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Roy Gonzalez as The Man in SEVEN SNAKES

The Cast for SEVEN SNAKES!

The Man - Roy Gonzalez
The Daughter - Erin Orr
The Mother - Don Hall
The Colonel - Matt Kahler
Ringo - Adam Dodds
Cheese Grits - Vincent Lacey
Toadsuck - Shane Michael Murphy
Archibald - Sean Ewert
Radar - Ian Brown
Segundo - Riso Straley
Chupa Fuerte - Bert Matias
Cuchillo - Miguel Nunez
Angel - Fernando Albiar
Seis - Warwick Johnson
Agent V - Jim Hicks

Erin Orr as The Daughter in SEVEN SNAKES

Seven Snakes Inspiration - 7

DJANGO!!!



Less style than Leone. More Grand Guignol.



More vivil depictions of violence to the protagonist.



A figure as cool or good looking as Eastwood, but no where nearly as stylishly shot. Eastwood plays a cool headed character than many would want emulate, but there is more story and therefore more to emotionally connect to with Django.

Leone's use of the frame as theatrical legs

There are all kinds of moments in a Leone film where he uses the frame of the image to hide something from the audience, but also from the characters within the frame. From a naturalistic point of view, it is incredulous. Image 2 men committing a robbery in a graveyard and a third man with a shovel sneaks up on them in broad daylight. Sir Christopher Frayling mentions that Leone's movies almost work better as 'theatre' and in this way he is right. Hey but it makes for great set up especially if you can buy it, and the truth is that if you've enjoyed the story up until this point, you either buy it or decide to surrender to it so that you can see the promised conflict.

In this scene, Eastwood sneaks up on Wallach in the same fashion that Van Cleef does both of them. Then later Leone askes us to believe that Eastwood sets up a noose only a few feet from Wallach, but again since Eastwood is out of frame, we don't see him, so neither does Wallach.

Convenient. But what the hell! Hey you work with what you got. There are lessons to be learned here for those of us with limited resource and space!

Seven Snakes Inspiration - 5

Most of us know all about Sergio Leone, but what about Sergio Corbucci? Not nearly the stylist that Leone was, Corbucci took his dark cowboy tales to even more powerful heights of violence than Leone had. Remember that when the Spaghetti West begun, Americans were getting their western fix from TV and rarely saw a gun fired and the wound it made within the same frame.

The violent images being used by the Italians, and Corbucci specifically, had an effect on audiences that would be hard to replicate in cinema. But we aren't doing cinema. We are telling stories for the stage and that gives us an opportunity to impact people the same way those inventive and provocative Italians once did. The embed above is just a few still images with the theme song. It seems to me after listening to this that they had to be going for an elvis sort of sound, but... the tune is kind of catchy and It grows on you quickly (me at least).

The character of Django is actually more compelling and endearing than any of the variations of the "Man with no Name". Whereas Eastwood makes for a cooler more stylized anti-hero, the motivations and pathos of Django matter more emotionally. There is real catharsis to Franco Nero's character that never really occurs to Eastwood in the Dollars Trilogy.

Seven Snakes Inspiration - 6

OK, this is like heart stopping exciting for me! I have a huge art man crush on Paul Pope, and when I saw that he actually put pen to paper and drew the character Harmonica from Once Upon A Time in West... well lets just say I would spend everything in pockets to get this on my wall.

Music has power in the Westerns of Sergio Leone. The use of the harmonica in Once Upon a Time in the West, and the use of the musical time piece in For A Few Dollars More. I'm hoping to capture something similar in Seven Snakes with the use of the Flute. Reminder to myself - Talk to the awesome David Lykins about this ASAP.

Everything you might want to know about SEVEN SNAKES auditions on July 17th

Seven Snakes Synopsis - Part Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Part The Searchers, Part Naked Lunch, Part Romeo and Juliet, Part Beauty and Beast. SEVEN SNAKES is an apocalyptic western set 30 years from now in the remains of what was once The Arizona desert. A Young Woman must choose sides as a Group of Octogenarian Veterans of Foreign Desert Wars engage in a mythic battle with a team of mysterious masked gunslingers known as the Seven Snakes.

