Female any ethnicity, 26-33. Juliette is a woman with a self-assured presence. Practical over emotional. Impatient. Her younger sister, Kiki, is the only person she’s ever had any kind of power over, and she wields it almost aggressively at times. As much as she genuinely cares for Kiki, Juliette resents that Kiki feels she has any options, when Juliette always felt she had to do what was expected of her—right down to her own marriage and child.

Female any ethnicity. Early 20s woman, a little naive. Still holding onto an idealism about the world that her older sister, Juliette, has long since lost. She is in the very early stages of a pregnancy, and facing the possibility of being a single mother, but it’s hard for her to engage with the reality of the situation. She rarely stays still, always fidgeting with something.

Female, any ethnicity, 20-29. Curly hair. A charming shy girl desperate to fit in. Someone who gives into peer pressure because she wants people to think she’s cool and wild. Think NEEDY in Jennifer’s Body.

Female, any ethnicity, 20-29. A magnetic mean girl. Someone who uses confidence as a weapon to manipulate people in doing what she wants. Think JENNIFER in Jennifer’s body.

NOMI NICKEL (16) is a curious and sardonic young woman with a wicked sense of humour that is trapped inside her, just as she is trapped in a small Mennonite town. Once devout like her doleful father Ray, Nomi is beginning to question the world around her now that her mother Trudie hasn’t come home. Nomi’s adolescence is shaped by the breakup of her family; fiercely loyal to her father, she believes she must stay in East Village for his sake. She yearns to find herself and where she belongs, express herself, and live loudly. Inquisitive by nature, her compulsive questioning brings her into conflict with the town’s authorities. She has rebellious and iconoclastic tendencies, she is empathetic and quick to help others who are vulnerable and overlooked. CAUCASIAN

RAY NICKEL (40s) Nomi’s quiet, reserved father and patriarch of the Nickel family: a bit stooped, formally dressed; gentle, soft-spoken, indecisive. He is a committed teacher at the local elementary school, and a man of faith who has not missed Sunday church in over ten years - the only life he’s ever known. He survives the unforgiving conformism of East Village by toeing the line and trying to be a perfect citizen. Inevitably, he is caught between the “laws” of the town and his love for his family. Ray deals with his manic depression in private, and while he is a man of few words, he deeply loves his daughter and wants what is best for her – though he doesn’t always know what that is. A side effect of Ray’s inner conflict is that he is often funny to others, even when he isn’t trying to be. CAUCASIAN

LYDIA “LIDS” VOTH (16) is Nomi’s best friend. She comes from an ultra-conservative but loving family. She has an ethereal, haunted beauty, as do all nine of her brothers and sisters. Nomi loves Lids because she doesn’t judge anyone. As a young girl, Lids was a free spirit like Nomi. They were each other’s escape, until one day when it all took a turn. Now 16, Lids’ cousin has been sent to stay with the Voth family in the hopes that he might make her a wife -- all the duties and confinements of female adulthood approachesCAUCASIAN

TRAVIS KLIPPENSTEIN (18) is Nomi’s erstwhile boyfriend. He left high school to works for his father laying carpets and he also does the odd shift at the Mennonite Village Museum, pretending to be old fashioned for the American tourists. He postures as a broad-minded Bohemian who wants to escape to Montreal, but in the end proves to be just another pawn of the Church and familial duty. CAUCASIAN

PASTOR HANS ROSENFELDT (40s) is Trudie’s brother, Nomi’s uncle — referred to as “The Mouth” by Tash and Nomi — and the weak but domineering pastor of the Church. A long time ago he tried to escape the community by going to Winnipeg, the nearest city, to be a Bohemian provocateur, but was only mocked. He returned to East Village to rule with an iron fist. Many people in the town are afraid of him, as he revels in casting shame. CAUCASIAN

