TERROR IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY Equity Principal Actors - Georges Danton LLC Auditions

TERROR IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY - NYC EPA

Georges Danton LLC | New Canaan, CT

Notice: Audition Call Type: EPA

AUDITION DATE

Wednesday, July 8, 2026
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM (E)
Lunch 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

CONTRACT

Off Broadway
$868 weekly minimum (Cat. A)

SEEKING

Equity actors for roles in TERROR IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY (See

BREAKDOWN

).
All Equity stage managerial positions have been filled.

PREPARATION

Please prepare the monologue (preferred) which may be found at:
monologue link - Or you may prepare two short contrasting monologues.

LOCATION

Actors' Equity New York Audition Center
165 W 46th St
16th Fl
New York, NY 10036

PERSONNEL

Playwright: Ben Heineman
Director: Tea Alagić
Casting: Yankwitt and Co.
Expected to attend: Margaret Dunn: Casting Director

OTHER DATES

First Rehearsal: January 12, 2027
First Preview: February 26, 2027
Opening: March 4th, 2027
Closing: March 28, 2027

OTHER
Venue: ART-NY Mezzanine theater
EPA Procedures are in effect for this audition.
An Equity Monitor will be provided.
Equity's

CONTRACT

s 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.

BREAKDOWN

TERROR IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY

SYNOPSIS:
This play dramatizes one of the most tumultuous, violent and consequential periods in modern world history: the two years of the French Revolution from the dethronement, trial and execution of the King, Louis XVI, through the founding of the Republic, the imposition of the Great Terror and the execution of Robespierre. Through intense confrontations, momentous debates and stirring speeches, the play is an ensemble tragedy where the chaos, confusion and conflict of France after the end of the monarchy reveal the tragic flaws of key Revolutionaries.

NOTE: Actors with a background in experimental theater and/or Shakespeare, who can quickly shift from character to character are encouraged to audition.

SEEKING:

Track 1: Citizen 1, Hebert, Cecile Renault. 30s - 40s, any ethnicity, female presenting. Citizen 1 is a member of the middle class who is not involved in politics or a member of any faction. He/she is a common sense observer of the chaos and confusion of revolutionary Paris. Citizen 1 (and Citizen 2 ---see below) provide a normal person's view of the conflict of the Revolution and serve as the audience's window into events. Hebert is an extreme revolutionary who is a demagogic voice of the common people through his incendiary journal and speeches. He craves attention, is expert at manipulating a crowd, and understands the power of propaganda, constantly stirring emotion and outrage. Cecile Renault is a crazed woman who attacks Robespierre with a knife. She is incoherent and disconnected from reality.

Track 2: Saint Just. 20s - early 30s, any ethnicity, any gender. Saint Just is the youngest of the Jacobin radicals. He is an acolyte of Robespierre. He is handsome and eloquent. He shifts from being a radical democrat to believing that the constitution needs to be suspended and that terror must be employed in order to exterminate enemies of the state and create stability. He’s cold, and, whatever his position at the moment, an inflexible ideologue. Saint Just begins as a passionate young democratic idealist but evolves into a ruthless autocrat. He is willing to sacrifice anyone for the Revolution. His stubbornness makes him dangerous. He is ambitious, cruel when necessary, and utterly devoted to ideological purity. Robespierre relies on him because he is stronger mentally as the play evolves. Despite his youth, he's cynical, not innocent.

Track 3: Robespierre. 30s - 40s, any ethnicity, male presenting. Robespierre is a tragic figure - an idealist with fatal flaws. He is frightening because he is a true fanatic who thoroughly believes that his ends justify his means. He also believes that he alone envisions the one true Revolution. He is intellectual, fastidious, and egotistical. He believes that there are conspiracies all around him, and, during the course of the play, becomes mentally unstable. He’s a man whose intellect and ideals slowly become a prison. He should feel obsessive, rigid, and deeply anxious beneath his certainty. He believes himself to be the guardian of the Revolution and becomes increasingly paranoid as events spiral out of control. His need to join Virtue and Terror are compulsive. He is a fanatic who genuinely believes he is acting for the public good, even as his judgment deteriorates. Able to emphasize his growing isolation, suspicion, rigidity and inability to compromise.

