AUDITIONS | JUN 21 & 22, 2026 | 7pm
SEPTEMBER 2026
The Language Archive
by Julia Cho
Directed by Kit Colbourn
Fri & Sat 8pm | Sep 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26
Sun Matinee 2pm | Sep 20
Sat Matinee 2pm | Sep 26
Will a man who speaks nine languages ever learn to communicate with his wife? Will the last two speakers of a soon-to-be dead language break their vow of silence? The lives of five people are imaginatively woven together as they discover that no matter how many words they can speak, it’s the heart’s language that matters most.
The Language Archive is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. dramatists.com
AUDITION INFORMATION
The Language Archive audition form
George is a man consumed with preserving and documenting the dying languages of far-flung cultures. Closer to home, though, language is failing him. He doesn’t know what to say to his wife Mary to keep her from leaving him, and he doesn’t recognize the deep feelings that his lab assistant Emma has for him.
The play looks at two contrasting marriages. The one between George and Mary is broken; it was never whole to begin with. The one between Alta and Resten, though full of sound and fury, is solid as a rock. George and Mary talk past each other; Alta and Resten yell at each other in English, but save the good stuff, the ongoing exchange of affection, for Ellowan, the dying language.
Cast:
GEORGE: A linguist. A man in his 30s or 40s.
MARY: George’s wife. A woman in her 30s or 40s.
EMMA: A lab assistant. A woman in her 20s or 30s.
ALTA: An old woman.
RESTEN: An old man.
Depending on available people, the actors playing Alta and Resten might also play the following:
THE DRIVER: A man of any age.
OLD MAN/BAKER: An old man.
LANGUAGE INSTRUCTOR: A woman of any age.
A PASSERBY: A man or a woman of any age.
A PASSERBY: A man or a woman of any age (different from the previous).
CONDUCTOR: A man or a woman of any age.
OLD MAN/ZAMENHOF: An old man.
The Language Archive is a gently sentimental tale built inside a concept, similar to the way nesting birds inhabit a hedge. The theme is the failure of communication, and the metaphor is a collection of recordings and documents describing extinct languages curated by George, a fussy, white-coated linguist who’s tongue-tied when it comes to expressing any sentiment.
— Michael Miegs, CTX Live Theatre