[Choir] Auditions - this year's Shakespeare Project

[Bethany Reeves]

Dear Choir - the information below is for those of you also interested in theatre.


Hope you had a great Halloween weekend. See you tomorrow!


Best,

BR

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Dear Stevens Performers,


Auditions for the 2016 Shakespeare Project are fast approaching. We've had a great time in the past two years with "Hamlet" and "Much Ado About Nothing," and this year, we're heading into the woods for some magical hijinks!


Read on for info on auditions, roles and casting, etc. If you're interested in tech, please contact me or Carl.


A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

The 2016 Shakespeare Project

Directed by Bethany Reeves

Produced by Carl Russell & DeBaun Auditorium PAC

Stage Manager: Shawna Cathey


AUDITION DATES: Tuesday and  Wednesday Nov. 17 & 18, 7:00-9:30, DeBaun Auditorium.


Sides are attached here and will be provided in print at the auditions. You may bring in other Shakespeare pieces (or even other playwrights/screenwriters) if you wish. Audition material does not need to be memorized. / If you are absolutely unable to audition during these times, please write to Bethany Reeves at breeves at stevens.edu.


Be ready to list specifics of your rehearsal availability from Monday 1/18 (MLK Day) through Thursday 1/4, including weekends and late weekday evenings. Class schedules, family events, other extracurricular commitments, etc. should all be included.


No experience necessary.

Performance dates: Friday Feb. 5 & Saturday Feb 6, 2016, at 8:00 pm

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PROJECT PARAMETERS:
Midsummer will be a workshop project in terms of technical values, and a full-out project in terms of acting values (though full memorization will generally not be required - see "Re Memorization" at the bottom of this email).

The more persons interested in working on the technical side the better, so if that is you, please contact me or Carl!


Costume note: actors will probably be wearing some pieces of their own clothing for this project. Details TBA.

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REHEARSALS


For most of the rehearsal period (Monday 1/18-Thursday 2/4), rehearsals will take place on evenings and weekends.


Casting must, of necessity, take into account actors' ability to commit to rehearsals.


REHEARSAL TIMES:

Monday 1/18 (MLK Day): I will schedule rehearsals with as many available persons as possible.


Tuesday 1/19 - Friday 1/22: during this first week of spring semester, choir and voice lessons are postponed so I (director Bethany Reeves) can focus exclusively on the Shakespeare project. I'll be calling as many rehearsals as cast members' schedules permit during this week.


Saturday 1/23 to Sunday 1/31: actors will be called at varying times from among the following:


Monday after Choir (9-10)
Tuesday evening (7-9 or 10)
Wednesday afternoon and evening (2-6ish; 7-10ish)
Friday evening (6-10)

Saturdays (11-8)
Sundays (11-8)

Some weekday afternoon times may be utilized as well, where possible.

Only those actors specifically needed for a given rehearsal will be called for that rehearsal (that is, no one will be called to "just watch," though observation is encouraged).

Monday 2/1 - Thursday 2/4 is TECH WEEK, and will involve late nights at DeBaun Auditorium for everyone.


Re: PRE-BREAK INTRODUCTORY SESSIONS

Actors will be required to attend one of several preparatory text workshops prior to the winter break, and most actors will coach individually with the director at least once before break (and preferably during the rehearsal period as well). Larger roles need more coaching time.

Why? Because...

...while production values will be necessarily minimal, acting values will be paramount. In Shakespeare, this means rigorous
textwork as the primary means of discovering character, action, etc. "Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance: that you o're-step not the modesty of nature." (from Hamlet's speech to the Players). There are specific, specialized tools for working in Shakespeare's language that actors need in order to be at their best in his plays.

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CASTING: ROLES

Midsummer is an ensemble play. That is, while some roles are larger than others and some of the most famous roles in Shakespeare are in this play (Puck, Bottom, Titania...), there are actually no roles that stand out as the main character. The play features several disparate groups who interact in various ways thanks to the forces of love, magic, or both.


THE ATHENIAN COURT (these are relatively small roles unless combined with others)

Theseus: the ruler of Athens; very high status. Theseus starts by adhering to an unjust Athenian law because it is in fact the law, but by the end of the play he changes his mind. This may be partly due to the influence of:

Hippolyta: his fiancee; also very high status - an Amazon, in fact - and not necessarily on board with Theseus' decisions.

Egeus: an aggrieved upper class citizen, angry because his daughter Hermia refuses to marry according to his wishes (she is, in fact, refusing the rules of upper class traditional marriage as it was understood in Shakespeare's time).

Philostrate (lines late in play only): the court's "Master of Mirth" - presents possible entertainment ideas to Theseus, and tries to steer him away from "Pyramus & Thisbe."


THE LOVERS (sizable parts)

Hermia: Egeus' disobedient daughter; in love with Lysander.

Lysander: a young gentleman, so in love with Hermia that he is willing to leave his home for her sake.

Demetrius: Lysander's rival; believes himself in love with Hermia. Egeus insists Hermia marry Demetrius; Lysander points out that Demetrius has already wooed and abandoned another young noblewoman, Helena.

