Agape is excited to present the inaugural production of Why We Must Die So Young, written and directed by William Gebby. This exciting new work captures the history of the White Rose, an anti-Nazi movement in 1940s Germany. This will be the inaugural production in Indianapolis
For general auditions, we would like for performers to prepare a one minute piece (14 lines) published before the 1960s. Performers who are called back will be asked to do readings from the script.
Auditions are December 10th, with callbacks on December 12th, in room 111 at Marian University's Paul J. Norman Center for Business.
Rehearsals will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays .
Due to the sensitive nature of the play's content, we ask that only performers age 16 and up audition. Performers younger than 16 are welcome to be a part of our practicum class, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.
William Gebby is a playwright/playmaker who is gradually turning
screenwriter/filmmaker. His one-act play, INCENSE FOR SHIVA, was a winner of Indiana-University Purdue-University-Fort Wayne's Indiana Voices Competition in 1997.His full-length play, A LYNCHING IN SOUTHERN INDIANA, played to
critical and popular acclaim at Theatre On The Square (Indpls.) in 1998.
And his ten-minute play, 1918, was produced by Theatre Studio Inc. (NYC) in 1999. Close to a half-dozen of his plays have received public readings
by The Indiana Theatre Association and The Algonquin Project.
From 2002-03, he served as publicity director, stage manager,
assistant director, and producer at Center Stage Productions
(Indpls.). In 2003, he founded Inklings Theatre which produced three of his
plays: THE CONFESSIONAL, THE GERANIUM, and A PRAYER FOR THE
DEAD (2004). In 2007, his play, WAR TO END ALL WARS, was featured as part ofThe Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival. He received a Basile Theatre Fellowship the same year. In 2008, his screenplay, DOGWOOD AND SYCAMORE, was a finalist in The Kairos Prize Screenwriting Competition; his monologue, THE RIGHT NOT TO TAKE ME SERIOUSLY, was a winner in the STAGE THIS! Playwriting Competition; and his short film, EXORCISING THE DEMON, won honorable mention in The 48 Hour Film Project
(Indpls.). His short play, THE LOVE POETRY OF KARL MARX, was featured as part of Bloomington Playwrights Project Bloomingplays Festival in May 2009.His screenplay, NORTH STAR, was the Grand Prize Winner of The
KAIROS SCREENWRITING COMPETITION in February 2018.
A lifelong Hoosier, he lives in Indianapolis.
A handsome young man, Hans Scholl is blond, 24 years-old, well-spoken, and charismatic. He's a wordsmith with a wide range of knowledge and a born leader. Born and raised a Lutheran, he's heavily influenced by the Roman Catholic writer and Hochland magazine editor, Carl Muth.
Hans sister, Sophie—21—is a petite, athletic woman who wears her dark-brown hair in a bob. Though attractive, she has a face more handsome than pretty. She plays the piano, sketches, paints, edits a literary journal and is brave as a lioness. A Lutheran, she shares her brother's appreciation for the intellectual and devotional writings of Roman Catholic Carl Muth.
Pre-med student and Wehrmacht medic. 25 year-old Alexander Schmorell is a tall, lean, athletic young man with tawny brown hair. He plays the piano and balalaika, sculpts and paints, and is a fine horseman. Fun-loving with an ironic sense of humor, he's also Hans Scholl's best friend and right hand man. Due to his mother being Russian, a devout member of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
23 year-old pre-med student and Luftwaffe medic, Christoph Probst is a devoted hustand and loving father of two little boys. He has a tendency towards acting paternal which can annoy his friends. A capable fencer, he also sings in an ensemble that performs Bach chorales. Raised a Theosophist, he will be baptized a Catholic before his death.
Pre-med student and decorated combat medic, 25 year-old Willi Graf is athletic, sturdy, and blond. A devout Roman Catholic, he's battled Nazis since his teenage years. He plays the viola, fences, and is intellectual, earnest, and intensely Christian.
Despite her strict Lutheran parents being avid Nazis, 24 year-old Traute Lafrez is a fervent anti-Nazi activist, A graduate of a progressive school in Hamburg, she is now a brilliant pre-med student atthe University of Munich. She's also the girlfiend of Hans Scholl.
Hans and Sophie's father, 60-ish Robert Scholl is a former mayor who now serves as a legal consultant. He's still dapper despite his graying black hair and moustache. A pacifist and ardent anti-Nazi, he's not afraid to speak his mind even though he knows there's a good chance he's going to pay for it.
