AuditionS

Iowa Stage Theatre Company 

Shakespeare  and Persuasion Auditions

 

Iowa Stage Theatre Company (ISTC) is holding auditions their upcoming productions of Shakepeare On The lawn and Persuasion.. Further information about these auditions will be forthcoming.

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ISTC is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in our work and productions. Unless specified by the playwright, all roles are open to all races or ethnicities. The gender identity of the role is listed below; any actor who believes they can portray that identity is welcome to audition. We look to include all kinds of peoples within our work, and to share the stories that connect us all. Theater is a place for all of us.

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Auditions ARE ON: 

Sunday, April 16 from 1pm to 6:00pm
 

Actors who cannot make this time can schedule a time BEFORE this date to be seen, or may self-tape (see general info above).

Where: Iowa Stage Rehearsal Space: 1472 NE 69th Place, Ankeny.

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General Info:

• ISTC has adopted the Chicago Theatre Standards as a code of conduct for our company. You can learn more about these standards here: https://www.notinourhouse.org/download-the-standards/

• If you are unable to attend the scheduled time for auditions, you may make alternate arrangements for a time prior to the scheduled audition, or may self-tape an audition for consideration. All self-taped auditions will be reviewed by the director and artistic director.

• Auditions may be recorded. Attendance or non-attendance of these auditions does not restrict future opportunities with ISTC.

• Actors who wish to read together will be permitted to do so, but may also be asked to read with others, including the audition reader.

• Except as noted, all roles are open to all ethnicities, and LGBTQ actors and actors of diverse backgrounds are encouraged to attend. 

• Iowa Stage Theatre Company has a Resident Artist Company, but welcomes and relies on artists across the community to create our work. 

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Auditions for TWELFTH NIGHT: or What You Will?

 

A co-production of Salisbury House and Gardens and Iowa Stage Theatre Company for 

Shakespeare on the Lawn

 

Production Details:

July 18-23, 2023 at 7:30pm at Salisbury House and Gardens

 

Rehearsals begin June 5 and will generally occur Monday-Friday from 6:30-10:00pm. Actors are required to attend all rehearsals to which they are called.

 

Directed by Brad Dell - dellbrad@iastate.edu

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SIDES AVAILABLE HERE.

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(Synopsis and Character Descriptions courtesy of simplytheatre.com.)

 

THE PLAY

Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The earliest recorded public performance took place at Middle Temple Hall, one of the Inns of Court in London, on Candlemas night, Saturday 2nd February in 1602.

 

SYNOPSIS

Viola and her twin brother Sebastian have been shipwrecked; each believes the other to be drowned. Viola disguises herself as a young man and, under the name of Cesario, gets a job as a servant for the Duke, Orsino.

 

Orsino is in love with Olivia, but she's mourning for her dead brother, so has rejected all his advances so far. He sends Cesario (Viola) with love letters to woo Olivia on his behalf. Unfortunately for the Duke, Olivia is taken in by Cesario’s disguise and falls in love with him.

 

Viola has secretly fallen in love with Orsino, and Orsino is confused by his feelings for his new ‘male’ servant. So, Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia and Olivia loves Cesario/Viola.

 

Olivia’s butler, Malvolio, disapproves of all the other members of the household – her drunken uncle Sir Toby Belch, his friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek and her servants, Maria, Feste and Fabia. Fed up with Malvolio constantly spoiling their fun, they decide to play a practical joke on them.

 

Malvolio is secretly in love with Olivia, and the others trick them into believing that these feelings are returned. Maria forges a letter to Malvolio, supposedly from Olivia, suggesting that she loves him and he should wear yellow stockings and smile all the time. Malvolio does as the letter suggests, and Olivia thinks they have gone mad, so has them locked up.

 

Viola's brother, Sebastian, who believes his sister is dead, arrives with his friend and protector, Antonio, who rescued him from the shipwreck.

 

Sebastian meets Olivia. She mistakes him for Cesario and asks him to marry her, he agrees.

 

Lots of confusion follows around the mistaken identity of Sebastian and Cesario, and exactly who is promised to whom. Eventually all is revealed, the brother and sister are reunited and the love triangle is resolved into two couples, Sebastian and Olivia, and Viola and Orsino.

 

Finally, Viola discovers the trick that has been played on Malvolio, and they’re released from confinement.

 

CHARACTERS

• The Character Breakdown applies to the play as published and does not take into account any creative decisions or cuts to the text that may be made prior to the start of rehearsals.

• Descriptions of the characters have been kept general to encourage you to try out for roles you may not ordinarily consider yourself for.

• Smaller roles may be doubled / trebled, and some characters could be combined.

• All roles are open to actors of any race, sexuality, or ethnicity. Due to the plot details, the gender of some of the characters is important and indicated below. Otherwise, all roles can be played by any gender as noted.

 

VIOLA (woman): A young woman of aristocratic birth, and the play’s protagonist. Washed up on the shore of Illyria when her ship is wrecked in a storm, Viola decides to make her own way in the world. She disguises herself as a young man, calling herself "Cesario," and becomes a page to Duke Orsino. She ends up falling in love with Orsino—even as Olivia, the woman Orsino is courting, falls in love with Cesario. Thus, Viola finds that her clever disguise has entrapped her: she cannot tell Orsino that she loves him, and she cannot tell Olivia why she, as Cesario, cannot love her. Her poignant plight is the central conflict in the play.

