Call For Actors

Arch Street Meeting House will be holding auditions for its Summer 2026 production of A Quiet Roar: The Unparalleled Lives of Bayard Rustin and Sarah Mapps Douglass. 

The two-person play, presented during the City of Philadelphia’s year-long celebration of America’s 250th birthday, explores the complex, intertwined legacy of Quakers and people of color through the writings of Rustin and Mapps Douglass, two prominent Black Quakers with strong connections to Arch Street Meeting House. 

A Quiet Roar, a short one-act written and directed by Yvie Jones, will be presented to visitors most Saturdays from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, as well as previews and the occasional weekday holiday. 

Characters: 

• Sarah Mapps Douglass (mid-fifties, African American female born in 1806, modest but watchful and engaged)
• Bayard Rustin (mid-thirties, African American male born in 1912, slim, passionate, and energetic)

Auditions will be scheduled on Saturday, February 28 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. 

Actors are asked to send a headshot, resume and, if available, a recorded performance of your choosing via YouTube link to [email protected] by February 20th. 

Selected actors will receive a short selection from the play before the audition. Cold readings from the script will also be available. 

Tentative Performance Dates: 

• May 23 (one evening Saturday performance)
• May 25 - Memorial Day Monday
• May 30
• June 6
• June 13
• June 19
• June 20
• June 27
• June 29 (one evening Monday performance)
• July 4
• July 6 (TBD - one evening Monday performance)
• July 11
• July 18
• July 25
• August 1
• August 8
• August 15
• August 22
• August 30
• September 5
• September 7 - Labor Day Monday

*Any additional performances to be made based on performer availability. 

Compensation:

Rehearsals: 

• $25 per hour (approximately 30 to 35 hours)

Performances: 

• $100 for two-performance days (maximum of 4 hours on site)
• $50 for one-performance days (maximum of two hours on site)

Actors are asked to send a headshot, resume and, if available, a recorded performance of your choosing via YouTube link to [email protected] by February 20th.