Journey To Love

UCHE, (33, Wealthy, guarded, torn between loyalty and love)

I keep telling myself I am a good man who made one mistake. But I know it is more than that. I met a girl, gave her a night she never asked for, and drove off like it was nothing. Now she is carrying something of mine, and I cannot even find her to say sorry. Everybody thinks money can clean up any mess. My father thought so too. It did not work for him, and it will not work for me. All I want is one chance. One chance to stand in front of that girl and tell her I am done running. I have run enough in this life. This time, I will stay, whatever it costs me, whatever it costs my name. This time, I will stay and face it.

BEAUTY, (26, Warm, hardworking, quietly resilient)

Everybody thinks I am strong. My mother thinks it. My friend thinks it. Even I used to think it. But strength is just fear wearing a better outfit. I clean tables at that cafe with a belly full of another person’s future, and I smile, because if I stop smiling, I will fall apart completely. I did not plan this life. I planned lecture halls, graduation, making my mother proud after everything she gave up for me. Now I carry a secret heavier than this baby. But I made a promise the day I felt this child move inside me. Whatever it costs me, this one will live, and this one will know it was wanted from the very first day.

TARA, (27-30, Manipulative, dramatic, desperate to hold on)

They call me difficult. They call me dramatic. Nobody stops to ask why. You do not wake up one morning and decide to become this way. Something breaks in you first. I have watched Uche’s eyes change when he looks at me now, and I know what that means, because I have seen this ending before. So yes, I will fight. I will fight with everything left in me, because losing him means losing the only thing that ever made me feel like I mattered to somebody. Call me mad. Call me a stalker if you want. You have never stood where I am standing, watching everything you built slip through your fingers because of a girl he barely even knows.

JESSE, (24-28, Blunt, loyal, fiercely protective)

People think I am hard because I tell my friend the truth when she does not want to hear it. But somebody has to. I have watched Beauty cry herself to sleep more nights than I can count, and still wake up and go to work like nothing happened. That is not strength, that is exhaustion wearing a smile. I told her to think about this pregnancy properly, not because I do not care, but because I care too much to watch her drown quietly by herself. Real friends are not the ones who agree with everything you say. Real friends are the ones who stay, even after telling you the truth straight to your face, even when it hurts.

MAMA, (50-55, Warm, sacrificial, deeply loving)

They say a mother’s love does not calculate, and it is true. I have never counted what I give my child, because counting was never the point. When I heard my daughter wanted to enter an aeroplane, I sold the little I had saved without blinking twice, because her joy has always mattered more to me than my own comfort. I did not raise her alone to watch her suffer in silence somewhere far from me. So when she started sounding strange on the phone, something in my chest already knew something was wrong. A mother’s heart hears what the mouth refuses to say. Whatever storm is coming, I will still open my arms wide when she is ready to come home to me.

UNCLE, (50, Playful, protective, comic heartbeat of family scenes)

In this family, we do not have plenty, but what we have, we hold with both hands. My sister has one daughter, and that daughter is the same as mine, because blood does not need explanation before it shows love. I may joke around, tease her about her studies or her looks, but underneath all that laughter is a man who would carry the whole sky just to keep her safe. Money will always be scarce in a house like ours, but affection, we have in plenty, more than enough to go round. Whatever this child is carrying, whatever burden she thinks she must hide from us, she will learn soon, this family forgives faster than it judges anybody.

UCHE’S MUM, (55-60, Sharp, wise, quietly commanding)

My son thinks I do not notice when something is troubling him, but a mother’s eyes see what words try so hard to hide. He came to me with his confession, expecting judgement, expecting anger from me, but I have lived long enough to know life rarely follows the plan we draw for it. When he told me about this girl, this pregnancy, this whole complicated situation, I did not see a scandal, I saw my son finally growing into a man ready to take responsibility for his own life. Whoever this girl is, if she has good sense and a good heart, then she is already family to me. I only pray my son has finally learned what it means to truly love.

LANDLORD, (40-50, Predatory, greedy, self-righteous)

People call me wicked. They call me heartless. Nobody asks how I built this house, how many years I suffered before I could call myself a landlord. These girls think rent is a joke, that I am supposed to feed them for free because they smile nicely at me. No. I built this compound with my own sweat, brick by brick, and I will collect what belongs to me, one way or another. Everybody wants sympathy, but sympathy does not pay agents, does not pay for repairs, does not put food on my own table. If you cannot pay, then find another way to settle me. That is how this world works, whether people like it or not.

ANTHONY, (30, Sharp-tongued, brutally honest, Uche’s best friend)

Somebody has to tell this guy the truth, because clearly nobody else will. Uche has a good heart, I cannot deny that, but that same good heart is exactly what keeps getting him used by people who do not deserve him. Tara comes and goes as she pleases, and each time, this guy opens the door wider like nothing ever happened between them. I am not saying love is wrong. I am saying love should not cost you your peace, your dignity, your sanity, all at once. As his friend, my job is not to tell him what feels nice, my job is to tell him what is true, even when it stings small. One day he will thank me for it.

