South of the Salt Line calls for actors

South of the Salt Line Productions has been staging some of Mobile’s favorite irreverent looks in the mirror for a few decades now and is ready not for just another stage satire but to branch into something more sincere and less biting. But none of it happens alone.

“Ambushed by the Tea Party” is the next Salt Line work set for the stage at Mobile Theatre Guild for three weekends beginning Oct. 17, including Thursday benefit performances. Inspired by events in the Mississippi gubernatorial race of 1983, the play follows the antics of a Democratic candidate from Bayou la Batre whose romantic entanglement becomes a possible liability. While their political hopeful is out stumping, we watch the Broussard family deal with the rumors of his indiscretion with unintended but hilarious results.

Playwright Tom Perez and director Daniel Mainwaring will be looking for a diverse cast of 11 adults ranging in age from 25 to 60 when they hold open auditions Aug. 19-20 at 6 p.m. at Mobile Theatre Guild, 14 N. Lafayette St. Rehearsals begin Sept. 2.

For information about rehearsal schedule or other questions, call Perez at 251-300-7650 or email [email protected].

Meanwhile, South of the Salt Line is also prepping an original one-act play to promote anti-bullying. The aim is to take the one-hour work to area middle schools in Mobile and Baldwin counties beginning in November.

Also penned by Perez, “Bullies and Lady-dogs” needs a cast of 15 students who perform 10 skits encouraging a Zero Tolerance of bullying and offer students creative ways to handle the abuse with humor. The eventual goal is 45 students to fill three alternating casts of 15 actors each.

Students must be in 6th, 7th or 8th grade in middle school in either Mobile or Baldwin counties ­– public, private, or faith-based. The auditioning student should be prepared to give a casual report of two minutes or less – without notes – of a bullying incident that was experienced or witnessed, and then reply to a question from the director.