Shoehorning adults into children's roles has a long history, in part because California requires work permits for minor performers -- and permits for theaters to employ them. Getting the permit from the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement requires the approval of the child's school. It also requires the theater to employ a licensed Studio Teacher to make sure the child's education is ongoing.
Equity rules also apply to child actors in theater productions, but they are less stringent. The theater must establish an educational and supervision program in consultation with the child actor's parents and school. Child actors under the age of 16 must have supervision during the rehearsal period -- and during performances from a half hour before curtain until the child is picked up afterward.
All this puts producers in a bind: Go with a child actor for authenticity, or hand the role to a more experienced performer with more flexibility?
In the case of the Geffen Playhouse's production of "The Exorcist," opening July 3, director John Doyle wanted an adult actor for the role of 12-year-old Regan, casting director Phyllis Schuringa says.
"Most of it was about dealing with someone who could tackle the material of 'The Exorcist,' " Schuringa said.
In the play as in the film, Regan becomes possessed by a demon and, in addition to spewing curses that would make a sailor pause, masturbates with a crucifix. Schuringa cast Emily Yetter, who will turn 24 during the run. "The major deciding factor was having an actor who could enter the rehearsal with a sophistication that a child actor really doesn't have," Schuringa said.
Both Yetter and her understudy, Emily Bicks, appear much younger than their age. They also have the physical ability necessary to play the role; according to Schuringa, Doyle wanted "almost a contortionist."
Yetter credits her experience playing Tinker Bell in the threesixty production of "Peter Pan" with helping her land the part. "I enjoy playing strange characters," she said, adding that she doesn't consciously act like a child. Her appearance is enough, she said, to create the illusion: "I try not to do anything more than that."
Rogue Artists Ensemble, a Long Beach-based theater company, also opted to cast young adult actors for two child roles in its production of "D Is for Dog," at the Hudson Mainstage through Aug. 4. The mixed-media sci-fi comedy tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Rogers and their two young children, Dick and Jane, who live seemingly like a 1950s nuclear family -- until their imperfections begin to show.
Director Sean Cawelti says the decision to cast adults came down to a question of whether a child actor could handle the material in the Equity-exempt production. "We felt that a young actor would not have had the life experience to deal" with the transition that Dick and Jane go through, he said.
As a result, 24-year-old Michael Scott Allen and 30-year-old Taylor Coffman were cast. Allen and Coffman were picked because they exhibited the mannerisms of children, Cawelti said. "When you watch a kid move, they're all about exactness because kids are still learning how to move their bodies," he said. The adult actors had the "physical control" needed to convey that.
Despite the challenges of working with minors, Cawelti said the company does use them, most recently in "The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch." "The question for us is always 'What are the rules for the piece? What are the rules for the world?' " he said. "That was important to have a real kid experience the horrors of life."
Schuringa says the Geffen, too, will use child actors in a fall production of playwright Donald Margulies' "Coney Island Christmas." Still, adult actors are generally preferred. "It's great if you can have an adult with you through the rehearsal process because it takes the discipline of an adult," she said.
