Call for Performers

(Submission button towards end of page)

EVENT DATE: Monday, June 9th, 2025 

CALL TIME: 5:50pm for 6pm EDT tech check-in

EVENT TIME: Reading: 7pm-8:30pm EDT

Social: 8:30-10pm EDT

LOCATION: 21 College Street, Suite 610 (Théâtre français de Toronto rehearsal studio in College Park)

Looking for:

• Performers of all ages, diversities and abilities, who self-identify as part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
• Performers must be ACTRA Toronto members in good standing (Full, Apprentice, or AABP).

Goals: 

• Giving 2SLGBTQIA+ performers a forum to perform roles they may have less opportunity to play in the industry, and to be seen and heard by industry members

What to Expect:

• A live, hybrid in-person and Zoom scene reading event that is open to members of the industry, including writers, performers, and industry partners.
• 4 scripts read by ACTRA Toronto members who will be selected by members of the outACTRAto committee.
• Performers may submit for specific roles, and may also be asked to perform roles they did not submit for if the casting team feels it might be a good fit.
• There will be a Q&A for the writers after each script. Performers are welcome to participate if asked questions.
• At this time, we are not able to provide an honorarium. This is a volunteer opportunity that will allow performers to showcase their talent and personality to a wider audience that may include casting directors, producers, and show-runners.

Who We Are Looking For:

• Q & A Moderator(s) (Any Pronouns, Any Age, Any Ethnicity): We are looking for engaged speakers who can facilitate a question and answer period following the reading of a scene.
• Event Host (Any Pronouns, Any Age, Any Ethnicity): We are looking for an experienced host who can introduce the event and each scene.
• Digital Stage Manager: We are looking for someone experienced with running Zoom webinars. Experience with hybrid events preferred but not required.

‘Sun Bug’ by Max Amani

A struggling non-binary composer living in their van in Toronto reconnects with a famous ex-friend while grappling with the emotional fallout of giving up their child for adoption. 

• BUG (they/them, non-binary AFAB, early 20s, mixed/Black, queer)

Bug is a straight talker, with a deeply buried sardonic sense of humour. They make a living (barely) as a musician writing transition music for trashy reality TV shows. Bug loves their child, Remy, but is struggling to let them go after giving them up for adoption when the first year of being a parent left them houseless and sick. They didn’t intend to be a parent, and now they’re free of that burden, but do they want to be? Without any other family of their own their attachment to Remy, and now to Amanda and Jhaleil, is messy and painful to say the least.

• AMANDA (she/her, cis woman, 30s, white)

Amanda’s pure intentions and conventional beauty have saved her from the consequences of her actions all too often. She’s talkative, persistent and very caught up in appearances. Formerly a lawyer, she’s now a full time at home parent and the transition into motherhood has stirred up a lot of unexpected emotion and doubt in her. Can you have postpartum depression if you didn’t carry the baby yourself?

• JHALEIL (he/him, cis man, 30s, Black)

Jhaleil is kind, patient and creative. A glass half full, keep your chin up, hard working person. He’s devoted to his wife Amanda who he wants to make happy at any cost, and he can afford it. He spends a lot of his time working now that Amanda is a full time parent at home. After not being able to conceive, and mounting suspicions that Amanda may be having an affair, he fears he won’t be enough to truly satisfy her.

• NARRATOR (Any Pronouns, Any Age, Any Ethnicity)

To read scene descriptions and actions

‘Luck Be a Lady’ by Katherine Arcus

When a con-gone-wrong strips her of her crew, a naive young grifter must learn to walk the line between danger and payoff in order to survive in a world where no one takes women seriously.

• RIVKA (female, early 20s, Jewish) 

A natural chameleon, Rivka was raised as a pickpocket and a con artist from a very young age, but struggles to be taken seriously as a young woman trying to run cons on her own. As a queer, asexual woman, she is not comfortable going the usual route of seducing her marks.

• FINN (female, mid 20s, Scottish, lesbian)

Finn is in America trying to outrun a past that includes privilege, neglect and abuse. She ran away from home as a teenager, but refuses to see herself as a victim, preferring to find a sense of control in the world by protecting those weaker than herself. Punk vibes.

• NARRATOR (Any Pronouns, Any Age, Any Ethnicity)

To read scene descriptions and actions.