Important Production Dates -

Rehearsals start August 1st
Previews start Sept 18th
The Show Runs Fridays and Saturdays thru November 13th

Auditions are 1-6pm on July 17th at Zoo Studios, located at 4001 N. Ravenswood Ave Suite b-1

Cast of Characters - Click here for Character descriptions

What about the Mammals? Who are they? - The Mammals Mission: The Mammals explore performance works embracing themes of history, mythology, and destiny through the genres of science fiction, horror, and phantasmagoria.

If you have further questions, please email us at themammals at gmail dot com.

Please no agents. This is a non-equity audition call.

Seven Snakes Production Journal #2

Saturday I get to hear the latest version of Seven Snakes out loud. It has been quite a while since I've heard actors speak these lines. It was the very first Mammal artistic activity when we moved into our recent digs, the Zoo Studio. In order to beat the heat (we are waiting out summer before we start production again), my good friend, Don Hall, has offered to let me have the reading at his place.

I was hoping to have an ending tagged on by now. I'm very close, but as of Saturday, there will be various endings in my head, but none yet on he final page of the script. Some might wonder what is the good of having this reading without having a fully finished draft. For me, most of the scripts I write have been generated in this sort of fashion.

I kind of like doing it this way. I like hearing folks opinions of the direction a script is going in before they know how I'll end it. It is a great way to see how the first half or two thirds of a story is setting up expectation. It is also a great way to shape language and style. Sometimes hearing a scene out loud helps me discover a necessary adjustment that has to happen before I can even conceive of a subsequent scene.

I like to think of it as sculpting a script. When do you decide it's time to hear your words out loud?

Seven Snakes Production Journal #1

The script is coming along. There are some incredibly wild moments in it that I can't wait to see onstage. This Saturday we will have a read thru of the working script. Next Saturday we will have auditions. Then August 1st we begin rehearsals. I am excited, but also I am anxious. I should find comfort in that the feelings like butterflies don't seem to go away. It means that it still matters to me. This play represents brand me territory for the Mammals. We are having our way with the mythology of the West. Right now, we are sort in a Lewis and Clark frame of mind filled with adrenaline due to the thrill of the adventure, but also just a short distance from throwing up from all the excitement.

Seven Snakes Inspiration - 4

Seven Snakes - Inspiration 3

Seven Snakes - The Characters Thus Far (This Script is still in development)

In order of appearance

Donkeyface - A nomadic entrepreneur and survivalist who runs his own delivery service out here in Skillet County. He used to have a wagon and a team of donkeys to drive it, but since hard time have hit the Skillet about a decade ago, his delivery service has had to sustain some unexpected downsizing. He is at least 50. Any man with that much mileage on his face and body who aint at least 50 would sure be a sorry sight in the eyes anyone. Wizened, Shaggy, Horny.

Mother - late 40's a free thinker who took a job working as an RN at the Skillet County Veteran's Administration Hospital because when the hard times hit, there weren't much else to choose from. A single mother. She has recently been afflicted with some sort of disease from which there is no cure. She is planning for her last days. She is ornery, perhaps having bigger balls then any of the old octogenarian veterans with whom she is charged to treat. Her daughter often refers to her as half woman/half cactus. She is rough and tough. The only person who ever sees a softer side would be her daughter, but even then that soft side might only be a dream.

Daughter - Our protagonist. Just barely 17, she is her Mother's Daughter. Not as tough, but she has an edge when you piss her off. She cares about this world, because it is the only world she has even known. Her Mother's death thrusts her whole way of life into chaos. Having lived most of her life out here on the Skillet, until the events of her story unfold, she has never seen a young man anywhere except on TV. It is this fact that helps explain all her confusion about the Man she encounters. She knows a little something about the birds and the bees, and she is used to the attentions of men, since she is the only target for the Octogenarians to aim their libidos towards.

The Judge - Leader of the Octogenarian Veterans. An Ancient yet potent military man. Extremely conservative in all aspects except for his dress and his taste in military equipment. He has an almost unquestionable authority over the other veterans at the Skillet County Veteran's Admin Hospital. He is into badges and medals and has been awarded many, some by the armed forces, some self awarded since the hard times hit and communication with the military establishment has been shoddy at best. He envisions himself as a protector of the citizenry and the American way. When severely confronted and offended he can and does become quite dangerous. His inflexibility becomes psychotic. The ultimate wingnut.

