CASTING CALL: Twelve Steps Back
Written by Isaac Pollock
Directed by Dylan S. Baker
Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2026
Seeking 6 performers for a new project, Twelve Steps Back, premiering as part of the 2026 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
Summary: In a courtyard in Yorkville, Manhattan, a group of alcoholics in varying stages of recovery meet once a week. During the months leading up to Sadie’s sixteenth birthday (and, she hopes, imminent emancipation), each member of the group wrestles with a recent change in their life: Lauren’s new in town and new at her job, Teddy’s speaking to his ex-wife and former reality TV show co-star again, Josh nearly found himself on the J train tracks the other night after a bad phone call, Claire’s back on pills but isn’t telling anyone except her party-girl roommate, and Dani, who, from what everyone knows, has been single and not pregnant for the past few months, shows up one day and informs everyone she’s just had a baby. Plus, Sadie’s determined to rack up arrests before she becomes an adult, no matter how not-fun Lauren makes jail seem. Time goes on, the group members get more or less sober, and everyone discovers that it takes a fucked-up village to raise a kid or two. And that addiction is, maybe, a little bit, a laughing matter.
Character Breakdown:
LAUREN C., late 20s/early 30, any race. Two weeks sober. Identifies as an alcoholic/addict in recovery. Lauren just moved to NYC from Arizona for a Bigger Law opportunity than the small Big Law she was doing in the Southwest. She has a sponsor back in AZ and is committed to the Program, but actively sought out an atheist group. She wants to make friends; breaking into an established group like this is intimidating. She developed a drinking and drug problem in college to cope with law student stress, and though she’s tried quitting a couple of times, she’s never been successful for more than a few weeks. This is the first time she’s actually committing. She’s determined to make it stick. She is earnest and a bit out of place.
JOSH A., mid/late-20s, any race. Three years sober. Identifies as an alcoholic. Josh is predisposed to alcoholism — both of his parents are alcoholics, and it’s pretty debilitating for his father, with whom he has basically no relationship. He has a strained relationship with his mother. His parents are hoping he’ll wake up one day and decide to not be gay anymore. He suffers from depression and has attempted suicide a few times in his life. He works in marketing and is high-strung, a bit judgy, and kind of emotional. He’s pretty committed to the Program, and is vaguely Christian in a complicated, traumatized young gay guy in AA way. His dating life is somewhat of a wreck, and he’s very easily triggered by his parents and by guys.
CLAIRE Y., mid-30s, any race. She says she’s almost a decade sober, which may or may not be true. She identifies as a former addict. She never really had a drinking problem but she doesn’t see herself as a “druggie” — very much the type to scoff at homeless heroin users and say well, I’m not like that, so I can’t be a drug addict. She got in an accident in her early 20s and, along with a collegehood that exposed her to a lot more excitement than she grew up with in the suburban Midwest, developed a dependency on pain pills and a habit of using party drugs. She goes back and forth on the Program — she likes structure, but she hates identifying with an organized system to cope with addiction. She is vaguely spiritual and has a not-so-religious Christian upbringing. She recently re-injured herself.
TEDDY A., mid-30s, any race. Two years sober. Would identify as an alcoholic if forced to identify. Teddy is part of the group as a condition of his parole — shortly after tanking on a reality dating competition, Teddy got loaded, stole a car, and crashed it, shortly after his wife Antoinette, whom he met on the dating show, very publicly divorced him. He developed a drinking problem and drug habit on and after the show; it was pretty easy, in LA, to ride on his clout and spend way too much time at the club. He pretends to not like the group (which was the only atheist one around), but he gets a lot out of it, even if he thinks the Steps are total bullshit. He has recently reached out to Antoinette for the first time since he broke her no contact command to do the whole “amends” thing. He is cocky and obnoxious and typically the only person on Sadie’s side.
SADIE K., almost 16, white. Not sober. Will never say she has a problem, but would, internally, identify as an alcoholic. She grew up stupid rich on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with more than vaguely neglectful parents, and, as such, has decided that the best way to get them to notice her for at least long enough to throw her into rehab is to get trashed and lash out. Insists that her parents force her to attend the group, but also insists that her parents don’t care about her. She has decided to self-emancipate once she turns 16 in about three months, and refuses to see that, yeah, her parents could probably love her a bit more, but she’d be setting herself up for failure if she didn’t take advantage of what they have to offer. Her attitude is put-upon, and her cigarettes are choked down for the aesthetic. Jewish atheist.
DANI S., early 30s, WOC. Five years sober. Identifies as an alcoholic, would maybe identify as having formerly had a drug problem, but wouldn’t go so far as “addict”. She founded this group. Even though she’s Catholic and generally thinks the Program works for her, she knows it isn’t the best for all people, and she wanted to expand what AA could be for folks. She developed a drinking problem to cope with stress in her 20s, and mildly abused stimulants to keep her head above water at her old office job. Shortly before she got sober, her child that she had with her boyfriend was taken by CPS, because he reported her and had her deemed an unfit mother; she probably was not the best mother, but she was starting to become a better one, and she knows this wouldn’t have happened to her if she was white. After that, she got sober, got a sponsor, started this group, and now, a few years later, is trying to be a mother again. She is kind, empathetic, and a little bit totally in over her head.
Rehearsal Process:
Rehearsals will take place over the course of 3-4 weeks, starting in August and through the beginning of September. We'll build our rehearsal schedule around our actors' availability.
Tech Schedule:
Auditions are submitted by video only, through this Google Form. Callbacks TBD, as needed.
Please reach out to our Producer Molly McCaffrey at [email protected], if you have any questions!