WILDA FUNK (26) is a young mother of two who moved to East Village after thesudden death of her husband at the hands of a thresher. Ray is assigned to be the lovely widow’s gutman, a handyman for the community’s unmarried women. Nomi can’t help but feel that Ray is replacing her with pious Wilda’s family. In reality, Wilda is quietly drawn to Ray’s shared faith and loneliness. A newcomer with her own grief, Wilda has a deep empathy for Ray and the Nickel family. CAUCASIAN

TRUDIE NICKEL (40s), Nomi’s mother, is spirited, beautiful, and fun when she’s not acting strangely. She is known in the town as a crazy rebel. She loves Ray and her daughters but is frustrated with Ray’s abiding loyalty to the “rules” of the town. She feels overwhelmed by the pressure to be a model wife and citizen, especially since she is the church pastor’s sister: she does all the things a Mennonite wife should do. She attempts to preserve her sense of individual freedom without openly confronting the “system”, but this quiet protest is not enough, and she acts out in more radical and illicit ways until, finally, she’s excommunicated. CAUCASIAN

MR. ALMON QUIRING (40s) is married and has a young son. He considers himself a rather “groovy” part of the Mennonite community, but with self-conscious distance from it. He is known to play folk tunes on his guitar in class and wear sandals, but when push comes to shove Mr. Quiring reveals himself to be a bully, and a coward, and more intimately bound up with the Nickel family than he initially appears. CAUCASIAN

MRS. KLIPPENSTEIN - Also named Agatha (80s) Mrs. Klippenstein has been a pillar in the community for decades. Before leaving, Trudie used to tend to Mrs. Klippenstein but is now confined to a convalescent home. When Nomi begins investigating her mother’s disappearance, Mr. Klippenstein mistakenly thinks Nomi is Trudie and reveals more that she possibly should. CAUCASIAN

ESTHER REMPEL (Late 30s) Trudie’s best Friend, wife of a deacon, she is kind and sincere. She claims she doesn’t know what happened to Trudie when Nomi comes asking, but the conversation is cut short when Deacon Franz demands Esther come back to the house and fix dinner. CAUCASIAN

PHYLLIS QUIRING (30s) Almon’s wife - Phyllis is the dutiful wife of the High School Teacher Almon. She seems quite clueless about any goings on in the community, until Nomi comes asking questions. CAUCASIAN

MARY KLIPPENSTEIN (44) Travis Mother, Mary is probably oblivious to the sins of her son Travis, but she will protect him when she has to. CAUCASIAN

MR. VOTH (40s) Lydia’s father, Mr. Voth is the leader of his family. A staunch Mennonite, Mr. Voth does not tolerate anything that is not part of their culture, including the belief that men are more important than women, including his own daughter. CAUCASIAN

NATASHA “TASH” NICKEL (19) is Nomi’s older sister, a walking accusation to the rest of the family: she chooses to do the exact opposite of her father by rejecting the East Village community and its values. From a young age, she sees her mother as a cautionary tale: she will not sacrifice her soul to the norms of East Village. She is free, rebellious and cool. She doesn’t mind being openly contemptuous and isn’t bothered by anybody’s disapproval, and this in itself shames her mother Trudie, who can’t help but admire the courage of her eldest daughter. Tash is a role model of sorts, to Nomi, although she knows that because of her fatherly duties, she has to follow a different path. Tash’s absence is keenly felt by Nomi. CAUCASIAN

COUSIN JACOB (19) Kind square, Jacob is Lydia’s second cousin and a Mennonite thru and thru. He has been invited to the Voth house to meet Lydia as a possible suitor. Although Jacob is a good and kind person, Lydia is not even remotely interested in him as a husband. CAUCASIAN

SHERIDAN (15) Sheridan is David Klippenstein’s son, Old Mrs. Klippenstein’s grandson and Travis’ cousin. Sheridan’s family was never the same after his mother committed suicide. His father turned to alcohol, and Sheridan dropped out of school, began working at a resort and probably parties a little too hard on weekends. CAUCASIAN