 

ORSINO (man): A powerful nobleman in the country of Illyria. Orsino is lovesick for the beautiful Lady Olivia but becomes more and more fond of his handsome new page boy, Cesario, who is Viola in disguise. Orsino is a vehicle through which the play explores the absurdity of love: a supreme egotist, Orsino mopes around complaining how heartsick he is over Olivia, when it is clear that he is chiefly in love with the idea of being in love and enjoys making a spectacle of himself. His attraction to the ostensibly male Cesario injects sexual ambiguity into his character.

 

OLIVIA (woman): A wealthy, beautiful, and noble Illyrian lady, Olivia is courted by Orsino and Sir Andrew Aguecheek but to each of them she insists that she is in mourning for her brother, who has recently died, and will not marry for seven years. She and Orsino are similar characters in that each seems to enjoy wallowing in his or her own misery. Viola’s arrival in the masculine guise of Cesario enables Olivia to break free of her self-indulgent melancholy. Olivia seems to have no difficulty transferring her affections from one love interest to the next, however, suggesting that her romantic feelings—like most emotions in the play—do not run deep.

 

SEBASTIAN (man): Viola’s lost twin brother. When he arrives in Illyria, traveling with Antonio, his close friend and protector, Sebastian discovers that many people think that they know him. Furthermore, the beautiful Lady Olivia, whom he has never met, wants to marry him. Sebastian remains confused until his sister reveals herself.

 

MALVOLIO (any gender): The straitlaced steward – or head servant – in the household of Lady Olivia. Malvolio is very efficient but also very self-righteous, and has a poor opinion of drinking, singing, and fun. Their priggishness and haughty attitude earn them the enmity of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria, who play a cruel trick on him, making them believe that Olivia is in love with him. In his fantasies about marrying his mistress, he reveals a powerful ambition to rise above his social class.

 

FESTE (any gender): The clown, or fool, of Olivia’s household, Feste moves between Olivia’s and Orsino’s homes, earning a living by making pointed jokes, singing old songs, being generally witty, and offering good advice cloaked under a layer of foolishness. Despite being a professional fool, Feste often seems the wisest character in the play. Actor will need to sing.

 

SIR TOBY BELCH (any gender): Olivia’s uncle (or Aunt). Olivia lets Sir Toby Belch live with her, but she does not approve of their rowdy behavior, practical jokes, heavy drinking, late-night carousing, or friends (specifically the idiotic Sir Andrew). Sir Toby also earns the ire of Malvolio. But Sir Toby has an ally, and eventually a mate, in Olivia’s sharp-witted waiting-gentlewoman, Maria. Together they bring about the triumph of chaotic spirit, which Sir Toby embodies, and the ruin of the controlling, self-righteous Malvolio.

 

MARIA (woman): Olivia’s clever, daring young waiting-gentlewoman. Maria is remarkably similar to her antagonist, Malvolio, who harbours aspirations of rising in the world through marriage. But Maria succeeds where Malvolio fails – perhaps because she is a woman, but, more likely, because she is more in tune with the anarchic, topsy-turvy spirit that animates the play.

 

SIR ANDREW AGUECHEEK (any gender): A friend of Sir Toby’s. Sir Andrew Aguecheek attempts to court Olivia, but he doesn’t stand a chance. He thinks that he is witty, brave, young, and good at languages and dancing, but he is actually none of these things.

 

ANTONIO (man): Antonio rescues Sebastian after his shipwreck. Antonio has become very fond of Sebastian, caring for him, accompanying him to Illyria, and furnishing him with money – all because of a love so strong that it seems to be romantic in nature. Antonio’s attraction to Sebastian, however, never bears fruit.

 

FABIAN: A servant in Olivia’s household.

 

SEA CAPTAIN: A friend to Viola.

 

VALENTINE & CURIO: attendants to the Duke Orsino

 

PRIEST

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PERSUASION AUDITIONS

Persuasion, adapted by Kerry Skram from Jane Austen’s novel.

 

Jane Austen’s classic novel of love, loss, and second chances is given new life in this new adaptation by Resident Artist Company member Kerry Skram. As a young woman, Anne Elliot broke her engagement with Frederick Wentworth after being persuaded by her family that he was not the one for her. Years later, Anne arrives at her father’s new home in Bath to find that her family has been socializing with the now Captain Wentworth, who has had a successful career with the Royal Navy and proved his bravery fighting in WWI.
 

Now forced into each other’s company, Anne wrestles with the feelings she still has for Captain Wentworth, despite his coolness toward her. However, when another suitor arrives in pursuit of Anne – and the family estate – everyone pays attention, especially Wentworth. Will they be able to let go of their what-ifs and could-have-beens to rediscover their love?

 

Production Details:
September 15-24, 2023 at 7:30pm at the Stoner Theater of Des Moines Performing Arts 

ISTC is holding auditions for the following roles:

 

CAPTAIN WENTWORTH, a navy sea captain.

“…all that was most agreeable; charming manners…no shyness or reserve.”

 

Wentworth is a WWI navy sea captain and a self-made man. Honest, kind, and grounded, he is more self-aware than most of those around him, yet not offended by their shallow manners. He is a bit uncertain when it comes to Anne, who he is still in love with, despite her leaving him years ago. His hope is to win her love back.

 

Male, any ethnicity, age range 40’s-50’s

 

MR. WILLIAM ELLIOT, the cousin.

“He was steady, observant, moderate, candid, never run away with by spirits or by selfishness…”

 

Mr. Elliot is charming and agreeable – until he’s not. He is motivated by status and money, and will use his charisma to get what he wants. His charm and kindness should seem authentic – not smarmy – to fool everyone until his true character is revealed.

 

Male, any ethnicity, age range 40’s-50’s

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