Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company 2026-27 Season Equity Principal Actors - Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company Auditions

REVISED

LOCATION

The Savoy
2700 Arapahoe St
Denver, CO 80205

AUDITION DATE

Tuesday, March 31, 2026
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM (M)

Please enter through the glass doors on 27th. Sign in and take a seat. When you’re on deck, we’ll show you the way to the 2nd floor.

APPOINTMENTS

PERSONNEL

To schedule an audition appointment, please go to:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0448ABA82BA2F5C34-62985608-2627#/

Once you have secured your audition appointment, please fill out the audition form at:
https://forms.gle/Ey67PNEbeXHdKLix8

Expected to attend: Jessica Robblee (she/her), Producing Artistic Director; Mark Ragan (he/him), Managing Director; Branden Smith (he/him), Associate Producer; Erin Thibodaux (she/her), Associate Producer.

See breakdown for production specific personnel.

CONTRACT

Independent Theatre Contract
$600 weekly minimum - 2025 rate

OTHER DATES

See breakdown for production specific dates.

SEEKING

Equity actors for roles in Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company's 2026-27 Season (see breakdown).

OTHER

BETC.org

An Equity Monitor will not be provided. The producer will run all aspects of this audition. 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.

PREPARATION

Please prepare EITHER two contrasting contemporary monologues OR a contemporary monologue and 16 bars of a musical or pop song. The total audition package should be no longer than 3 minutes. There is one show with songs in our 2026/2027 season (Fair Maid of the West), so an accompanist will be provided. Please bring well-marked sheet music. If you play an instrument and would like to accompany your performance, that is welcomed.

Dialects: For your initial audition material, feel free to perform in a dialect if it suits a show/role in which you are particularly interested. During the audition, we may ask if you have a certain accent available.

Breakdown

WITCH

Written by: Jen Silverman
Directed by: Josh Hartwell

Rehearsals & Tech (Denver): 6/29 - 7/22/2026
Performances @ Savoy (Denver): 7/23 - 8/2/2026
Transfer: Tech rehearsals @ Carsen (Dairy, Boulder): 8/3 - 8/5/2026
Performances @ Carsen (Dairy, Boulder): 8/6 - 8/23/2026

SYNOPSIS

A charming devil arrives in the quiet village of Edmonton to bargain for the souls of its residents in exchange for their darkest wishes. Elizabeth should be his easiest target, having been labeled a “witch” and cast out by the town, but her soul is not so readily bought. As the devil returns to convince her – and then returns again – unexpected passions flare, alliances are formed, and the village is forever changed. An inventive retelling of a Jacobean drama, this sharp, subversive fable debates how much our souls are worth when hope is hard to come by.

SEEKING

• Elizabeth Sawyer - THIS ROLE IS CAST. (F) 40s/50s/60s. An outcast.
• Scratch (M) 20s/30s. The devil.
• Sir Arthur Banks (M) 40s/50s/60s. A wealthy and powerful man.
• Cuddy Banks (M) 20s/30s. Sir Arthur’s son, painfully shy, a morris-dancer. Secretly in love with Frank (and also in hate).
• Frank Thorney (M) 20s/30s. A confident and successful young man, charming and ruthless.
• Winnifred (F) 20s/30s. Sir Arthur’s servant, resigned and pragmatic, secretly married to Frank.

THE WEIR

Written by: Conor McPherson
Directed by: Candace Orrino

Rehearsals & Tech (Denver): 8/24 - 9/16/2026
Performance @ Savoy (Denver): 9/17 - 10/4/2026
Transfer: Tech rehearsals @ Carsen (Dairy, Boulder): 10/5 - 10/7/2026
Performances @ Carsen (Dairy, Boulder): 10/8 - 11/1/2026

SYNOPSIS

On a stormy night in a rural Irish pub, four local men gather. Their usual exchange of rounds and conversation is disrupted by the arrival of a Dublin woman. As they jockey to impress and welcome her, stories emerge—gripping, haunting, disquieting. Then, they discover she has her own story to tell. The Weir is a testament to the need for human connection, the possibility of hope, and the enduring power of storytelling.

