Thrive, or What You Will
by Vortex Summer Youth Theatre
May. 07 - May. 29
Thrive, Or What You Will, offers an epic voyage encompassing stories of self-discovery, love, botany, and Latin taxonomy through a feminist lens. Thrive blends the style and language of our past and present in order to interrogate the essential nature of our history and legacy: "discovery" and (mis)categorizing the world; species and survival; power and access; and gender and identity. As Jeanne journeys and changes, so too does her casting, with different actors playing the leading role. In an ensemble-driven quest of self-determination, we surrender to the universal need to flourish.
The VORTEX Auditions: Summer Youth Theatre 2024
Thrive, Or What You Will by LM Feldman
Directed by Sarah Hogestyn
Auditions and Interviews: May 7, 26, 29, 2024 by appointment only. Contact vortex@vortexrep.org to schedule an initial 15-minute audition/interview.
The Eloise Stage at The VORTEX, 2307 Manor Rd. Austin, TX 78722
Free Parking. Bus Route.
512-478-5282
The VORTEX seeks courageous, creative students ages 13-17 to participate in Summer Youth Theatre (SYT) 2024, an award-winning, intensive program that offers tuition-free training and experience for aspiring young theatre professionals. Students of any ethnicity, gender, ability/disability, economic background, and experience are invited to audition for the diverse youth ensemble who will train together and rehearse and perform Thrive, Or What You Will, an epic new play by LM Feldman and directed by Sarah Hogestyn. This worldly, sweeping play is loosely based on the true story of Jeanne Baret, an eighteenth-century French herbalist who assumed a male identity and traveled onboard an exploratory ship bound for the pre-colonial South Pacific.
Summer Youth Theatre cultivates tools of theatre: teamwork, focus, discipline, precision, communication, and artistry. Now in its thirty-second year, SYT rehearses and performs evenings and weekends June 1-August 3, 2024. In addition to a rigorous rehearsal process, students participate in creating the production (sets, props, costumes, lights, publicity) during hands-on workdays. Additionally, theatre professionals mentor students in diverse theatre skills with specialty workshops.
AUDITION / INTERVIEWS: By appointment at vortex@vortexrep.org.
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Please submit an application online or by mail.
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Prepare a memorized, one-minute monologue from a play, poem, or song.
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If you need support or help in preparing your audition, please let us know.
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A parent/guardian is required to attend the initial interview.
No prior theatre experience is required. Students interested in design and technical theatre may also apply and attend an interview.
Please find the online application here.
To set up audition/interview time, email vortex@vortexrep.org.
Directed by Sarah Hogestyn. Assistant Director Jacqui Calloway. Scenic Design by Lilly Percifield. Costume Design by Maddy Lamb. Lighting Design by Patrick Anthony. Stage Managers, Fernando Lara and Abigail Lehman. Director of Education and Social Justice Activation, Jasmine Games. Producing Artistic Director, Bonnie Cullum.
Thrive, Or What You Will, by LM Feldman, began development in 2017, with a world premiere at American Shakespeare Center in 2022 with additional 2023 productions at Binghamton University and George Mason University. The VORTEX’s SYT is the regional premiere of this significant new play.
Thrive, Or What You Will, offers an epic voyage encompassing stories of self-discovery, love, botany, and Latin taxonomy through a feminist lens. Thrive blends the style and language of our past and present in order to interrogate the essential nature of our history and legacy: "discovery" and (mis)categorizing the world; species and survival; power and access; and gender and identity. As Jeanne journeys and changes, so too does her casting, with different actors playing the leading role. In an ensemble-driven quest of self-determination, we surrender to the universal need to flourish.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:
Sarah Hogestyn is an Austin director and stage manager and a VORTEX Company Member. Her recent credits include directing Dust, by Nicole Oglesby, at Bottle Alley Theatre Company, and assistant-directing The Memo, by Václav Havel, for The VORTEX’s Summer Youth Theatre program in 2023. Stage management credits include Self Portraits 3 (Bottle Alley Theatre Company) and Mr. Burns: a post electric play, by Anne Washburn, (The VORTEX SYT 2022). Sarah holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of Mary Washington.
ABOUT THE VORTEX’S SUMMER YOUTH THEATRE:
Since 1991, SYT has provided high-caliber theatrical productions created by Central Texas teens as a jewel of The VORTEX’s educational and community programming. The SYT program teaches students ages 13-17, spanning middle and high school. Summer Youth Theatre students receive instruction in theatre arts, equivalent to 3 credits under the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Fine Arts, Theatre Levels 117.64, 65, 66, 67. By TEKS standards, this program is equivalent to or higher than High School Theatre Arts II, Technical Theatre I, and Theatre Production II. The VORTEX has developed this curriculum over more than thirty years. The Austin Chronicle has named SYT “Best Theatre for Kids That Treats Kids Like Grownups.”
Every year, students work with adult artists who are among Austin’s most celebrated theatre professionals. Recent B. Iden Payne Awards include Outstanding Young Performer, Sharky Meehan in The Memo (2023), and Jessica Cohen’s Outstanding Original Song in Pandemdem Edition: Another Great Depression (2021). SYT has previously received Payne Awards for productions of Youth Theatre for The Commedia of Errors and Machinal; Direction of Youth Theatre for The Commedia of Errors, The Physicists, Moby Dick, and The Frogs; Acting in Youth Theatre for The Physicists and Moby Dick; and Sound Design for Machinal. VORTEX Producing Artistic Director Bonnie Cullum founded SYT in 1991; she was inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame in 2009.
Summer Youth Theatre 2024 is funded and supported in part by VORTEX Repertory Company; by Six Square, Austin’s Black Cultural District; by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts; and by the City of Austin Economic Development
Department. Sponsorships and community donations also help keep this program tuition-free. To support Summer Youth Theatre as a donor, please contact vortex@vortexrep.org.
The VORTEX Mission:
We conjure urgent, unashamed art to create action in a shifting age. We embrace diverse communities, break down barriers, and elevate inclusive discourse from our cultural harbor in Austin, Texas. We enliven humanity with magical green new theatre at our Butterfly Bar and Sanctuary.
The VORTEX Core Values:
Our core values are encompassed by the Pentacle of Integrity: Transformation, Magic, Community, Diversity, and Earth. Integrity lives at our core. We engage in radical transformation through edge-walking artistic creations and innovations. Magic emanates from our cultural harbor, engaging Spirit. Our space and our culture support expanding circles of inclusive community. Our art reflects diversity of people and voices from the global majority. Sustainability and environmentalism center Earth at our foundation.
