Seeking 5 actors for a live table read of an original feature screenplay in Philadelphia.
Genre: Indie romantic period thriller.
Logline: A housewife and her daughter on a secluded 1850s Kansas farmstead have their lives upturned when a charming but potentially dangerous stranger appears on their doorstep, robbed and beaten up, while their dour, religious patriarch is away on business.
Roles:
RUTH — Late 30s to early 40s
A housewife living on a secluded farmstead in 1850s Kansas, Ruth has settled into a life of quiet despair with her dour, deeply religious husband and precocious teenage daughter. Practical, resilient, and emotionally restrained, she has long accepted the limitations of her life. But when Caleb arrives at the farm, his warmth and optimism awaken something in her, forcing Ruth to question the choices she has made—and whether she is willing to risk everything for the possibility of a different life.
HANNAH — 17
Ruth’s bright, imaginative daughter, Hannah longs for a life beyond the isolated farmstead—perhaps even Paris, like the worlds she discovers in the romance novels she reads in secret. Curious, spirited, and restless, she chafes against her father’s strict rules and dreams of adventure. Caleb’s arrival is a breath of fresh air and, for Hannah, a glimpse into the larger world she desperately wants to experience.
CALEB — Early to mid-30s
Handsome, charming, and naturally charismatic, Caleb has a lightness about him that contrasts sharply with the grim atmosphere of the farm. Above all, he is driven by a desire for “freedom”—from poverty, convention, and anything that might tie him down. He is traveling west to San Francisco, where he hopes to make a life as a musician, when an attack by bandits leaves him stranded at Ruth’s farmstead. His unexpected presence quickly disrupts the family’s fragile equilibrium.
ELIAS — Late 50s to early 60s
A German immigrant, farmer, and deeply religious patriarch, Elias is stern, heavy-handed, and rigid in his beliefs about faith, family, and duty. He can be controlling and emotionally severe, particularly with Ruth and Hannah, but he is not without humanity. Beneath his harsh exterior is a man who genuinely loves his daughter and believes—even when he is profoundly misguided—that he is protecting his family and doing what is right. (Will also read smaller role of Farmer.)
NARRATOR / STAGE DIRECTIONS — Any age, 21+
A confident, expressive reader who guides the audience through the world of the screenplay, delivering stage directions, scene transitions, and visual action with clarity and energy without overpowering the actors. The narrator should have strong storytelling instincts and an ability to shift tone smoothly between moments of humor, intimacy, tension, and violence.
Please send a resume and reel/link to any prior work to sam@smjpresents.com