Track 4: Brissot, Desmoulins. 30s - early 40s, any ethnicity, any gender. Brissot is an early revolutionary who leads the moderate faction against the increasingly radical Jacobins. He is eloquent and dignified, but he has a temper. His doubts about the killing of the king---and his lack of sympathy for the working people's economic distress---leads to his downfall and eventual demise. He possesses dignity and conviction but struggles to adapt as politics becomes increasingly radical and is emphatic in his resistance to the ever more extreme Jacobins. Desmoulins is a skilled journalist who, as the Terror evolves, aligns with Danton in his criticism of it because he feels it is contrary to democratic revolutionary ideals. He is naturally high-strung and becomes increasingly frantic as the Jacobins persecute him. He is energetic, ambitious, and deeply believes in the power of words. He is emotional rather than strategic. His journey is one of doubt, disillusionment, and heartbreak.

Track 5: Mmd Roland, Simone, Lindet, Theresa. 30s - 40s, any ethnicity, female presenting. Madame Roland is a highly intelligent member of the Brissotin faction. She is well-spoken, composed, and beautiful. Like Brissot, she is a moderate but often disagrees with him on how to deal with their enemies, the Jacobins, who eventually execute them both. Charismatic, intellectually formidable, and emotionally mature. She is a genuine thinker who believes ideas matter and understands both politics and human relationships. She combines pragmatism with strength. Theresa, Tallien’s mistress, is an amoral and calculating aristocrat who opposes the Jacobins. She understands power, influence, and self-preservation. She knows how to use language, seduction, and emotional intelligence to achieve her goals. Able to emphasize the contrast between Roland's principled idealism and Theresa's self-regarding opportunism. Lindet is a principled man of integrity who presents the charges against the King. He is responsible for sorting out the new economic organization of France, and is a voice of reason on the Committee of Public Safety. Simone is Marat’s lover.

Track 6: Queen, Corday, Carnot. mid-30s - early 40s, any ethnicity, female presenting. The Queen has been forced by the people to live in Paris and has lost the richesse of Versailles. Her diminution of stature is accompanied by her dislike for her husband’s weakness and lack of leadership. After the King's death and the removal of her children from her, she becomes increasingly depressed in her prison cell and bemoans her fate at her trial. Corday is a principled, moderate revolutionary who is so affected by an anti-Jacobin political speech given by Buzot that she goes to Paris and murders Marat. She is eloquent about the rights and independence of women at her trial. Corday should possess moral courage, clarity, and conviction. Her intelligence and eloquence should make her assassination of Marat feel like a conscious political act to rid France of a monster rather than an emotional impulse. Carnot is a key administrator of military affairs and he implements mass conscription. He is a bureaucrat through and through - solid, stolid, and matter-of-fact. He is practical, efficient, and focused on results rather than ideology.

Track 7: Marat, Couthon. 30s - early 50s, any ethnicity, male presenting. Marat is among the most violent and extreme Jacobins. He is a demagogic nihilist who advocates death for his enemies and does not propose constructive revolutionary ideas. He is the voice of the irate working class/sans culottes. Marat epitomizes the Revolutionary Terror in his unquenchable thirst for the death of his enemies. He thrives on conflict and treats politics as permanent war. In a contemporary setting, he would be a master of outrage, using media and public platforms to inflame divisions and mobilize followers. Couthon is a member of the Committee of Public Safety's governing triumvirate, alongside Robespierre and Saint Just. He is blunt and acerbic. He writes the laws of the Great Terror that allow the Committee to accuse—and execute—almost any citizen they choose. He is colder and more bureaucratic than Marat. He and Marat represent different faces of revolutionary violence: one emotional and explosive, the other systematic and administrative.

