Casting About (NR)

synopsis

In late 2000, filmmaker Barry J. Hershey set out to cast actresses for a dramatic film that he had co-written and intended to direct. The plan was to incorporate some of the casting footage into the fiction film, an idea arising from Hershey's first experience with casting at film school more than 20 years earlier. After reviewing the more than 70 hours of casting tapes, a decision was made to shape this rich material into a film of its own. The film presents footage of 184 actresses--from audition sessions held in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, and Los Angeles--many of whom perform monologues from the work of renowned contemporary playwrights such as Eric Bogosian, David Hare, Richard LaGravenese, Susan Miller, Keith Reddin, Nina Shengold, and Alfred Uhry.