Only 2 weeks left to catch this amazing and unique piece of theatre.

A 2-man play. A world premiere. An unknown (relatively speaking) author. The odds seemed stacked against us ... and yet I couldn't believe the out-pour of interest when TO TREE's auditions notice was released. As a newish theatre company, having over 30 men audition for 2 roles for a fresh-off-the-presses play was incredibly humbling.

Anna Schutz, BPBCo.'s managing director, Adam Amidei, our secretary, Patrick Butterfield, friend o' the company last seen in Reefer Madness!, and myself served as the audition panel and facilitators (think American Idol with Starbucks holiday blends instead of Coke cans). With only two characters, it was an extremely difficult job finding the perfect pair of Julian and Peter for Aaron's play.

Much to the assumed annoyance of our actors (sorry, guys), I purposefully gave little information on the show and characters. I wanted our auditioners showcasing their strengths based on very little preliminary knowledge of the piece and who these men are. In our casting notice, I used Aaron's light character descriptions from the script as the springboard of who these guys are:

Julian Fisher: 25.  Black.  Short.  He has given up.

Peter Claypool: 24.  White.  Good-looking.  He is still going.

For callbacks, I included this brief memo to the gentlemen:

"We're going to treat this very relaxed. Come casual. Have fun with the material. No need to have it down cold. The biggest thing I'm looking for is natural, honest, one-on-one conversations between Peter and Julian."

BoHo's space is terribly intimate, so natural un-pushed performances won us over. In the end, we cast the phenomenal Christopher Hart and Lance Newton as our featured performers. I am thrilled to begin the rehearsal process and cannot thank all the auditioners enough for coming out to our call.
-M. William Panek, Director of To Tree

Hot off the press!  Now excepting actor submissions for To Tree.

We are thrilled to announce our next venture: the world premiere of award-winning playwright Aaron Golden's To Tree.

To Tree is a fantastic two-man absurdist dramedy about one man's need to change. According to Golden (screenwriter of the award-winning independent film Falling Overnight), To Tree is about "Pete ... excited, confident, and curious, hungry for life and the bright future ahead of him. And then there's Julian ... introspective, quiet, and brooding, having lost faith in humanity and society. In the end, To Tree asks one central question: what do you do when your buddy decides to become a tree?"

To Tree runs January 12-29, 2012 at the Bohemian Theatre Ensemble's Heartland Studio in Rogers Park. The production team includes M. William Panek (Director); Aaron Golden (Playwright); Ian Anthony (Set Design); Eric Phillips (Lighting Designer); Michelle Kritselis (Dramaturg); and James Riley (Original Score).

Auditions for To Tree's two dynamic cast members are this November, but we wanted to share this exciting news with our friends and supporters as soon as we could.