‘Eleanor’ by Maria Barr 

An elderly, widowed lesbian must redefine her sense of freedom when her overprotective daughter steals the keys to her motorcycle.

• ELEANOR (she/her, cis woman, 60s-70s, white, lesbian)  

Eleanor is a recently widowed, elderly femme lesbian who takes no nonsense from anyone. Equal parts bad-ass and sweet, she is the type of woman to berate you for something you did wrong while baking you fresh brownies. She uses her stubborn and sarcastic demeanour to conceal her fears around getting older, grief over her late wife Pat, and yearning to return to the days of her youth, when she was in a lesbian motorcycle club. After spending much of her life taking care of those around her, she’s still learning how to take care of herself. She is a force to be reckoned with.

• AMY (she/her, cis woman, late 30s, open ethnicity, straight)

Amy is Eleanor and Pat’s daughter, and a classic type A personality. When she’s not working her demanding full-time job, she is perpetually worried about her mother Eleanor, who has grown more reckless since the death of Amy’s other mother, Pat. Amy learned from Eleanor how to show love to the people she cares about – by helping and taking care of them. What she hasn’t quite grasped is that Eleanor does not want her help, and feels suffocated by Amy’s controlling gestures. 

• JAMIE (she/her, cis girl, adult 18+ or 10-15 to play 8-12 years old, open ethnicity)

It’s Jamie’s first year being a Girl Guide, and she is determined to sell the most boxes of cookies and receive the ‘Best Cookie Sales’ patch. She spends every day after school doing the rounds in her neighbourhood. Eleanor is her top customer. ROLE OPEN TO 18+, OR MINORS WITH GUARDIAN CONSENT.

• NARRATOR (Any Pronouns, Any Age, Any Ethnicity): To read scene descriptions and actions.

‘Hockey Night in Canada’ by Berend McKenzie 

On the final night of the Stanley Cup playoffs in Vancouver, an HIV Positive addict is summoned to the bedside of his dying ex-partner, where he’s forced to face a room full of people who despise him, and mistakes he’s tried hard to forget. 

• BAKARAR (he/him, cis male, 25, Black, gay)

Bakar is an impatient, dry, sharp-witted and sick, HIV Positive addict. Bakar acts like a crabby old man in his 80s who has no time for stupidity. Bakar’s snappiness is not about raging out every second or depressive. He spends most of his time trying NOT to lose his temper with those who care about him, because people leave him when he does. Bakar’s been a patient of Dr. Kimble’s for years. The two share a shorthand with each other. Though he uses AIDS to get what he wants, Bakar is not whiney, and in no way, sees himself as a victim.

• DR. KIMBLE (he/him, cis male, 60-75, White, straight)

Dr. Kimble is an overworked, yet good natured HIV family doctor with the patience of a saint. He doesn’t let anything bother him or get caught up in the drama. Bakar’s temper tantrums don’t phase him. He’s a staunch ally of the HIV/AIDS community. He’s a doctor who cares for his patients and has seen it all. He tries to keep things light and to the point. He is the kind of guy who enjoys his downtime and lives a simple life of watching sports, hanging with his grandkids and riding his motorcycle on his days off.  

• NARRATOR (Any Pronouns, Any Age, Any Ethnicity): To read scene descriptions and actions.

Submissions – Please Submit:

• Performer resume/bio
• Headshot
• Link to demo reel (if available)
• ACTRA Toronto member number

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT: Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 11:59 pm EDT

About outACTRAto

The outACTRAto Committee is dedicated to raising awareness about queer performers, our stories and our place in the industry and society. We value diversity and equality and we aim to be recognized, supported and valued as queer performers. We aspire to educate and inform our industry about realistic queer representation on screen as we seek a more accurate and balanced reflection of our rich and multifaceted community. We denounce and will work to end harassment and stereotyping of any kind. We will work to achieve true-to-life queer onscreen visibility of our culture and our stories, and to realize change in our industry.

For more information visit the outACTRAto page on the ACTRA Toronto website.

About Working the Scene in Rainbow

Working the Scene in Rainbow builds on the work of writer/artists Jessica Meya and Louis Taylor, and their original project Working the Scene in Colour, a platform for BIPOC writers and performers. Thank you to Louis, Jessica, and to the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for sharing the Working the Scene in Colour template, and their valuable work and time with us.