AGNES OF GOD

by John Pielmeier
directed by Nate Beynon

Auditions Dates & Times:
Monday, January 11 and Wednesday, January 13
6:30pm sign-in; 7:00pm audition start

Location:
The Albany Masonic Hall
67 Corning Place
Albany, NY 12207

Performance Dates: 2/26/16 – 3/6/16 (Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2:00pm; Tech week schedule TBD: 2/19/16 – 2/25/16)

Readings will be from sides.

The body of an asphyxiated newborn has been found in the room of Agnes, a young novice in a convent. When asked where it came from, she insists that God gave her the baby. Enter Doctor Martha Livingstone, tasked with determining whether Sister Agnes is competent to stand trial for murder. Dr. Livingstone soon finds that her questions only beget thornier mysteries, and Mother Miriam, the convent’s mother superior, is clearly hiding just as much as she’s allowing the doctor to see. Agnes of God is a psychological thriller packed with enough plot-twists, family secrets, and cringe-worthy acts of violence to fill a whole season of Law and Order: SVU. It is also a meditation on faith and reason. It explores our need for miracles and their terrible price, and also the cost of living in a world where only what is measurable and proven can exist.

Characters:
Agnes: Young-ish. Agnes is living with an un-named mental, emotional, or psychological handicap that keeps her, as Mother Miriam says, “simple”. There is something undefinably magical about her. Having acknowledged this, it must be said she is a specific person with a specific past and has specific likes, dislikes, fears, dreams, and desires. All of which is to say, Agnes is neither Saint Joan nor Forrest Gump. For starters, Saint Joan was never never sexually abused by her mother.

Mother Miriam: At least fifty-something, or thereabouts. A former smoker, who still misses it. A woman who has found a little of her faith again after loosing all of it. She is a fiercely protective foster-mother to Agnes, and will fight tooth and nail to keep the young nun’s innocence in tact. Having said all that, Mother Miriam is as warm, funny, and sincerely nurturing as she is calculating and antagonistic toward Doctor Livingstone, if not more so.

Doctor Martha Livingstone: In her forties. Overworked, underpaid, a smoker and probably a drinker, too. She has careened through the past decade of her disheveled life with a wry sense of humor, a belief in her chosen profession, and keen knack for self-deceit. She is smart, funny, bitter, broken, and resilient. She wants to rescue the world, to take it all home with her and feed it soup, but knows this sort of thing is frowned upon. As is usually the case in stories like this, she has issues with The Church.

For further info, contact the director, Nate Beynon at natebeynon AT gmail.com