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Breakdown
IMPORTANT SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:
Email headshot/resume torichcolenyc@hotmail.com by July 7
You MUST put MIDSUMMER and the name of role sought in the subject line of the email. You MUST embed your resume and a thumbnail photo in the body of the email. ATTACHMENTS WILL NOT BE OPENED. No phone calls or office visits please.
ALL ROLES ARE OPEN TO BE CAST WITH ACTORS FROM ALL ETHNIC GROUPS.
Note: Excellent language/verse speaking and story-telling skills will be of paramount importance and consideration. Period is indeterminate and likely to be eclectic and visually bold. The director is very open to seeing Musical theatre-trained actors as often well-developed singing skills translate into ease with verse. The cast will be relatively small, with much doubling Especially looking for versatile, athletic actors with strong movement skill and some singing background for the latter eight combined roles below. The roles of Bottom and Egeus are not available.
SEEKING:
Theseus/Oberon:
Late 20s to mid-40s. Commanding presence; athletic; excellent verse speaking and movement skills. Needs sense of authority, sexual presence, ability to be goofy when necessary. Should have an edge of danger but also needs to be compassionate and capable of forgiveness. Both men come from paternalistic, authoritative ways of thinking and of ruling; Theseus chooses forgiveness late in the play, and begins to change as the story concludes.
Hippolyta/Titania:
Late 20s to mid-40s. Both are strong women and not to be messed with, though Titania is the more poetic of the two. Athletic, excellent verse speaking and movement skills. Sense of authority, sexual presence, abie to be silly when called upon to do so (must be adolescently smitten by Bottom when he is transformed to the ass). Protectress of the Changeling Child (Titania), loyal to her court, and attended by a very healthy, sexy retinue of men (Peasblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed). Hippolyta is a Queen in her own right, taken captive in war. Does not find hope in the marriage with Theseus till late in the play when he chooses forgiveness over punishment and he begins to loosen his paternalistic hold on the world.
Puck/Philostrate:
Early 20s - late 30s, but needs to be youthful and athletic. Excellent verse speaking and movement skills. Sense of mischief. . . the Peck's bad boy/Billy Idol of the play and of the supernatural world. . . Puck is the original ADHD kid. Can't quite get his orders right; easily distracted; loves stirring things up. Philostrate is more constrained and committed to doing his job well; parallels Puck in that he serves a King and Queen.
Hermia:
(Should read) Late teens - mid-twenties. Smaller of stature than Helena. Pretty, romantic, poetic, idealistic and feisty. More of a dreamer than Helena. More likely to end up living in a Parisian garret than Helena. Bold enough to take matters into her own hands, defy her father (and the Athenian law), and run away to the woods with the man she loves. . . Athletic; excellent verse speaking and movement skills.
Helena:
(Should read) Late teens - mid-twenties. Taller than Hermia. A beauty. Smart -- and a real problem solver. Always countering Demetrius with an answer or a solution. Works tirelessly to overcome obstacles along the path to true love. Operates from her head more than she does from her heart (though her heart is clear, pure, and true) but also bold and feisty. Athletic; excellent verse speaking and movement skills.
Lysander:
(Should read) late teens - mid-twenties. Of the two young men, the more poetic and romantic; the more likely to become an artist, actor, or poet. Might end up living in a Parisian garret. Believes that the course of true love never does run smooth, and that he and Hermia -- like all lovers of legend and history -- are destined to be together because theirs is already a bumpy path. Not a practical thinker. Handsome, athletic; excellent verse speaking and movement skills.
Demetrius:
(Should read) late teens - mid-twenties. Of the two young men, the more rigid and uptight; the more likely to end up a stock broker on Wall Street. The guy dad and mom would choose. Certain sense of entitlement. Capable of cruelty, but also learns forgiveness late in the game. Handsome, athletic; excellent verse speaking and movement skills.
Francis Flute/Thisby/Cobweb:
(Should read) late teens - late twenties. As Flute, the youngest of the Mechanicals. More of a boy. A bellows-mender by trade. An inexperienced actor, and very apprehensive about playing a girl (Thisby) in the play within the play. As Cobweb: sexy, strong, and playful; protective of Titania; mistrustful of Oberon and Puck. Edge of danger. Good verse speaking skills, excellent movement skills. Some singing required. (Titania's lullabye.)
Snug The Joiner/Lion/Peasblossom:
(Late 20s - mid-30s). Snug is a cabinet maker, very shy, and an inexperienced actor. Does not want to frighten the ladies with his impersonation of a lion in Pyramus and Thisby. As Peasblossom: sexy, strong, and playful, protective of Titania; mistrustful of Oberon and Puck. Edge of danger. Good verse speaking skills, excellent movement skills. Some singing required. (Titania's lullabye.)
Starveling the Tailor/Moonshine/Moth:
(30s). Starveling is a tailor, and probably more of a precise fuss-budget than the other Mechanicals. Concerned with detail, getting things right, and although not an experienced actor, wants to appear in Pyramus and Thisby in a really good costume. Probably the thinnest of the Mechanicals. As Moth: sexy, strong, and playful; protective of Titania; mistrustful of Oberon and Puck. Edge of danger. Good verse speaking skills, excellent movement skills. Some singing required. (Titania's lullabye.)
Tom Snout the Tinker/Wall/Mustardseed:
(30s.) Tom Snout is a Tinker (pot and pan repairman) by trade, an inexperienced actor, not a terribly adept memorizer of lines, and probably the largest or broadest of the Mechanicals (Wall seems a natural bit of casting for him). As Mustardseed, he may be the most acrid of the supernatural attendants to Titania; sexy, strong, and playfiul; protective of Titania; mistrustful of Oberon and Puck. Edge of danger. Good language skills, excellent movement skills. Some singing required. (Titania's lullabye.)
Peter Quince:
(Late 30s - mid 50s.) A carpenter and aspiring playwright. Leader of the Mechanicals (and, apparently, the Athenian amateur theatrical troupe). Patient and caring; kind, shy, and retiring, especially compared and contrasted to his leading actor, Nick Bottom the Weaver, whom he tolerates and on whom he does his best to hold tight the reins. Easily flustered or discombobulated. It is his idea to perform a play in honor of Theseus's nuptials, so though self-effacing, not without a Big Dream. Does his best to hold together his band of players and in the process, becomes something of a pre-Brechtian theatrical innovator. Good language skills; excellent comic instincts; warm and endearing.
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