Nebraska Repertory Theatre
CONTRACT
SPT Currently $638 minimum (SPT 8)
SEEKING
Actors for lead roles in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dontrell Who Kissed the Sea, and
Our Town. (See breakdown.)
INSTRUCTIONS
For any role(s) in Dontrell and/or Our Town, please prepare two contrasting monologues (one serious, one comic) between 1-2 minutes each. For any role in Midsummer, please prepare a 1-2 minute Shakespearean monologue. Please begin with your name and which role(s) you are auditioning for. As per Equity Covid policy, video auditions will be accepted until April 29 @ 11:59 p.m. at https://go.unl.edu/emxy.
Deadline: Wed, Apr 28, 2021 (CDT)
PERSONNEL
Viewing auidtions:
Christina Kirk (Director, Midsummer; Executive Director, NRT)
Andy Park (Artistic Director NRT, casting authority for Our Town)
Ron Himes (Director, Dontrell)
Brad Buffum, PSM
OTHER DATES
Midsummer: First Rehearsal 8/24 21; Opening 10/1/21; Closing 10/10/21
Dontrell: First Rehearsal 10/12/21; Opening 11/12/21; Closing 11/21/21
Our Town: First Rehearsal 3/8/22; Opening 4/15/22; Closing 4/24/22
OTHER
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 submit.
BREAKDOWN
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM:
Theseus/Oberon (to be shared by same actor) (Age range: 30-45/person of color) Theseus: the conquering warrior; the patriarch; the man who orders and controls the industrial world; but he is also harboring an organic energy like Oberon’s and has all of Oberon’s natural impulses; he truly loves Hippolyta; he wants to move from war to mirth and laughter; but he has to learn how to be a leader and lover who can be gentle and find forgiveness rather than to judge and control his dukedom. Oberon: connected to the animal/spirit world; organic, connected to nature, animal energy; moves from uncompromising agent for change to gentle and playful partner; powerful organic attraction to Titania; physically attractive and powerful.
Hippolyta/Titania (to be shared by same actor) (Age range: 30-45/person of color) Hippolyta: a warrior, she harbors an organic energy like Titania’s and has all of Titania’s natural impulses. Naturally drawn to and attracted to Theseus, she struggles to understand his choices and how she can find a way to accept him. They both must learn to compromise and find forgiveness and acceptance. Titania: connected to the animal/spirit world; organic; connected to nature; desire to name things in order to understand them and to get Oberon to understand; moves from uncompromising protector to gentle and playful partner; powerful organic attraction to Oberon; physically attractive and powerful.
Puck/Philostrate (to be shared by same actor) (Age range: 19-25 / any ethnicity; male) Youthful and athletic, excellent verse speaking and movement skills; sense of mischief; easily distracted, loves stirring things up; Philostrate is more constrained and committed to doing his job well; parallels Puck in that he serves a King and Queen.
Cast List:
Precast: HERMIA/HELENA (Age range: 18-25, any gender) Desperate to understand and name what is happening to them in order to find a way to cope with the bewildering chaos that surrounds them.
Precast: LYSANDER/DEMETRIUS (Age range: 18-25, any gender) Lunatic/Lovers: desperate for love, attention, satisfaction.
Precast: EGEUS (Age range: 40's, any gender) Needs to maintain authority; unwilling to compromise or change; deeply passionate in conviction; loves Hermia; loves Lysander.
Precast: BOTTOM (any age, any gender) Lunatic Lover/Weaver: desperate to be the center of attention; to be admired; to be the best one; to be loved; will play Pyramus, “a lover that kills himself most gallant for love”.
Precast QUINCE (Age range: 20's, any gender) Poet/Carpenter: desperate to make order out of chaos; to survive; to keep the group together and focused on task; wants to put on a play, the tortured director/poet; wants to create something others will want to see; aspires to the creative; will play The Prologue.
Precast FLUTE (Age range: 20's, any gender) Dreamer/Bellows-Mender; Needs validation: “I have a beard coming.”; dreams of being “a wand’ring knight”; will play Thisbe, “the lady that Pyramus must love”.
Precast: SNOUT/COBWEB (Age range: 20's, any gender) Tinker; perhaps the pragmatist/survivor in the group who rejects the roles of lunatic, lover, poet and dreamer; will play the Wall. Or, could be the poet/observer who holds the mirror up to nature.
Precast: SNUG/MOTH (Age range: 20's, any gender) Lover/Joiner; “slow of study”; needs to feel loved; will play the Lion’s part.
Precast: STARVELING/MUSTARDSEED (Age range: 20's, any gender) Lunatic/Tailor; another pragmatist, perhaps made lunatic by the part he’s forced to play: the Moon.
Precast: FAIRY/PEASEBLOSSOM (Age range: 20's, any gender) The Fairies reflect everything that exists in the natural world – they are a mirror reflection of all of nature.
DONTRELL, WHO KISSED THE SEA:
Dontrell Jones III (Man, 18, Black) Heir to a haunting and powerful legacy.
Dad (Dontrell Jones Jr.) - (Man, 40s, Black) Dontrell's father.
Mom (Sophia Jones) - (Woman, 40s, Black) Dontrell's mother.
Precast: Erika (Female, 21, White) A lifeguard. Strong, sweet. And Dontrell's soul mate.
Precast: Danielle Jones (Female,17, Black) Dontrell's little sister.
Precast: Shea Jones (Female, 30s, Black) Dontrell's cousin on his father's side.
Precast: Robby (19, Male, Black) Dontrell's best friend and an honorary member of the family. Quick wit.
OUR TOWN:
Dr. Gibbs (Lead): male, 30+ any ethnicity - George’s father and the town doctor, Dr. Gibbs is also a Civil War expert; his delivery of twins just before the play opens establishes the themes of birth, life, and daily activity; he and his family are neighbors to the Webbs.
Mrs. Gibbs (Lead): female, 30+ any ethnicity - George’s mother and Dr. Gibbs’s wife; Mrs. Gibbs’s desire to visit Paris--a wish that is never fulfilled--suggests the importance of seizing the opportunities life presents, rather than waiting for things to happen; at the same time, Mrs. Gibbs’s wish for the luxurious trip ultimately proves unnecessary in her quest to appreciate life.
Mr. Webb (Lead): male, 30+ any ethnicity - Emily’s father and the publisher and editor of the Grover’s Corners Sentinel; Mr. Webb’s report to the audience in Act I is both informative and interactive, as his question-and-answer session draws the audience physically into the action of the play.
Mrs. Webb (Lead): female, 30+ any ethnicity - Emily’s mother and Mr. Webb’s wife; at first a no-nonsense woman who does not cry on the morning of her daughter’s marriage, Mrs. Webb later shows her innocent and caring nature, worrying during the wedding that she has not taught her daughter enough about marriage.
Precast STAGE MANAGER (Any ethnicity) An authoritative figure who resembles a narrator who guides the audience through the play. The Stage Manager is an unconventional character; not simply a character in the play...could be considered a member of the crew simultaneously.
Precast: JOE CROWELL (Any ethnicity) The paperboy.
Precast: GEORGE GIBBS (Any ethnicity) Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs’s son. A decent, upstanding young man.
Precast: REBECCA GIBBS (Any ethnicity) George’s younger sister.
Precast: WALLY WEBB (Any ethnicity) Emily’s younger brother.
Precast: EMILY WEBB (Any ethnicity) Mr. and Mrs. Webb’s daughter and Wally’s older sister. She is an excellent student and a conscientious daughter.
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 submit.
Videos
