting roles: OLD MAN/BAKER, LANGUAGE INSTRUCTOR, TWO PASSERSBY, CONDUCTOR, and OLD MAN/ZAMENOFF.