Brave New World Repertory Theatre
– Equity Principal Auditions
Seasonal Showcase $600 project stipend.
Artistic Directors: Claire Beckman, John Morgan, Cynthia Babak
1st rep rehearsal: 3/20/12. Rep runs 4/12-5/13 (W-Su). Plays run in alternate weeks at the Brooklyn Lyceum.
Equity Principal Auditions:
Monday, February 27, 2012 Brooklyn Lyceum
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 227 Fourth Avenue (between Union & President Sts)
10 AM – 6 PM both days. Brooklyn NY
Lunch from 1 - 2.
Please prepare a monologue (2 minutes or less). Audition material suggestions are in character descriptions below.
Please bring a photo and resume, stapled back-to-back.
Plays run in rep (alternating weeks). All roles are available. Some actors will appear in both plays.
Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor (Terrace) Dir: John Morgan.
Falstaff:
Small-time grifter trying to pass as a “wiseguy”. Kind of guy who spends most of his day running back & forth between OTB and the pizza joint. Can't keep his stooges Pistol and Nym in line. Always dreaming of a con or a scam to get him back in the black, always fated to fail disastrously. Wants everyone to think he's "connected". Thinks of himself as Billy Batts, when he's not even Johnny Roastbeef. His grandiose narcissism is only surpassed by his gullibility. He does have a way with words, in spite of himself. Actor must have the same quicksilver skills with language that any more traditional approach to the character would require, while still sounding like he comes from "the neighborhood". Falstaff’s gift of gab is probably the only reason he hasn't been "whacked". Audition material suggestion: Shakespeare monologue, preferably from among Falstaff's speeches. "Dese, dems, and dose" encouraged.
Pistol:
Falstaff's henchman. Hasn't been paid for a while, so secretly plots to get back at Falstaff. Flamboyant braggart with odd verbal mannerisms, which he picked up in prison yards and on street corners. Audition material suggestion: A speech by any Shakespeare villain, as read by a reform school washout.
Nym:
Falstaff's henchman. Hasn't been paid for a while, so secretly plots to get back at Falstaff. The dumber of the Pistol/Nym duo. Has a barely masked obsession with sharp blades. Keen sense of self-preservation, but maybe a bit of a psycho underneath it all. Audition material suggestion: A speech by any Shakespeare villain, as read by a reform school washout.
Mr. Ford:
He and Mr. Page are the precursors to Ralph and Norton. Comfortable successful tradesman who loves sports. A firefighter. Loves the simple pleasures of suburbia. Driven to a mental breakdown by jealousy. Audition material suggestion: A speech by Master Ford.
Mr. Page:
Mr. Ford and he are the precursors to Ralph and Norton. Works for the MTA. Loves the simple pleasures of suburbia. The eternal optimist, the accommodating host, always asking if he can put another hot dog on the grill for you. Sees good in everyone, but we learn he's got a mean streak. Audition material suggestion: A speech by Master Ford.
Anne Page:
Brooklyn working-class princess. Heart of gold and street-smarts to match. Apple of her father's eye … until she falls for the type of guy she knows he'll never accept. Audition material suggestion: A speech by any Shakespearean daughter.
Mistress Quickly:
Reluctant messenger between Falstaff and the merry wives. While loudly proclaiming herself pious and honorable, she is addicted to gossip about the foibles of others. Speaks a mile a minute, the joke being that nobody else can get a word in edgewise. You can trust her to keep a secret because she can never keep any story straight in her head. Audition material suggestion: Any comic monologue of any genre.
Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page:
The original Alice and Trixie. Forthright and up-front. Equal partners around the home. Self-respecting. The heart and soul of the neighborhood. Their husbands are well off (for Windsor Terrace), so they lead lives of comparative luxury, and want for nothing. When Falstaff insults them with his attentions, they spring a revenge plot against him. They have seized the ‘80s by the throat and are a cacophony of nasal twang, pouffed hair and animal-print clothing. Audition material suggestion: Any Shakespeare monologue.
Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine by Lynn Nottage. Dir: Cynthia Babak.
Undine:
African American woman, 37. Owner of a successful, glamorous PR firm. Dartmouth-graduate diva. Her fortunes take a sudden turn for the worse, and in desperation she is forced to move back in with her estranged family in a Brooklyn housing project. Stripped of her illusions and defenses, she slowly begins to trace a path to what she hopes will be a more authentic self. Operates as comfortably at an Ivy League cocktail party as she does on street corners crowded with hustlers and pushers. In the blink of an eye she moves from brash and confident to self-effacing and lost. She is simultaneously villain and hero. Seeking an actor with great versatility and command of idiomatic language. Audition material suggestion: Monologue from the play, or other contemporary monologue (preferably by an African American author).
Ensemble:
Three men, three women. All characters are African American; ages range from 20s - 60s. Ensemble actors will play multiple roles, with an emphasis on the members of Undine's underprivileged family. Audition material suggestion: Contemporary monologue, preferably comic.
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