Hans and Sophie's mother, 60-ish Magdalena Scholl is a former Lutheran lay sister and nurse who instinctively knows right from wrong and is therefore staunchly anti-Nazi. She's saintly, maternal, and gentle-hearted.
Professor of philosophy and musicology at the University of Munich, 49 year-old Kurt Huber is the oldest member of the White Rose's inner circle. Outwardly he's rather homely due to a limp and a less than handsome face, but inwardly he's a beautiful soul who's devoutly Christian and antieverything the Nazis represent. Happily married, he has two young children.Professor of philosophy and musicology at the University of Munich, 49 year-old Kurt Huber is the oldest member of the White Rose's inne
Sophie's 25 year-old big sister, Inge, is outwardly plain but brimming with attractive qualities. Intelligent and well-spoken, she serves as the play's Narrator. She is best know for writing the first book about The White Rose Resistance.
Clara is the 34 year-old wife of Professor Huber. The mother of two children, she's pleasant-faced and looks every inch the capable and good-natured Hausfrau. She's devoted to her children, Wolf and Birgit, and deeply loves her brilliant husband.
Police investigator—mid 40s. Mohr reminds you of a Film Noir detective along the lines of Dana Andrews. Ironically, he's haunted by his failure to find Sophie innocent.
Robert Mohr's secretary—30s. Brilliant in all things secretarial, Heidi Tincher uses too much makeup and is completely unaware of the fact it's not doing her any good. What's worse, she has the annoying habit of signalling her approach by clacking noisily along in her square-heeled shoes.
Frau Doktor Mertens—40s—is a well-off and well-dressed socialite. Her mansion serves as a salon for artists and intellectuals who are free-thinkers and—therefore—anti-Nazis. She's extremely earnest and embarassingly effusive at times.
50 year-old Roman Catholic writer and ex-actor, Sigismund is dressed in black tie and has a sense of humor that is kind in the extreme. Heis a regular attendee of the Frau Doktor's soirees.
Anti-Nazi Heinrich Ellermann (also in black tie) is middle-aged, affluent, and thinks a bit too highly of himself.
40 year-old Manfred Eickemeyer is a bohemian architect who loans out his studio to Hans Scholl &Co. Even though Manfred's anti-Nazi, he's completely unaware of the fact that his property becomes the heaquarters of the White Rose Resistance.
21 year-old university student, Gisela Scherling is a pretty young woman with braided corn-colored hair and a sweet but rather clueless smile. She manages to become Sophie's best friend and Hans; girlfriend (after his break-up with Traute) without becoming aware of the fact they are the Leaders of the White Rose Resistance.
Police department head—50s. Well-dressed in a suit that's never been worn to a crime scene, Schaffer is an obsessive compulsive bureaucrat who's deathly afraid of the Powers-That-Be (aka The Gestapo) that now own his police station—and him.
Janitor at the University of Munich—50s. Self-important in the extreme. Dressed in an ill-fittingwork-jacket, Schmid sports a convict's hair-cut,
grizzled moustache, and stubbly-beard.
Police investigator—40s. Dressed like another Film Noir detective, the sturdy Anton Mahler is a German Joe Friday.
Hitler's "Hanging Judge:—50—who presides theatrically in Blood-Red Robes and Hats. A shrill-voiced cadaverous-looking monster whose greatest joy lies in sending men and women to their deaths.
A lackey of Judge Freisler—30s. One of the vast horde of de-humanized individuals who have done their best to turn Germany into Hades. He's dressed in the Gestapo's usual uniform and looks like "muscle" for an American gangster.
A Communist turned anti-Nazi activist turned prison trusty, Else Gebel is 37, drab, and looks like a wornout Hausfrau. In spite of being imprisoned by
the Gestapo, she's kept her humanity and wry sense of humor.
One of Stadelheim Prison's black-uniformed jailers. Of an indeterminate age, the Jailer's just there to do his duty and—though a bit crude at times—is not inhumane.
Doktor Alt—middle-aged—is Stadelheim Prison's compassionate Protestant chaplain. Dressed in clerical garb, he carries a Bible.
Doktor Speer—middle-aged—is Stadelheim Prison's equally compassionate Roman Catholic chaplain. Dressed in priestly garb, he baptizes Christoph Probst into the Catholic faith.
Add a footnote if this applies to your business