Cast

Casting is the art of finding the right people to play the characters in a theater or film production. Sometimes Pee Wee Herman, sometimes Dwayne Johnson is best for the part. The choices for cast members can flavour the result in very significant ways. Peter O’Toole as Hamlet provides a different experience than if I play that part. To cast is to throw out, so we could cast out the casting call to invite actors to audition

To cast is to throw but in a particular way. We don’t cast a baseball. We do cast a net. To cast is more like flinging, to throw in a fan shape or like when you throw the bed sheet out over the mattress. When I imagine casting my arms are making a horizontal arc and I’m using both of them. Then we have casting the dice, which can be with one hand or two. Casting a glance does not use my hands at all

Anyone can cast a shadow, to place themselves in front of a light-source in an otherwise dark place. It can be said that a certain person casts a long shadow, meaning their reputation is known far and wide. To say she casts little is to say that she gives little out from her, maybe shy, maybe withholding, maybe entangled within herself, not generous or not approachable. What kind of shadow do you choose to cast?

One can cast doubt about another. How do we do that? To cast is a verb and casting a pair of dice is definitely a physical act, but casting doubt? You can cast doubt about someone by innuendo all the way up to an out loud accusation. If I become suspicious of another the doubt has been cast, whether by me or by you. Once doubt has been cast, oh oh, the relationship is impaired, what was solid and true before is not so any longer

A casting is a mold that is used to make things, like out of molten metal or liquid plastic or even play doh. Making tools out of iron was primarily done use a casting, a reverse shape of the thing to be made, like maybe a frying pan or a cannon. The casting is the vessel into which the molten material is poured. If you and I were castings, what could we be making more of in the world? What are we making?