Auditions: First Look Buffalo

PRESERVATION, a new play by Deborah Yarchun.

First Look Buffalo Theatre Company is casting Preservation, a new play by Deborah Yarchun. Directed by Artie nominated and critically acclaimed director Lara D. Haberberger.

Performances are January 16th - February 7th, 2026 at the Canterbury Woods Performing Arts Center in Williamsville NY. Rehearsals will begin in early December 2025.

This is a paid gig.

Character Breakdown

• Lydia -Caucasian. Early to late 30s. Intelligent, scrappy, cleans up well. She has a good heart. Should be witty.

• Stan – Any ethnicity. Early to late 30s. Balding or receding hairline. Protective. He wants to be kind. There's something charmingly old-fashioned about him. He is a big nerd.

  
  

Auditions are Saturday May 3rd from 1-4pm at Saint Marys High School, 142 Laverack Ave, Lancaster NY.

To Submit:

Please send a head shot and resume to FirstLookBuffalo.com. Any questions call producer Bob Rusch at 716-771-6358.

About the play

In a small town, in an archival library, there’s a vault. Inside the vault, there’s a box. Stella, Lydia’s dying grandmother, has convinced her that inside the box is a buried family secret that could alter their lives. But the founder of the library funded it under the stipulation that the box never be opened. Lydia and Stella need vindication. Stan, the library’s archivist, needs to protect the library and the founder’s integrity at all costs. Lydia isn’t going away. And Stan isn’t backing down. Preservation is a dark comedic drama that explores what happens when protecting the dead comes at the cost of the living.

About the playwright

Deborah Yarchun’s honors include a residency at New Dramatists, two Jerome Fellowships, a Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship, the Neukom Award, The Kennedy Center's Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, an EST/Sloan commission, and the Kernodle New Play Award. Her play The Aleph Complex was a winner of Alleyway Theatre’s Maxim Mazumdar Award and was produced in their 2023 season. Her other plays have been produced and/or developed at places including Centenary Stage, Capital Rep, New Harmony Project, Amphibian Stage, Theatre Squared, Northern Stage, Williams Street Rep, and Winnipeg Jewish Theatre. M.F.A., University of Iowa. More about her work at DeborahYarchun.com.