Sicko the Judge's Second Banana - Another Octogenarian Veteran. Probably more akin to a teabagger, birther, minuteman, ex rodeo clown. Sicko is xenophobic, foul mouthed, racist, and unrepentant. Whereas the Judge always attempts to maintain a dignified poise, Sicko has no problem expressing his most abhorrent and scatological prejudices. He is everything that is dumb and inevitable about the western style baddie/second banana villain.

The Man - A tall young dark skinned man reminiscent of Clint Eastwood. A variation on the man in black. He is the first of the seven snakes.

Mr. Hey - The sole surviving conscientious objector when the Judge calls for vengeance in the second act. Mr. Hey pays dearly, but he also gives his footlocker key and with it his hidden arsenal to the Daughter before he passes.

The Fourth Brother - A violent bandit who wants to avenge the death or his family, as well as punish the Man for his recent betrayals to the cause. A fundamentalist in the most frightening sense.

Agent R - Government Intelligence Agent. Sunglasses. Ear bud. Suit, Tie, Apron when necessary.

Agent T - Government Intelligence Agent. Sunglasses. Ear bud. Suit, Tie, Apron when necessary. A little more cautious than Agent R

The Fifth Brother - Kidnapped, Waterboarded, put through the same paces that those at Abu Grahib and Guantanamo were put through.

Various Octogenarian Veterans, as well as The Second, Third, Sixth, and Seventh Brother (double casting here is probable)

Seven Snakes - Inspiration Two

One of my artistic heroes, Guy Maddin, talks about having a space to create. He fills this space with pictures that inspire him to want to tell stories. I'm going to do that a little bit here at the blog in relation to the Mammals' new show SEVEN SNAKES






Who is the JUDGE in SEVEN SNAKES?

Every western needs its baddie, and our head baddie is an Octogenarian Veteran nicknamed the Judge. I was trying to remember what inspired this character. Combing through Google images, I found these images and I couldn't resist the visual comparisons.

It is an established stereotype in art and literature, the high ranking military man whose sense of duty,dogma, tradition becomes corrupted by xenophobia and hubris resulting in potentially catastrophic displays of power. Sometimes it isn't a military figure, but it appears to almost always be a patriarchal presence. For instance a statesman, law officer, high ranking administrator.

They are our elders, but they are not our fathers. We should not mistake their compassion of convenience with anything approaching paternal concern, even if they themselves make that same mistake.

Self proclaimed Abrahams that always see themselves as heroes regardless what darkness they enable, they insist we perform the role of Issac. They lift the sword slow in anticipation of the divine throat clearing itself in warning.

Seven Snakes - Inspiration One

One of my artistic heroes, Guy Maddin, talks about having a space to create. He fills this space with pictures that inspire him to want to tell stories. I'm going to do that a little bit here at the blog.

This shot from Once Upon a Time In The West inspires me. So many of the images from this movie burned themselves into my brain, and from those borrowed visuals some how SEVEN SNAKES slowly percolated in my mind.

We want you to be a part of our next show - SEVEN SNAKES!

The Mammals are holding auditions on July 24th for our next production called SEVEN SNAKES. Part Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Part The Searchers, Part Naked Lunch, Part Romeo and Juliet, Part Beauty and Beast. That's a lot of parts!

SEVEN SNAKES is an apocalyptic western set 30 years from now in the remains of what was once The Arizona desert.

A Young Woman must choose sides as a Group of Octogenarian Veterans of Foreign Desert Wars engage in a mythic battle with a team of mysterious masked gunslingers known as the Seven Snakes.

The Mammals are currently looking for actors of Latino, Arabic, or Native American descent to audition for the team of gunslingers.

The Mammals are also looking for Men of all ages and types to audition for the roles of the Octogenarian Veterans.

This will be a huge ensemble piece in the spirit of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah.

If you would like to schedule an audition or ask questions, then email us at themammals at gmail dot com.

Please share this audition notice with any actors who you think might be interested!

Rehearsals Start August 1st
The Show Previews Sept 18th and opens Sept 25th running Fridays and Saturdays thru November 6th

What's Next?

So, MEATLOCKER is now the past. The Mammals are going to set aside Noir for now and get ready for our first foray into the Western. Coming soon - SEVEN SNAKES