STC’s Annual Teen Show – Performing April 4-6, 2025
Story Theater Company’s annual teen show, for ages 13-18, is an intensive experience where the participants form a theater company to create a production. STC’s 2025 Teen Play Festival will feature four one-act plays, each directed by a teen. With the guidance of an adult mentor, all members of the cast will work together with their student director to gather the design elements for their play.
PERFORMANCES
April 4-6, 2025
This program is funded in part by:
Local option tax funds provided by the City of Ames through the Commission on the Arts (COTA), Ames Town & Country Kiwanis, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council, which exists within the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
TICKETS
Because we do not want ticket cost to be a barrier to enjoying the show, we are leaving it up to each patron to choose a ticket price that is a good fit.
Online tickets sales will begin in March 2025.
Tickets are also available at the door. Credit/debit card purchases must be made online.
AUDITIONS
The audition process for Teen Play Festival will be conducted at the same time as auditions for the The Last Illusion.
Teens will have the option to be considered for both productions; it is possible to participate in both shows.
AUDITION INFORMATION
The Teen Play Festival is a Story Theater Company’s version of a Fringe Festival. There will be 4 Single Act plays produced, directed and performed by students. This year differs from previous years to try and give a different experience of theater. With the festival, rehearsals and budgets have been reduced to mimic the experience. Each show will need to find creative ways to tell their stories while limiting the resources available.
All members of the cast will work together with their student director to gather their props, costumes, and set pieces for each play. There will not be student design leads specifically assigned for this show.
AUDITIONS & INTERVIEWS
Auditions will be on the evenings of November 19 and 21 with callbacks on November 22. Rehearsals begin Monday, January 6th and will continue regularly with T/TH rehearsals.
***Each show will only rehearse once a week. There will be two A shows and two B shows. A’s will rehearse on Tuesday and B’s will rehearse on Thursday. Following spring break, all four shows will be rehearsing together as a whole
Performances will be April 4-6, 2024.
The participation fee for Teen Play Festival is $175.
Scholarship assistance is available for those who may need help covering the participation fee. A scholarship request form will be accessible to all in the Audition Form. Scholarship applications do not affect casting decisions.
Payment plans are also available to those who request assistance. Payment plans do not affect casting decisions.
Please do not let the participation fee keep you from doing an audition or interview.
AUDITION INSTRUCTIONS
- Auditions are open to ages 13 through 18.
- Please arrive 5-10 minutes prior to your scheduled audition or interview time. Late arrivals are subject to be moved to another audition time.
- You will audition with a small group. You will be at your audition for 60 minutes.
- To prepare for your audition, please prepare 2 monologues; one comedic and one dramatic. Memorization is preferred. Please show character choice and interpretation of your chosen monologues.
- Need monologues? Here are a few resources: Stage Agent Free Monologue Library, Drama Notebook, Daily Actor
If you have questions about any of the shows, email Sarah at productions@storytheatercompany.org.
SIGN UP FOR YOUR AUDITION TIME HERE
COMPLETE YOUR AUDITION FORM HERE
ROLES
14 actors for the following 4 scripts:
Ya Want Fries with That? by Mike Willis
4 Cast (1 female identifying, 3 any gender identifying)
A customer walks into an innovative new restaurant expecting a first-class dining experience only to be greeted by a bizarre wait staff and a restaurant that changes its entire concept every few moments. When the customer finally thinks that food is on the way, a manager enters along with the wait staff and reveals that the customer is on stage participating in a workshop for starving actors. A workshop designed for out-of-work actors to find jobs in the food industry. Score one for starving actors everywhere! Now, could someone please get this customer a side of fries?
When Birds Cry by Mike Willis
3 Cast (2 female identifying, 1 male identifying)
Though she’ll soon forfeit her life to breast cancer, 38-year-old Mrs. Jenkins has chosen to explore life and find beauty in all living things—especially birds. She has passed this philosophy on to her teenage daughter, Jenna, who shows up after school with her new friend, Zac. Surprised to find mother and daughter happy and devoid of bitterness, Zac comes to better understand life, birds, and death through the eyes of Jenna and her mother.
Waiting for the End of the World by John Shanahan
3 Cast (3 any gender identifying)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse gather in a park to usher in the start of Armageddon. But Famine’s running late and isn’t answering his cell phone. Should the other three kick off the end of the world anyway? What will happen if they do? Or do they need to wait for their fourth member to maintain proper symmetry? Well, at least there are chicken fingers…
Overtones by Alice Gerstenberg
4 Cast (4 female identifying)
Basically a two character drama, this play shows two women as they appear to each other, and their inner selves as they really are. Harriet and Margaret are two refined ladies, but Hettie and Maggie are their thoughts and emotions come to life. As cool and serene as Harriet and Margaret may appear, Hettie and Maggie are just as volatile, troubled and passionate. A play where human nature as it appears to the world and as it is becomes dramatized psychology.
Questions? Contact Sarah Coeur: productions@storytheatercompany.org