DOCTOR, (35-45, Calm, professional, compassionate)

Every day in this hospital, I see people carrying more stress than their bodies can hold. Today it was a young woman whose blood pressure had risen dangerously, not from illness alone, but from months of silent worry she never told anyone about. It is easy to forget stress does not only live in the mind, it settles in the body too, quietly, until it becomes something serious and dangerous. My duty is not just to prescribe medicine, it is to remind people that rest is not a luxury, it is medicine too, just as important. When her partner stood there, eyes full of fear, asking what he could do, I saw a man finally learning that love means simply being present.

MANAGER, (30-40, Composed, apologetic, service-driven)

Working in this hotel has taught me every guest carries a story you cannot see just by looking at their face. Some come in laughing, some come in quiet, some come in looking like something heavy just happened. My job is simple, make sure nobody feels judged under this roof, no matter what time they walk in or who they walk in with. That night, I made a mistake with the booking, and it troubled me, because in this business, your reputation is everything you have. One complaint can undo years of good service. So I apologise, I fix it quickly, and I make sure the guest leaves satisfied. That is the whole job, fixing things quietly before they grow bigger.

ATTENDANT, (20-30, Hotel room service, polite, perceptive)

You would be surprised the things you notice bringing food to a hotel room. The way two people sit, the space between them, whether they are laughing or holding something back. I do not ask questions, I am not paid to ask questions, I am paid to knock, smile, deliver, and leave quietly. But that night, something about that room felt different. Tension mixed with something softer, like two strangers who had just survived something together, something neither of them expected. I dropped the tray, wished them goodnight, and walked out like I always do. Still, I could not help wondering what story was unfolding behind that door as I walked back down that hallway.

WAITRESS, (20-28, Cafe staff, warm, observant)

Working in this cafe, you learn quickly who deserves kindness and who is only passing through your life. That man who came asking about Beauty, something about him felt sincere, not the usual customer trying his luck with a pretty girl. I could see it in the way his eyes searched the room, like a man looking for something he had lost and was scared he would never find again. I did not give him her number, because that is not my place to give, but I watched him leave with a heaviness that told me this was not just curiosity. Some stories, you can tell before they even finish unfolding, and that morning, I had a feeling this one was only just beginning.

OKON, (25-35, Driver/houseboy, comic relief, mischievous but loyal)

Oga don talk am tire, say make I no bring woman come house. But Oga, wetin I go do? Na only company I get for this house when him travel. E no easy o. Every day na work, work, work, no rest, no gist, nothing. So when person come give me small comfort, I no go take am? Abeg. If I catch Oga sef the day wey him bring anybody, I no go talk anything. Na so life be. Everybody just dey manage their own wahala. Me, my own na woman. Oga own na woman too. So we be mate, na only say him get money pass me small.

TOUTS, (18-30, Street thieves, streetwise, opportunistic)

See as this Enugu night dark reach. Person just carry bag waka come, dey use phone, dey shine for road like say nobody dey watch am. Na so opportunity dey show face. We no wake up today plan say make we chop person. Na so life just bring package come meet us. If she no bring am come street, we for no see am. Everybody dey blame us like say we born like this, but hunger no get manners. When belle dey hungry, hand go find where to enter, no be lecture we need, na food we need, na survival we dey find, every single day for this Enugu streets.

COMPOUND GIRLS, (18-26, Hostel tenants, collective comic energy)

Ah ah, so this landlord thinks say na only him get sense for this compound? Every morning na the same trumpet, rent, rent, rent, as if we no dey try. We dey manage this life, we dey manage school, we dey manage this same tap wey dey run once a week. And the man will still stand by the gate like town crier. Rent indeed. If rent fit cook and fit chop, we for don pay am since. Every single one of us dey here dey hustle small small, and this man dey worry us like say we get money hide for wall. God help this landlord o, because we cannot continue like this.

A Dashing Films Production · Casting Call: Journey to Love

Feature Film · Romance / Drama · Nigeria

Dashing Films is officially searching for new and experienced talent to bring our upcoming feature film, “Journey to Love,” to life. If you are ready to showcase your range in a one-minute monologue, we want to see your audition.
📍 Lagos, Nigeria
📅 Opens: 11th July 2026 · Closes: 27th July 2026
🎬 Production Date: 29th July 2026
💰 Paid Production

Performance must not be more than 1 minute 20 seconds.

Choose one character and perform their monologue.

Start your video by introducing yourself by name, then state the character you are auditioning for, before performing.

Post your video to Instagram and tag @dashingfilmstv.

Then return here and submit your video link to complete your official application.