Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
CONTRACT
LOA Salary pending (2020 figures) LOA - $775 weekly minimum SPT 9 - $720 weekly minimum
SPT
SEEKING
Equity actors for 3 productions and 1 reading in the 2021 summer season.
INSTRUCTIONS
Please video record with slate a brief monologue or two from one or two of the plays, or a piece that will illuminate your ability to play one of the roles. Actors auditioning for MIDSUMMER prepare a brief Shakespearean monologue. Submit video link and resume to casting@pashakespeare.org by 5/14/21.
Deadline: Fri, May 14, 2021 (EDT)
SUBMIT TO
PERSONNEL
Producing Artistic Director: Patrick Mulcahy (viewing auditions)
Associate Artistic Director: Dennis Razze (viewing auditions)
How I Learned What I Learned director: Christopher V. Edwards
An Iliad director: Greg Wood
A Midsummer Night's Dream director: Matt Pfeiffer
Native Gardens (reading) director: KJ Sanchez
OTHER DATES
How I Learned What I Learned
1st reh: June 15, closing: July 11
live/in-person, onsite at theatre
Native Gardens (virtual reading)
1st reh: June 23
shoot/record June 26
streams July 6-18
An Iliad
1st reh. July 11
closing: August 1
live/in-person onsite at theatre plus stream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
1st reh: June 15
closing: August 1
live/in-person onsite at theatre plus stream
OTHER
Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.
BREAKDOWN
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival – Summer Season 2021
Breakdowns: All races/ethnicities are strongly encouraged to audition.
August Wilson’s HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED
Director: Christopher V. Edwards. 1st rehearsal: June 15, runs July 2 - 11.
The following role is CAST. Auditioning performers will be considered as possible replacements, should any become necessary.
ACTOR 40s-60s – Male of African Descent - With humor, eloquence, frustration, and anger, August Wilson as storyteller recounts his roots, his first loves, and his experiences of racism that helped to mold the Black artist he came to be. The play is set in Pittsburgh's Hill District. Looking for an actor with a strong sense of storytelling and a connection to what it means to be a modern-day Griot, as August Wilson was and still is for the American Theater.
AN ILIAD By Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare.
Director: Greg Wood. 1st rehearsal: July 11, runs July 20-Aug 1, 2021.
All races/ethnicities are strongly encouraged to audition.
The following roles are CAST. Auditioning performers will be considered as possible replacements, should any become necessary.
THE POET: A teller of stories ancient and ever-present. Weary, fierce, an old soul.
The musician is also already cast.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM By William Shakespeare
Director: Matt Pfeiffer, 1st rehearsal: June 15, runs July 9-Aug 1, 2021
All races/ethnicities are strongly encouraged to audition.
The following roles are CAST. Auditioning performers will be considered as possible replacements, should any become necessary.
OBERON/THESEUS - Male-identifying 25-55; A commanding presence, athletic, excellent movement skills; needs a sense of authority and yet an 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.
TITANIA/HIPPOLYTA - Female-identifying 25-55; Both are strong women and not to be messed with, though Titania is the more poetic of the two; athletic, excellent movement skills; sense of authority and yet able to be silly when called upon to do so. 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 - Any gender 20’s to 40’s; youthful and athletic, excellent movement skills; sense of mischief, 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. Musical ability a plus.
LYSANDER - Male-identifying 20’s to 30’s; Of the two young men, the more poetic and romantic; the more likely to become an artist, actor, or poet. He 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. Musical ability a plus
HELENA - Female-identifying 20-30’s; She feels out of sorts and she wants a loyal partner to love. She’s 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 she’s a romantic inside. She’s bold and feisty. Musical ability a plus
HERMIA - Female-identifying 20-30’s; A romantic. Poetic, idealistic and feisty; a dreamer; 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.
DEMETRIUS - Male-Identifying 20’s to 30’s; 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; he secretly really does love Helena, but is afraid of making an unconventional choice. Musical ability a plus.
BOTTOM - Male-identifying. 30s-50s. The confident-to-a-fault weaver who wants to play all the parts. Guileless, tries too hard to impress. Not a great sense of self. Plays Pyramus in the Mechanical’s play. Great comic timing, excellent with language.
QUINCE/EGEUS - Any gender 40-60’s; Quince: A carpenter and aspiring playwright. Patient and caring; kind, shy, and retiring. He does his best to hold together his band of players. Egeus: Hermia’s parent. Overly protective and stubborn. Doesn’t want to let Hermia grow up or make her own decisions. Musical ability a plus
NATIVE GARDENS (Virtual Reading – on book) By Karen Zacarias
Director: KJ Sanchez. 1st rehearsal June 23, shooting June 26. Streaming runs online July 6 -18.
TANIA DEL VALLE – Female – early 30s – smart, likeable, positive, passionate, highly-energized, pregnant PhD candidate and gardener
PABLO DEL VALLE – Male – early 30s – smart, likeable, ambitious, savvy young attorney
The following roles are CAST. Auditioning performers will be considered as possible replacements, should any become necessary.
VIRGINIA BUTLEY – Female - sixty to mid-seventies – smart, likeable, assertive, direct, no-nonsense engineer
FRANK BUTLEY – Male - sixty to mid-seventies – smart, likeable, excitable, caring, detail-oriented federal employee and gardener
Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.
Videos
