AUDITION NOTICE
2025 Richmond Shakespeare Festival at Agecroft Hall & Gardens
When:
Saturday, January 4th – 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Sunday, January 5th – 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Where:
Centenary United Methodist Church
411 E. Grace St. - Entrance at back of church off Franklin St. (Through the alley.)
What Is Needed:
- One two-minute, comedic, classical monologue in verse.
- For A Midsummer Night’s Dream, please prepare one 32 bar song of your choosing. Accompanist will be provided.
- Two headshots with your resume attached to back.
CYRANO de BERGERAC
By Edmond Rostand
Directed by Andrew Gall
Character Breakdown
Cyrano de Bergerac (35-45/male identifying) - A charismatic soldier who’s a poet, duelist, philosopher, and gourmet par excellence. His outsize talents are matched only by the size of his nose, about which he is most sensitive. He truly at ease only in performance, willing himself into larger-than-life stances that both exaggerate and disguise his insecurities.
Roxane (30-35/female identifying) - A quick-witted idealist. A romantic who prizes poetry and wit but is allured by physical beauty.
Christian de Neuvillette (30-35/male identifying) - Handsome. Soldier. Sincere and honorable. A bit shallow. Basic. Not dumb, but not a ‘fast-on-his-feet’ thinker either.
Count de Guiche (40+/male identifying) - A manipulative and arrogant nobleman who is in love with Roxane. He uses his position to control others, but later reveals some depth.
Ragueneau (30’s-40’s/male or female identifying) - A pastry chef and poet, and Cyrano’s loyal friend. His excessive love of art and food conflicts with his practical life.
Le Bret (35/male identifying) - Cyrano’s confidant and close friend. Level-headed and loyal, he temper’s Cyrano’s impulsiveness.
Lise (30’s-40’s/ male or female identifying) - Ragueneau’s sharp-tongued spouse, who disdains his love for poetry and eventually leaves him for a musketeer. (Will be doubled with other roles)
Duenna (40+/female identifying) - Roxane’s chaperone is easily distracted, especially by food. (will be doubled with other roles)
Lignière (25-35/male or female identifying) - A rabble-rousing poet and satirist. His biting verses get him into trouble with powerful people, requiring Cyrano’s intervention. (will be doubled with other roles)
Valvert (30-35/male identifying) - A venal peacock aligned with deGuiche. He has a big mouth. All powder. No shot. (will be doubled with other roles)
Captain Carbon de Castel-Jaloux (35+/male identifying) - The charismatic and loyal leader of Cyrano’s regiment, the Gascony Cadets. (will be doubled with other roles)
Montfleury (40+/Male or female identifying) - A great boob. A pompous, over-acting buffoon.
Ensemble/Minor Roles (Cadets, Musketeers, Actors/Musicians, Poets, Nuns, Aristocrats, etc.)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare
Directed by James Ricks
Character Breakdown
Theseus (m, 30’s – 40’s) - Duke of Athens. Theseus would be well-known to the audience as a figure from classical mythology, most famous for slaying the Minotaur and then abandoning the Cretan princess who helped him in that venture. In Midsummer he has recently returned from conquering the Amazons, a race of warrior women, and is about to marry Hippolyta, their Queen. Theseus is an extremely powerful ruler and conqueror, but out of his depth with marriage at the beginning of the play.
Hippolyta (f, 30’s – 40’s) - The legendary warrior Queen of the Amazons engaged to marry Theseus. In Shakespeare’s source (Plutarch) Hippolyta arranges her marriage to Theseus as part of a peace treaty ending a war between Athens and the Amazons. In Midsummer she is a peacemaker as well as warrior and a challenging match for Theseus.
Lysander (m, 20’s) - Young man of Athens in love with Hermia. He recklessly persuades Hermia to elope with him into the forest. A bit of a rebel.
Demetrius (m, 20’s) Young man of Athens in love with Helena, then Hermia, then Helena. Between his own fickle character and Puck’s mischief, Demetrius is tossed back and forth between the women. A little bit straight laced and conservative.
Hermia (f, 20’s) Egeus’s strong-willed daughter and childhood friend to Helena. Both Demetrius and Lysander are in love with her. She is in love with Lysander. Shows a ferocious side when she thinks Lysander has deserted her.
Helena (f, 20’s) A good friend of Hermia’s in love with Demetrius despite his humiliating rejection of her advances. Love has no pride.
Egeus (m or f, 40’s - 60’s) - A classic blocking parent, Egeus tries to control his/her headstrong daughter’s love life. Never goes well.
Philostrate (m or f) - Theseus’s Master of the Revels who organizes the wedding entertainment. (Doubles with Puck)
Peter Quince (m or f, any age)- A carpenter and the writer/director of “Pyramus and Thisbe.”
Francis Flute (m, any age)- The bellows-mender cast as Thisbe.
Robin Starveling (m or f, any age) - The tailor cast as Moonshine.
Snug (m or f, any age) - The joiner (carpenter) cast as Lion.
Tom Snout (m or f, any age) - The tinker (handyman) cast as the Wall, dividing Pyramus from Thisbe.
Puck AKA Robin Goodfellow (m or f, teens – 30’s) - A hobgoblin who delights in playing pranks on mortals; he is Oberon’s out-of-control servant. He has a connection not only to the fairy and human worlds of the play, but also to the world of the audience. This role doubles with Philostrate.
Oberon (m, 30’s – 40’s) - The King of the Fairies who rules with Titania. During the play they are fighting over custody of a child Titania adopts in India. Oberon loves his queen but, like Theseus, has a lot to learn about sharing power. This role doubles with Theseus
Titania (f, 30’s-40’s) - Queen of the Fairies who rules with Oberon. Poetically articulates the damage being done to the natural world because of her power struggle with Oberon. It will take a comic magical transformation that humiliates both Oberon and Titania to reconcile them and bring nature back into balance. This role doubles with TItania
Peaseblossom, Moth, Cobweb, and Mustardseed (m or f, any age) – Fairies in Titania’s court who interact invisibly with the humans. Comic skills needed. Some singing and dancing required.
The role of Nick Bottom has been precast.
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