Seeking Actors for Production of "La Botanica"
Seeking South Florida-based performers and one acting intern to bring "La Botánica" to life. ONLY LOCAL TALENT WILL BE CONSIDERED. The details are provided below for your reference. About the project: La Botánica, written by Alex Gonzalez and Gian Arellano, is an interactive ghost story. It follows Carmen, a mother whose refusal to accept her gay son sets off a haunting chain of consequences. Set within a botanica, or spirit shop, Carmen's journey starts with a cry for help and evolves as we learn she is actively using magic against her son. Audiences are not just observers but active participants who decide which scenes are performed and ultimately how much empathy Carmen deserves and what fate she has earned. This production sits at the intersection of a radio play and a projection show. It feels less like a fully staged production and more like gathering around a campfire with friends to tell a ghost story. While some moments will be blocked, the focus is on telling the story and connecting with the audience. Projections, lights, and sound will be used to amplify moments of horror. Performers should be comfortable with dark and provocative themes. This is part of a larger development arc for the story, and performers will have the opportunity to help shape it. Rate: Performer compensation is $1,200, intern compensation is $750. Additional info: This is a bilingual show, where each character speaks in both English and Spanish. This is a non-equity production. Please prepare a one minute dramatic monologue and answer to the question: What excites you about working on this material. Latiné and BIPOC artists strongly encouraged to apply. Callbacks: Saturday, August 1st. Rehearsals are tentatively scheduled from 4-9pm. The commitment runs September 21 through October 24. This production has two types of performances, a 15-minute reading of the play on September 26, 2026 and official production October 23-24, 2026. If you are interested, please apply.
4 roles
Cuban. A single mother unraveling at the seams. She loves her son Jesus with a ferocity that has turned into control. She is convinced that the person he is becoming is not her son at all, but something that has taken his place. She calls it a demon. She has made it her sole mission to banish it, no matter the cost. A devoted regular of La Botánica, Carmen carries her own secret spiritual practice close to her chest.
Cuban. The owner of La Botánica. Esperanza inherited the shop from her parents and with it, a calling to help people peel back the shadows and traumas of their past so they can find their way back to their own truth. She is the steady, grounded force her clients cannot find in themselves. Carmen is one of her most complicated and fractured regulars.
Cuban. A figure from Carmen's past she never fully left behind. He has a way of appearing when she is at her most vulnerable, wearing the faces of those who have hurt her, speaking in the voices of her deepest fears. Whether he is a man, a memory, or something else entirely is a question the audience will have to sit with.
(Intern role). Eager, a little green, and determined to prove they can run a tour as well as their parents. Their family owns and operates a tour company in Hialeah focused on cultural experiences for locals and tourists, and during summer break from school, they take the reins on the company's botanica tours. They've begged for the chance to run one solo, and this summer, they finally got it.
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