BECOMING A MAN Auditions

AUDITION DATE

Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Z Space — Steindler Stage
450 Florida St, San Francisco, CA 94110
3:00 PM - 8:00 PM (P)
APPOINTMENTS

To schedule an audition appointment please email [email protected].
PERSONNEL

Adapted from P. Carl’s memoir BECOMING A MAN: THE STORY OF A TRANSITION.
Written by P. Carl
Directed by Lyam Gabel
Shafer Mazow, Executive Director / Producer
Nikki Meñez, Curatorial Director

Equity actors for roles in BECOMING A MAN (see breakdown).
OTHER DATES

West Coast Premiere.
Rehearsals begin: Week of April 27
Load-in/Tech: Week of May 18
Dress/Preview: Week of May 25
Opening: Saturday, May 30
Closing: Sunday, June 14
Local Bay Area actors are encouraged to audition.
PREPARATION

Please prepare the sides for the role you are interested in. Sides will be distributed once you have set up your audition appointment. Visit www.zspace.org for more information.

All rehearsals will take place in Z Below (470 Florida St, San Francisco, CA 94110). Tech and performances will be on the Steindler Stage (450 Florida St, San Francisco, CA 94110).
OTHER

An Equity Monitor will not be provided. The producer will run all aspects of this audition.

Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to attend every audition.

Always bring your Equity Membership card to auditions.
Breakdown
BECOMING A MAN

For 50 years, P. Carl lived as a girl and then a queer woman, building a career and a loving marriage while waiting to realize himself in full. When he decides to affirm his gender, his transition puts everything—family, career, friendships—at stake. A stage production based on the memoir, Becoming a Man is a poignant and honest story about the courage and community it takes to become one’s true self and poses the question: “When we change, can the people we love come with us?”
SEEKING
CARL - CAST

He has a neatly trimmed beard and loves fashion and urban streetwear. His sneakers stand out.
LYNETTE — (40s-50s)

Carl’s spouse. Beautiful, with perfect skin and a youthful appearance. She doesn’t leave the house without makeup and reapplies lipstick before an appointment. Elegant, incisive, and deeply feeling, Lynette loves through detail and care; as Carl transitions, she struggles to reconcile devotion, sexuality, and the changing terms of their shared life.
NATHAN — (30s-40s)

Carl’s best friend. Athletic and smart. He transitioned a decade before Carl. He keeps Carl honest. Also doubles as psych ward NURSE.
POLLY — (30s)

Stylish, smart, funny, and cutting. She presents as more masculine in terms of fashion and style, though is not necessarily “butch.” Style of dress resembles more of a fashionable gay man. Polly is Carl’s past and enters throughout the play as a reminder of where he’s been. Trans, non-binary, genderqueer, and gender expansive actors are encouraged to audition.
CARL’s MOTHER — (60s-70s)

Loving, capable, and stretched thin. A therapist who is used to caring for others, she meets crisis with warmth, denial, and practicality in equal measure. Both before and during dementia, she remains a figure of tenderness and intelligence. Also doubles as WOMAN, MRS. BOLTON, HEIDI, BARBARA, and JANICE.
CARL’s FATHER — (60s-70s)

Blustery, self-centered, and steeped in old-school masculinity. Funny until he is cruel, pathetic until he is dangerous; he is a man who expects the world and his family to orbit him. Also doubles as SWIM TRUNKS GUY, JOHN BOLTON, IRISH GUY, and BILL.
EDDIE — (30s-40s)

Carl’s trainer. Focused, precise, and quietly kind, he embodies a version of masculinity that is disciplined, embodied, and unexpectedly generous. Also doubles as the BARTENDER, MARIO, BOB, and psych ward NURSE.