SEEKING

• Jack - (M) 50s/60s. A mechanic and garage owner. Cantankerous heart of gold.
• Brendan - (M) 30s. A farmer and pub-owner. Disciplined, the strong and silent type.
• Jim - (M) 40s. Jack’s assistant; caregiver to an ailing mother. Sensitive and introspective.
• Finbar - (M) 40s/50s. Runs a local hotel and owns properties. Asserts his superiority when possible.
• Valerie - (F) 30s. A Dublin transplant, carrying the weight of the loss of a child.

THE FAIR MAID OF THE WEST

Written by: Isobel McArthur
Adapted from the Thomas Heywood original
Directed by: Carolyn Howarth

Rehearsals (Denver): 11/2 - 11/22/2026
Tech (Dairy, Boulder): 11/23 - 12/2/2026
Performances @ Grace (Dairy, Boulder): 12/3 - 12/27/2026

SYNOPSIS

Adapted from Thomas Heywood’s Elizabethan romp, this modernization by Isobel McArthur is a rollicking, ensemble-based, visceral comedy full of live music, song, clever writing, and physical antics. Set against the backdrop of the Anglo-Spanish War, it follows Liz, a resilient rat-catcher in a Plymouth pub. After turning down a marriage proposal from Spencer, she is falsely accused of murder, flees to Cornwall, opens her own pub, turns privateer, and sails to Spain to recover the body of Spencer whom she thinks is dead. The piece features many colorful characters and requires actors/musicians with a variety of skills: dancing, juggling, dialects, Spanish ability, physical comedy, and strong comedic instincts.

SEEKING

• Track #1: (M) 40s/50s/60s. Any ethnicity. Pub Regular. Speaks entirely in rhyming couplets. Excellent verse skills. Witty commentator and ironic observer.
• Track #2: (M) 30s/40s/50s. Any ethnicity. Singer. Musician helpful. Windbag: a braggart postman. Doubles as Man with Sports bag, Hired Proposal Singer, Crispin (a Merchant), and A Ballerina. Spanish speaker a plus.
• Track #3: (M) 40s/50s. Any ethnicity. Singer/Musician. Bardolf: humorous, rough-around-the-edges with a notable singing voice. Doubles as Landlord, a Cornish Man, a Barbershop Singer.
• Track #4: (M) or (F) 20s–50s. Any ethnicity. Singer/Dancer/Musician. Can juggle. Spanish speaker a plus. Doubles as Nosy Man, Tourist, Poet in beret, River Dancer, Magician, etc.
• Track #5: (F) 20s. Any ethnicity. Singer/Musician helpful. Clem: feisty confidant. Doubles as Skint Man, Voice in the Street.
• Track #6: (F) 20s/30s. Any ethnicity. Liz: charismatic, resilient bar maid and protagonist. Includes kissing the male actor playing Spencer.
• Track #7: (M) 30s/40s/50s. Any ethnicity. Singer/Musician. Duke de Lerma: comedic, xenophobic adviser. Doubles as Hired Proposal Dancer, River Dancer, Barbershop Singer, Guy. Includes kissing the male actor playing the Spanish king.
• Track #8: (M) 30s/40s. Guitarist. Singer. Facile with dialects. King Philip III of Spain: newly crowned monarch. Doubles as a Busking Plymouthite named Tommy, a Glaswegian Drunk, Nude Man. This role will briefly walk on stage nude, with hands covering genitals. Includes kissing the male actor playing the Duke de Lerma.
• Track #9: (M) 20s/30s. Any ethnicity. Singer. Can play ukulele. Spencer: a wealthy fop who transforms; includes kissing the female actor playing Liz.
• Track #10: (M or F) 20s/30s/40s. Any ethnicity. Singer/Musician. Roughman: a swaggering bully. Doubles as Hired Proposal Dancer, Tarquin (a Merchant), a Sailor, Accordionist, Barbershop Singer.

ONCE UPON A BRIDGE

Written by: Sonya Kelly
Directed by: Jessica Robblee

Rehearsals & Tech (Denver): 1/4 - 1/27/2027
Performances @ Savoy (Denver): 1/28 - 2/14/2027
Transfer: Tech rehearsals @ Carsen (Dairy, Boulder): 2/15 - 2/17/2027
Performances @ Carsen (Dairy, Boulder): 2/18 - 3/14/2027

SYNOPSIS

Once Upon a Bridge is based on a real-life 2017 incident in which a jogger pushed a woman into traffic on Putney Bridge in London. Incisive, vivid, and gripping, the play imagines the identities, motivations, and momentum that led three people to this moment of near-fatal violence...and its repercussions.

