Auditioning for these roles:
PAUL GRANDFIELD: A middle-aged, broke Albertan farmer. Pal is a tender-hearted, philosophical dreamer and a whimsical romantic. When facing great odds he retreats inwards and shuts himself off from his loved ones and the rest of the world. He is searching for a sense of power and belonging and yearns to be freed from the guilt and feeling of failure that he carries.
LISA GRANDFIELD: Pal’s wife. She is a prairie warrior woman of great industry and vivacity, a determined optimist. Liza smiles in the face of sorrow with a vengeance and cannot afford the luxury of anger or self-pity, and never plays the victim. She confronts great odds head on and often takes over where Pal leaves off. Liza is getting anxious about getting too old to have children. She secretly wishes Pal would be more assertive and attentive.
BUTTER BALL: A silver-spangled bantam hen. She is Liza’s heart: she lives in the past, is old-fashioned, religious, and yearns to be protected and provided for. This lonely aging beauty queen is nurturing, sweet, cheerful and lusty.
HIS NIBS: A silver-spangled bantam rooster. He is Pal’s intellect and creativity. He is traumatized by the demise of his brother, leaving him with a profound sense of guilt, fear and loss of confidence, particularly in his masculinity. He is self-sufficient, cultured and elevated.
ALPHONSO: A Plymouth barred rock bantam rooster. He is Pal’s machismo: proud, aggressive and stubborn. He embodies what’s left of Pal’s randy old world domineering red-neck sensibilities. Alphonso is also very playful, sexy, vulnerable, truthful and audacious.
STEWER: A renegade mass-production laying hen. She is Liza’s ferocious pride: fiercely independent, a controlling, tough, wary survivor. She is very strong and willing to take on any adversary, in fact, almost invites conflict as a sort of safe intimacy. She feels homely and unworthy of love and uses honesty as a cruel weapon. She is loyal and passionate when she decides to trust.
NOTE: Some of the actors may make up a musical band – we are interested in hearing about any instruments you can play. The chickens are Liza and Pal’s “demons” so to speak, the walking, talking bundles of fear and contradictions that battle within their brains. The chickens also play various human characters.