Raven Theatre | Chicago, IL
REVISED
Removed About Face from this notice.
Monday, April 14, 2025
12:00 PM - 8:00 PM (C)
Break 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
CAT
Raven Theatre:
$318.25 weekly minimum (Tier 1)
Equity actors for roles in Raven Theatre's 2025-26 Season (See breakdown).
Please prepare TWO audition pieces: 1- a contemporary monologue of your choosing. 2- a piece that helps us understand who you are as a person or a performer. Ideas for a second piece include but are not limited to: delivering an original poem, performing a song accompanied by yourself on a personal instrument, finding a creative way to tell us a story about yourself, doing a brief standup set, etc. We really just want to get to know you better. Please keep your audition material under 2 1/2 minutes total. If you attended last season’s EPA or were cast in or understudied any of our productions this year, you do not need to come into this EPA. Instead, if you’d like to be considered for this season, please fill out this form to let us know what show(s) and role(s) you’d like to be considered for:
https://airtable.com/app1IdFgQrc0qhBCL/shrUcw2R2KWs9WTPX. We are not accepting self-tapes at this time, but if you are not able to make it to any of these days, you can also fill out this form.
Raven Theatre
6157 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60660-2423
Location is accessible. Limited parking available on site.
Expected to attend:
Artistic Director: Sarah Slight (she/her)
Casting Director: Catherine Miller (they/them)
See breakdown for production specific personnel.
See breakdown for production specific dates.
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.
Notice: Audition Call Type: EPA
Written By: Terry Guest
Directed by: Mikael Burke
First Rehearsal: 9/3/25
Design Run: 9/19/25
Tech: 9/25-10/1/25
Previews: 10/2-10/5/25
Opening: 10/8/25
Closing: 11/9/25
Pickle (Black, she/her, 18+ to play 16) is the eldest cousin and Peaches' first child. A natural leader, but forced to toe the line. Takes charge and takes names. Desperate to forge her own path, but responsible to her family. Relentlessly loyal.
Big Man (Black, he/him, 18+ to play 9) is the youngest cousin and the baby of the family. A rule-follower, but not a punk. Takes no shit. Plays rough because everybody plays rough with him. Secretly cautious.
Suga (Black, she/her, 18+ to play 15) is the middle cousin, but almost like Pickle's sister. A free-spirit, but loses herself. Takes the unbeaten path. Big heart, big emotions, big ideas, big mistakes. Unwittingly reckless. Doubles as Odella and Wolf.
Peaches (Black, she/her, mid-30s) is Pickle and Big Man’s Mama. A dreamer, but had to grow up fast. Tough love and tough skin because the world is a tough place. Fiercely protective. Doubles as First Lady Temple and Princess.
Written by: Carol Churchill
Directed by: TBA
1st Rehearsal: 1/7/26
Tech: 2/4/26
Previews: 2/12-2/15
Opening: 2/18/26
Closing: 3/21/26 or 3/22/26
Potential Extension: 3/26-3/28
MARLENE: an ambitious woman (30s) who abandons her family to pursue a career in London, throws a dinner party (Act One, scene 1) to commemorate her promotion at Top Girls employment agency.
Guests at the dinner party:
ISABELLA BIRD: (1831-1904) English explorer, writer, and natural historian (Victorian era) who traveled the world between the ages of 40 and 70, marries late in life to a husband who dies 5 years later.
LADY NIJO: (1258-after 1307) Japanese concubine of the Emperor of Japan, mother to four children who were all taken away from her, later became a Buddhist nun and spent the rest of her life traveling to sacred places.
DULL GRET: character of Flemish folklore, a peasant who leads an army of women to pillage Hell.
POPE JOAN: disguised herself as a man and became Pope around 854-856, brilliant and well-versed in philosophy, theology, metaphysics, and poetry.
PATIENT GRISELDA: the long-suffering wife from “The Clerk’s Tale” in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, marries a Marquis who tests her fidelity by taking her children from her. After remaining obedient and faithful for many years, she is rewarded by being reunited with her children.
The above characters double as various women in Marlene's life:
JEANINE: 20 years old, interviewed for a job by Marlene, treated as inferior because she wants to save money for her wedding.
JOYCE: Marlene’s sister and adoptive mother of Angie, represents the perspective of the working class, very resentful of Marlene.
ANGIE: Marlene’s 16-year-old biological daughter who was adopted by Joyce. Aggressive, unintelligent, spends most of her time with her younger neighbor Kit, aspires to be like Marlene.
KIT: Angie’s younger next-door neighbor, a bright girl with academic ambitions.
WIN: one of the employees at Top Girls employment agency, very career-focused.
NELL: one of the employees at Top Girls agency, career-driven and jealous of Marlene.
LOUISE: a 46-year-old woman interviewing at the agency, wants a new job after 21 years at a firm that does not truly value her experience, but Win feels that her age will make it difficult to find her a new position.
MRS. KIDD: wife of Howard Kidd, Marlene’s co-worker, visits Marlene to request Marlene give up her promotion since Howard has worked at the firm longer and has a family.
SHONA: a young girl who interviews with Nell, falsifies her background and resume and actually has no experience at all.
Multiple characters in TOP GIRLS are played by the same actor and typically double as below, though this is subject to change:
Isabella Bird / Louise
Dull Gret / Angie
Waitress / Nell
Lady Nijo / Win
Griselda / Kit
Joyce / Pope Joan / Mrs. Kidd
Jeanine / Shona / Waitress
Performance Schedule Note: TOP GIRLS will run “in rep” with POT GIRLS by Paul Michael Thomson, which is an adaptation of Top Girls. Produced by a different company. Thursdays and Fridays will perform simultaneously. Saturday and Sunday performance schedule is TBD in order to create a marathon theatre experience of the two shows.
Written By: Sharyn Rothstein
Directed by: TBA
First Rehearsal: 4/1/26
Design Run: 4/17/26
Tech: 4/23-4/29/26
Previews: 4/30 - 5/3/26
Opening: 5/6/26
Closing: 6/7/26
We are proud to partner with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble on TELL ME I’M NOT CRAZY. In the spirit of transparency, actors in the Rivendell Ensemble will be considered for the roles in this play. As of this posting, the role of Alisa is pre-cast, though we would still like to see potential understudies, and the three other roles remain open.
ALISA, (PRE-CAST) Latinx, early-mid 30s, an advertising account manager, married to—
NATE, Jewish American, mid-late 30s, a stay-at-home dad and aspiring photographer, son of—
SOL, Jewish American, 62, a recently retired HR manager for a mid-size company, husband of—
DIANA, Jewish American, about to turn 60, a middle school math teacher, Nate's mom.
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