SEEKING

• A Man (M) White, 30s. British accent. A wry, cocky London investment bank analyst, acquisitive and attuned to beauty and opportunity.
• A Man who is a Bus Driver (M) Black, 30s/40s. Accent mixing African and European with notes of London. Perceptive, disciplined, devoted to family.
• A Woman (F) White, in her 30s. Accent from west of Ireland (Galway) that flips to English. A barrister, ambitious and driven, wrestling with shame about her Irish identity.

LIBERATION

Written by: Bess Wohl
Directed by: Kate Gleason

Rehearsals & Tech (Denver): 2/1 - 2/24/2027
Performances @ Savoy (Denver): 2/25 - 3/14/2027
Transfer: Tech rehearsals @ Nomad Playhouse (Boulder): 3/15 - 3/17/2027
Performances @ Nomad Playhouse (Boulder): 3/18 - 4/4/2027 (with possible extension to 4/11)

SYNOPSIS

It’s 1970. Somewhere in Ohio, six women meet on a basement basketball court to form a consciousness-raising group, determined to shake up their lives and change the world. Fifty years later, one of their daughters tries to understand where things fell apart. A provocative, wildly theatrical play that poses vital questions about friendship, legacy, and the true meaning of liberation. This play features a 15-minute scene at the top of Act 2 where characters converse while nude.

SEEKING

• Lizzie (F) 20s/30s/40s. A journalist who will play Lizzie in the present and her mother in the past. Searching, curious, and navigating loss. This role will require nudity.
• Margie (F) 50s/60s. A midwestern homemaker with sublimated rage. Not a doormat. This role will require nudity.
• Susan (F) 20s/30s. A radical, Jewish, queer free spirit with fragile mental health. This role will require nudity.
• Celeste (F) 20s/30s. Black. Harvard/Radcliffe educated writer and editor, exploring queerness and Blackness. This role will require nudity.
• Isidora (F) 20s/30s. An Italian immigrant, brash and sensual, often driven by rage. This role will require nudity.
• Dora (F) 20s/30s. A prim midwestern woman who transforms into a globe-trotting marketing maven. This role will require nudity.
• Joanne (F) 20s/30s. Black. A working mother of four, direct and perceptive. Doubles as Lizzie in a single scene with Bill.
• Bill (M) 20s/30s. Father to the “author”, husband to Lizzie. A hard-working young lawyer and optimist, deeply in love with Lizzie.

EFFECT

Written by: Lucy Prebble
Directed by: Allison Watrous

Rehearsals & Tech (Denver): 3/23 - 4/14/2027
Performances @ Grace (Dairy, Boulder): 4/15 - 5/9/2027

SYNOPSIS

The Effect is a contemporary drama set within a clinical trial for a new antidepressant. Two young volunteers, Tristan and Connie, enter the study for different personal reasons and develop an intense attraction as their dosage increases. Their relationship raises uncertainty about whether their connection is genuine or drug-induced. Parallel to their story is the strained relationship between the two supervising doctors, Dr. Lorna James and Dr. Toby Sealey. The play examines boundaries between emotion and chemistry, ethics of psychiatric medication, the nature of love, and the complexities of mental illness, blending humor and emotional depth.

SEEKING

• Tristan Frey (M) 20s-30s. Any ethnicity. A charismatic, adventurous participant in the drug trial. This role will require fully clothed closeness suggestive of sex being imminent and may include physical touch and kissing.
• Connie Hall (F) 20s-30s. Any ethnicity. Intelligent and cautious participant. This role will require fully clothed closeness suggestive of sex being imminent and may include physical touch and kissing.
• Dr. Lorna James (F) 40s-50s. Any ethnicity. Clinician overseeing the trial; perceptive, wry, and professionally meticulous. Carries a personal history with depression.
• Dr. Toby Sealey (M) 40s-50s. Any ethnicity. Senior doctor leading the research; confident, polished, and optimistic about scientific progress. Shares a complicated past with Lorna.