Helena: an old school friend of Hermia's, she is hopelessly in love with her now ex-boyfriend, Demetrius.


The lovers all end up in the forest at night, where heightened emotions and magical hijinks from Puck & Oberon cause quite a lot of uproar - including a fight scene that will require some time spent specifically on fight choreography.


THE FAIRY KINGDOM (Puck, Titania and Oberon are sizable roles):

Puck: the play's chief mischief-maker and Oberon's top servant, Puck's deliberately prankish or just mistaken uses of magic spur much of the play's action. Puck can be cast in many ways, but should be physically vigorous.

Oberon: King of the Fairies, he is extremely high status and represents elemental power. Oberon has a strong will and is used to obedience or at least acquiescence, which is clearly not what he always gets from..

..Titania, the equally strong-willed Queen of the Fairies. She is, like her consort Oberon, extremely high status and an embodiment of elemental power. She has the marvelous opportunity, however (thanks to spells from Oberon & Puck), to fall madly in love with a very, very unlikely personage (Nick Bottom - see "The Clowns," below)

Peaseblossom: Titania's chief fairy servant; has a scene with Puck. This small role can be split to good effect.

Moth, Mustardseed, & Cobweb: Other fairy servants of Titania. The fairies have a wonderful scene with Bottom, and are usually onstage when Titania is. Like Puck, the fairies can be cast in various ways.


THE CLOWNS (Bottom is a large role; Quince and Flute are sizable; the others are smaller in terms of text but have plenty of stage time)

A group of working-class folk from Athens. They are all infected with the "theatre bug" and ambitiously plan to offer a play to their ruler, Theseus, for his upcoming wedding celebrations (they go to the woods in order to rehearse in private, where Puck just can't resist messing with them). The resulting dramatic messterpiece, "Pyramus & Thisbe" (often referred to as Midsummer's "play within the play") is one of theatre's best and most famous comic set pieces, by Shakespeare or anyone else.


Nick Bottom: the "star player" of the group, Bottom is one of Shakespeare's great clowns. He is high status within his own circle and is very impressed with his own dramatic abilities. Thanks to a spell from Oberon, he also has the strange and magical experience of being adored by the spellbound Queen of the Fairies - despite the fact that Puck has magicked his head into that of a donkey.

Peter Quince: Quince is the quintessential harassed theatre manager/director, and has his hands full trying to keep Bottom and the others focused on their task. He has a brilliantly punctuated speech (perhaps a function of stage fright?) that is often used to demonstrate the importance of putting punctuation in the right places. ;-)

Four more roles: Starveling, Snout, Snug, and Francis Flute: these roles all have marvelous moments both before and within "Pyramus & Thisbe." Flute plays the "leading lady," Thisbe (drag is part of the fun in this case, so this part HAS to be cast with a male actor, folks). Snug, who professes himself "slow of study," plays the Lion and gets to roar; the genial Snout is "the [talking] Wall," and Starveling stubbornly persists in the part of the Moon despite disruptive audience behavior from the court.

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CASTING: THINGS TO KNOW

- All roles are open. Some, such as Puck, Titania's fairy servants, and several of the Clowns, may be played by either men or women. A couple have lines that suggest certain physical characteristics (Hermia tends to be cast shorter and darker of hair and/or complexion than Helena, for instance), but don't avoid auditioning for a role that interests you based on your idea of what type you are. Directors may see you differently than you see yourself.


- Some roles may be split up and assigned to several actors, though as Midsummer is very much an ensemble play, this is less likely than it was for The Hamlet Project two years ago (we had nine Hamlets).

- Depending on auditions, it is also possible that actors may be cast in more than one role. Common double castings in Midsummer include Titania/Hippolyta and Oberon/Theseus. Roles may also be conflated (i.e., Egeus/Philostrate).


- What auditioners will be looking for: a strong voice, clear enunciation (this does get help in coaching), and a willingness to commit to language and character and go for broke! Rehearsal availability is also an important consideration.


RE: ALUMNI PARTICIPATION: As in prior Shakespeare Projects, alumni are welcome and encouraged to audition. Several alumni have landed very fine roles in our recent productions. The only caveat is that in general, preference must be given to current students.



Re Memorization:

In recognition of the very limited production period - 18 days from 1/18 to 2/4 - we will be using cue scripts, as we did for last year's Much Ado About Nothing.


These Elizabethan-style scripts,  scrolled on wooden dowels, include only each actor's own cues and lines.


CAVEAT: the very physical scenes (i.e., the lovers' fight scene) will need to be memorized for reasons of safety and pace. In general, the more memorized an actor is, the more s/he can really inhabit the character. Though everyone will carry a scroll (we use pouches that attach to clothing), smaller parts should really be off book.



Dr. Bethany Reeves
Director, Stevens Choir & DeBaun PAC Voice Studio
Music Program Coordinator, DeBaun Performing Arts Center
Stevens Institute of Technology
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