New York Shakespeare Festival | New York, NY
Notice: Audition Call Type: EPA
Friday, February 13, 2026
Actors' Equity New York Audition Center
165 W 46th St, 16th Fl
New York, NY 10036
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM (E)
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Contract: Off Broadway
Written by: William Shakespeare
Directed by: Emma Rosa Went
Weekly minimum: $1,076 (Cat. BB)
Casting Directors: Jordan Thaler, Heidi Griffiths
Equity actors for roles in the Public Theater's Mobile Shakespeare Tour of AS YOU LIKE IT (see breakdown).
Expected to attend: A member of the Public Theater Casting Office.
Casting Office: Jordan Thaler, Director of Casting; Heidi Griffiths, Director of Casting; Kate Murray, Casting Director; Chalin Tulyathan, Casting Associate.
Please prepare one SHORT (no more than two minutes in length) Shakespeare monologue. Bring picture and resume stapled together.
1st Rehearsal: on or about 4/27/26
1st Performance: on or about 5/25/26
Final Tour Performance: on or about 7/5/26
EPA procedures are in effect for this audition. An Equity monitor will be provided.
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 attend every audition.
Always bring your Equity Membership card to auditions.
For over 10 years, the Public Theater’s Mobile Unit has been breaking down economic and geographic barriers to the arts by meeting our communities where they are, staging free professional theater productions in local neighborhood venues. It is rooted in the founding impulse of The Public Theater: that theater is an essential cultural force.
In the summer of 2026, The Public Theater will embark on a tour performing in all five boroughs of New York City. The Mobile Unit tour will partner with organizations like Bryant Park, the New York Public Library, and St. John the Divine, venues hosting up to 300–400 attendees. This tour will begin indoors primarily within correctional facilities and then move outdoors traveling to all five boroughs with repeated performances at most NYC Parks sites including St. Mary’s Park, Prospect Park, Sunset Park, and others. The company will travel to venues in a company van.
Note for all actors: We are seeking a company of collaborative, language-oriented actors/singers who enjoy working in a physical style. Please note carefully on character descriptions where confident solo singing and/or musical skill is a component for the character.
Rosalind: Femme or non-binary, 20s–30s. Any ethnicity. Quicksilver, the engine that drives the story. Full of complexities and contradictions—capable of caddish behavior and passionate fidelity. Androgynous and romantic. Silly and wise. A color-wheel, a jester, a leader, a seeker. Her transformative experiences in Arden release her into a more expansive shape.
Orlando: Male-identifying, 20s–30s. Any ethnicity. A bisexual dreamboat. He is the world's best listener. Decent, good, and capable from the start. A work in progress; Arden transforms him from a moody, flighty, inconstant version of a hero or lover into a true, grounded, dimensional person.
Celia: Female-identifying, 20s–30s. Any ethnicity. The Princess. She has serious “it-girl” energy. Despite status and privilege, she is kind and down for an adventure. She forms deep attachments. A shrewd observer and loyal friend.
Touchstone: Male-identifying, 30s. Any ethnicity. The clown. A quick-witted, edgy rascal. A city boy who Rosalind has talked into going into the Forest of Arden with her. He imagines himself immune to the power of the woods but is changed by them.
Oliver / Amiens: Male-identifying, 20s–30s. Any ethnicity. A role for a singer and HIGHLY proficient musician, with guitar as primary instrument. Previous experience with music directing is a big plus. Oliver is highly strung and competitive, a corporate schemer with slightly Draco Malfoy energy. Amiens is a sweet boy at a picnic with a guitar—extremely chilled.
Phoebe / Lord / William: Female-identifying, 20s–30s. Any ethnicity. A role for a HIGHLY proficient musician and singer. Please specify any hand-carried instruments played at a high level; interest in brass and reeds is especially welcome. Phoebe has small-town beauty queen energy—bossy yet charming. The lord is a young disciple of Duke Senior—an idealist. William is an Arden lad who loves Audrey; not the brightest bulb.
Silvius / Charles: Male-identifying, 20s. Any ethnicity. Silvius is an earnest young man of Arden, doggedly obsessed with Phoebe, but his obsession has surprising dignity. Charles is a gnarly court-wrestler who looks like he might kill you—a bro.
Duke Senior / Duke Frederick: Male-identifying, 40s–50s. Any ethnicity. The dads. Duke Senior is an affable older-hippie Robin Hood, creating a society in harmony with nature where everyone is welcome. His brother Duke Frederick is the diametric opposite: dark, power-hungry, but ultimately weak-willed and small-minded.
Audrey / Corin / Adam: Femme or non-binary, 20s–40s. Any ethnicity. Audrey is an excitable rustic young lady enamored of Touchstone. Adam is a loyal old man of the city; Corin is a shepherd—a gentle, serene old man of the woods. A role with range and humor.
Jaques / LeBeau: Any gender identity, any age, any ethnicity. The philosopher. Jaques is witty, laconic, elegant, and morose—he likes to excavate the darker corners of the human mind. LeBeau is a courtier who is well-intentioned but uptight and nervous. A role with range and humor.
Videos
