CASTING CALL: The High Line x Dominique Fung Performance - September 2025

Performance dates: September 4, 5, 6, & 7, 2025

The High Line and Dominique Fung are pleased to present A Leaf’s Pilgrimage, a live theatrical tour exploring the Journey of Tea, to be performed on the High Line.

We are seeking actors and participants for the following roles:

THE GUIDE (1 Actor)

We are seeking a charismatic and engaging actor to lead this theatrical tour. The Guide, alongside the Assistant, will guide audiences of approximately 40 people through a 30–45 minute immersive experience.

Character:

• Poetic narrator; timeless, introspective, dramatic, and theatrical
• The keeper of tea’s spiritual and historical journey—part historian, part monk, part oracle
• Commands attention through stillness as much as through voice
• Profile: Male, female, or non-binary identifying (30s–60s or presents older than 20s); must lean toward masculine energy
• Heritage: East Asian, Southeast Asian, or mixed with East/Southeast Asian heritage

Tone: Think Sir David Attenborough narrating ancient myth by candlelight—measured, reverent, magnetic, with a voice like moss on marble. Add a hint of Jeff Goldblum as a scholar-priest in a Wong Kar-wai film—slow, strange, and prophetic.

Requirements:

• Strong stage presence and confidence in public speaking
• Ability to engage audiences in an outdoor, dynamic setting
• Ability to memorize and deliver a script
• Expressive body language to support storytelling
• Comfort navigating outdoor spaces
• Background in physical theatre or ritualistic movement is a plus
• Interest or expertise in tea or Chinese culture is preferred but not required

THE GUIDE’S ASSISTANT (1 Actor)

The Assistant is the comedic counterpart, helping move the story forward with humor and charm.

Character:

• Comedic foil, contemporary spark; witty, sharp, self-aware
• The jester to the Guide’s prophet; offers grounded facts and comic relief
• Profile: POC female-identifying actor (20s–40s)
• Quick shifts from flippant to sincere; relatable and upbeat

Tone: Think Ali Wong meets a rogue museum audio guide—smart, sharp, sarcastic, with a dash of heart.

Requirements:

• Strong comedic timing and improvisational ability
• Strong stage presence and confidence in public speaking
• Ability to engage audiences in an outdoor setting
• Ability to memorize and deliver a script
• Expressive, nimble body language
• Comfort with audience interaction
• Interest or expertise in tea or Chinese culture is preferred but not required

EXTRAS (5–10 Participants; acting experience not required)

We seek 5–10 extras to bring the performance world to life through movement and presence. These mostly non-verbal roles require no line memorization (at most one phrase).

COMPENSATION

Speaking roles (Guide, Guide’s Assistant): $40/hour.

Extras: Flat fee of $500 for full participation in all rehearsals and performances.

COMMITMENT

Actors must be available for all in-person rehearsals and performances from Wednesday, August 27 – Sunday, September 7, 2025.

• Rehearsals: Wednesday, August 27; Thursday, August 28; Friday, August 29; Tuesday, September 2; and Wednesday, September 3, 2025
• Performances: Thursday, September 4; Friday, September 5; Saturday, September 6; and Sunday, September 7

LOCATION

Rehearsals: Indoor location (TBD) and the High Line (820 Washington St., New York, NY 10014)

Performances: Various locations along the High Line (820 Washington St., New York, NY 10014)

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Dominique Fung is a Canadian artist who lives and works in New York City. Through her practice, she excavates our collective inheritance of tradition, memory, and legacy, unearthing and liberating overlooked figures, misunderstood artifacts, and forgotten stories. Her work considers Orientalist fantasies, particularly as they relate to the sexualization, fetishization, and objectification of Asian women. Fung plays with this conflation between woman and thing in her paintings and sculptures, imbuing inanimate objects—artifacts, teapots, fishing rods, and food—with agency and nuance. Her canvases reclaim the yellow-tinted “foreign country” filter so consistently used in films to assign “otherness,” to instead create spectral scenes that lean into the uncanny, reversing the power dynamic of the gaze and orchestrating a confrontation between object and viewer. 

ABOUT HIGH LINE ART

Founded in 2009, High Line Art commissions and produces a wide array of artworks on the High Line, including site-specific commissions, exhibitions, performances, video programs, and a series of billboard interventions. Led by Cecilia Alemani, the Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art, and presented by the High Line, the art program invites artists to think of creative ways to engage with the unique architecture, history, and design of the park, and to foster a productive dialogue with the surrounding neighborhood and urban landscape. For more information on High Line Art, please visit thehighline.org/art.

ABOUT THE HIGH LINE

The High Line is a public park on the West Side of Manhattan operated, maintained, and funded by the nonprofit conservancy Friends of the High Line. Through our work with communities on and off the High Line, Friends of the High Line is devoted to reimagining public spaces to create connected, healthy neighborhoods and cities. Built on a historic, elevated rail line, the High Line was always intended to be more than a park. You can walk through the gardens, view art, experience a performance, enjoy food or beverage, or connect with friends and neighbors—all while enjoying a unique perspective of New York City. Nearly 100% of our annual budget comes through donations. The High Line is owned by the City of New York, and we operate the park under a license agreement with NYC Parks. For more information, visit thehighline.org.

HOW TO APPLY

Materials needed to apply:

• If you are applying for a speaking role please send an introduction video where the actor is saying who they are, why they are applying and why they would be a good fit for this.
• Headshot
• CV
• Portfolio, if available

Submit via: this Google Form by Monday, July 14, 2025 at 11pm EST. 

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so early submission is encouraged.

For questions or assistance with submissions, email: [email protected] with the subject line: Dominique Fung 2025 High Line Art Performance.

07/14/2025