2016-2017 Austin Shakespeare Season
by Austin Shakespeare
Aug. 27 (2016)
Austin Shakespeare, the Austin-based professional theater company, announces Equity and non-Equity open auditions for the 2016 - 2017 season at Austin Playwright’s Studio, 5555 North Lamar, Bldg K Suite 125 for Noel Coward’s Present Laughter, Harold Pinter’sOld Times and Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. To sign up for an audition slot, visit http://bit.ly/2aVyU8U.
Austin Shakespeare Open Auditions for 2016-2017 Season
Saturday, August 27 from 11:30 am - 2:30 pm
DOUGHERTY ARTS CENTER, 1110 Barton Springs Rd, Austin
CONTACT: auditions@austinshakespeare.org
NO APPOINTMENT REQUIRED
Actors of all ethnic/racial background are encouraged to audition. Auditioners should prepare a 1 to 2 minute piece of heightened language, including pieces from this season’s plays. Audition speeches should be memorized or read with familiarity. On occasion, Austin Shakespeare uses cross-gender casting. Also, age range noted in character descriptions is a matter of appearance. Auditioners should familiarize themselves with the plays they are auditioning for. All actors will be paid a stipend. No travel fees or accommodations available.
Rehearsals & Performance dates: Present Laughter rehearsals begin October 18, 2016 with performances from November 16 - December 4; Old Times rehearsals begin January 17, 2017 with performances from February 15 - March 5; and Comedy of Errors rehearsals begin April 4, 2017 with performances from May 3 - 26.
Noel Coward’s Present Laughter:
(RP British dialect required except where noted)
Gary Essendine will be played by Marc Pouhé
Daphne Stillington – ingenue
Miss Erikson – housekeeper (swedish accent)
Fred – Valet (cockney dialect)
Monica Reed – Gary’s personal secretary
Liz Essendine – Gary’s estranged wife
Roland Maule – aspiring playwright
Henry Lyppiatt – producer
Morris Dixon – manager
Joanna Lyppiatt – Henry's beautiful wife
Lady Saltburn – Daphne's Mother
Harold Pinter’s Old Times:
Deeley – man 40s - 50s
Kate – Deeley's wife 40s - 50s
Anna – Kate's old friend 40s - 50s
Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors:
Duke of Ephesus
Egeon – A merchant of Syracuse - father of the Antipholus twins
Emilia – Egeon's lost wife, now Lady Abbess at Ephesus
Antipholus of Ephesus – twin master
Antipholus of Syracuse – twin master
Dromio of Ephesus – twin servant
Dromio of Syracuse – twin servant
Adriana – wife of Antipholus of Ephesus
Luciana – Adriana's sister
Nell/Luce – maid to Adriana
Balthazar – a merchant
Angelo – a goldsmith
Courtesan
Doctor Pinch – a conjuring schoolmaster
Abbess
MORE INFORMATION
Present Laughter & Old Times will be directed by Austin Shakespeare’s Artistic Director Ann Ciccolella and performed at the Long Center’s Rollins Theater. Ciccolella joined Austin Shakespeare as Artistic Director in August 2007, following an eight-year tenure at Austin’s ZACH Theatre as managing director, and executive director at Austin Circle of Theaters for nine years. Ciccolella led the Renaissance Theater Company for ten years, producing and directing Off-Off Broadway shows. Prior moving to Austin, Ciccolella served for three years as associate director for SHAKESPEARE ON WHEELS from the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country. In 2013, she directed an Off-Broadway production of Ayn Rand’s Anthem adapted by Jeff Britting at the Baryshnikov Arts Center for Austin Shakespeare.
Comedy of Errors will be directed by Robert Ramirez and performed at the Beverly S. Sheffield Zilker Hillside Theater. Ramirez has worked as Voice/Text/Dialect coach at a number of theaters including Illinois Shakes, American Players Theatre, and the Krannert Center for the Arts. This winter he will be Voice and Text Directing two productions Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has performed as an actor with the New York, Utah, Illinois, Great River, Alabama, Baltimore and Wisconsin Shakespeare Festivals. Robert is the Head of the Acting Program in the department of theatre and dance at the University of Texas Austin.
ABOUT AUSTIN SHAKESPEARE
Austin Shakespeare’s mission is to present professional theatre of the highest quality with an emphasis on the plays of William Shakespeare, bringing to the public performances that are fresh, imaginative, thought-provoking, and eminently accessible, connecting the truths of the past with the challenges and possibilities of today. Founded in 1984 Austin Shakespeare is the only professional classic theatre company in Central Texas. Austin Shakespeare also brings professional actors and directors directly into the classroom throughout Central Texas. Austin Shakespeare is a member of the Austin Creative Alliance, and is funded in part by the City of Austin through The Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.
