Carr, who decided to go through common casting for Black CAST’s “Raisin in the Sun” production last year, says participating in the process will eventually help minorities become more involved in Harvard theater.

“By being there, there would be a presence that reflected the need [for diversity]. It’ll show there’s a pool of minority and women actors that can’t be ignored,” Carr says. “While they’re there for our show, they might say ‘Hey, I’ll audition for X show because I’m there.’”

Jennifer Banner ’02, who co-produced a play last year, says she thinks common casting would be wise “just in terms of getting a lot of people to audition.”

Fawcett, Reischel and Thomason say they simply want to draw a wider talent pool.

Ultimately, though, what may influence the future of Athena the most is the success or failure of “Gamma Rays,” which opens Nov. 1.

“That’s our test,” Thomason says. “In all honesty I’m a little bit nervous…but at least we’ve got the ball rolling.”

Auditions are being held tonight, from 5 to 9 p.m., in the Lowell House junior common room.

—Staff writer Juliet Chung can be reached at jchung@fas.harvard.edu.