Track 8: Danton. 30s - 40s, any ethnicity, male presenting. Danton is a larger-than-life figure who is striking in bearing, personality, action, and speech. He is one of, if not the best, extemporaneous orators of the revolutionary period. He and Robespierre begin as friends but end up as enemies, unable to find any middle ground between Robespierre’s fear of state corruption and Danton’s distaste for the Terror. Danton genuinely believes in the Revolution but lacks Robespierre's rigidity. He enjoys pleasure, friendship, and the experience of living. His flaws—indulgence, inconsistency, and appetite for excess—make him human. His opposition to the Terror comes not from purity but from a recognition that the Revolution is destroying itself.

Track 9: Citizen 2, Mailhe. late 20s - 40s, any ethnicity, any gender. Citizen 2 is a normal middle-class citizen who is caught up in the revolutionary chaos and conflict---and is a common sense observer of the confusion of revolutionary Paris. He and Citizen 1 are close friends but can disagree about what is happening in the Revolution. The two Citizens provide a normal person's view of the maelstrom of the Revolution and serve as the audience's window into events. Mailhe is a member of the Convention who successfully argues that the King can be tried and punished in direct violation of the Constitution of the time which states that the King cannot be punished. He later argues that the King’s execution should be suspended until the end of the foreign wars. Mailhe should feel experienced and pragmatic. He is willing to compromise and adapt to changing circumstances. Over time he becomes increasingly uncomfortable with Robespierre's methods and ultimately moves against him.

Track 10: King Louis XVI, Dumouriez, Prosecutor, Tallien. 30s - 40s, any ethnicity, male presenting. King Louis XVI is affable, weak, and lacks leadership qualities. He pretends to support the anti-Church Revolution but, in fact, conspires with nobles and foreign sovereigns to suppress it because he is religious. With his overthrow, trial, and execution, the Revolution evolves from a constitutional monarchy to a Republic. Dumouriez is an egotistical, and arrogant Army General who seeks a coup d'état to oust the Jacobins. Tallien is an immoral opportunist who was first an extreme Jacobin charged with suppressing moderate provincial revolts. But he is then seduced by Theresa, saves her from the guillotine and, as her lover, gives up his radicalism. He became one of the leading conspirators in Paris who arrested and then executed Robespierre whom he hates. Tallien is charming, persuasive, and fundamentally self-regarding. His relationship with Theresa is based on lust, but it also drives him to renounce Robespierre and the Terror. Think of him as a charismatic and amoral opportunist.

Track 11: Buzot, Barere. 20s - 40s, any ethnicity, any gender. Buzot is a young moderate who is handsome, well-spoken, and idealistic. He and Madame Roland are deeply in love, despite each being married to other people. They plan to consummate the relationship but on the day of the assignation, she is arrested by the Jacobins. He writes passionate letters to her in prison before she is executed. He subsequently commits suicide. He is romantic, idealistic, and emotionally driven. His love for Madame Roland is sincere and profound, making his fate especially tragic. Barere is a shrewd politician who is not aligned with either the Jacobins or the Brissotins---though friendly with both---and often serves as the President of the Convention. He joins other deputies in the Convention to arrest and execute Robespierre when the Terror escalates into mass death. He is pragmatic, adaptable, and politically skilled. He understands how power operates and survives by reading the room better than everyone else. He can appear reasonable while quietly enabling dangerous outcomes.

Track 12: Multiple roles. 20s - 40s, any ethnicity, any gender. This track provides the connective tissue throughout the production. More than simply playing multiple roles, this track guides the audience through the Revolution. They announce shifts in time, place, and perspective, helping orient the audience as events accelerate. At times they should feel almost outside the play, acting as a bridge between the historical world and the audience. They are the voice that carries us through the story, then seamlessly re-enters it as a participant, playing a series of roles in each act (advisor to the King, lawyer for the King at his trial, soldier, foreman of various juries at the Revolutionary Tribunal, the policeman arresting Charlotte Corday, etc. etc.)