THE REAL IVANOV Equity Principal Actors - Open Jar Studios Auditions

THE REAL IVANOV - NYC EPA

Producing Org TBD |

Notice: Audition

Call Type: EPA

AUDITION DATE

Monday, June 29, 2026
12:00 PM - 8:00 PM (E)
BREAK: 3:00PM - 4:00PM

CONTRACT

Off Broadway
$950 weekly minimum (cat. A)

SEEKING

Equity actors for roles in THE REAL IVANOV (see

BREAKDOWN

).
All Stage Managerial positions are currently filled.

PREPARATION

For audition please prepare a monologue from a European modern classic (Chekhov, Ibsen, Shaw etc.). Skill with complex language a must. Please bring your headshot and resume stapled together.

LOCATION

Open Jar Studios
1601 Broadway
11th floor main entrance
New York, NY 10019

PERSONNEL

Director - Laura Strausfeld,
Producer - Initiative Productions, Sam Underwood, and Nina Matza
EXPECTED TO ATTEND:
Sam Underwood (Producer)
Nina Matza (Producer)
Laura Strausfeld (Director)
Jack Doulin (Casting Director)

OTHER DATES

Rehearsals begin: July 27, 2026
Performances begin: August 17, 2026
Run ends: September 20, 2026

OTHER
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

THE REAL IVANOV

SEEKING:

KOSYKH Male, 20s–60s. An excise officer who collects taxes from landowners, which means the rich folk tolerate his boorish company. He’s obsessed with card-playing and low-stakes gambling. Comic timing essential.

AVDOTYA Female/Non-binary, 20s-30s. Young 19th Century Russian lesbian who won’t marry and therefore has to figure out how to make a living. Wily, clever, uneducated, and willing to do what it takes to make a living – as long as it doesn’t require sex with a man.

ZINAIDA Female, 50s–60s. Lebedev’s wife. Concerned with appearances and propriety. Ridiculous despite herself, but also relatable.

COUNT SHABELSKY Male, 50s–70s. Ivanov’s uncle, still mourning his wife who died years ago. Dry, incisive, funny, unsparing. This role requires precision, intelligence, and superlative comedic timing.

THE FOLLOWING ROLES HAVE BEEN CAST:

IVANOV (CAST) Male, 30s–40s. Intelligent, charismatic, exhausted. A man in profound psychological decline who can no longer access the self he once was. Others alternately diagnose, condemn, romanticize, or attempt to save him. The audience must understand why people continue to love him despite his failures.

BORKIN (CAST) Male, 30s–50s. Ivanov’s steward. Restless, opportunistic, inventive, often very funny. Constantly pursuing schemes and distractions. Needs strong comic timing rooted in truth rather than caricature.

ANNA (CAST) Female, 30s–40s. Ivanov’s wife. She’s Jewish in 19th century Russian society and therefore “other” but doesn’t indulge self-pity. She’s university-educated, deeply perceptive, and quietly powerful. She’s ill but shouldn’t clearly appear so and should avoid sentimentality.

SASHA (CAST) Female, early–mid 20s. Extremely intelligent, disarmingly beautiful, and trapped by 19th century conventions. She’s not an ingenue. Ivanov represents a path toward a meaningful, purposeful life. She fell for him as a child and on her 20th birthday opts to declare her love.

LEBEDEV (CAST) Male, 50s–60s. Sasha’s father. Decent, humane, at moments overwhelmed by the social and emotional chaos around him. Warmth and comic instinct essential.

LVOV (CAST) Male, late 20s–30s. A recently-graduated physician. Earnest, morally certain, rigid. Believes himself to be acting courageously and ethically at all times. Should not be played as a villain. Seriousness and conviction are key.

BABAKINA (CAST) Female, 30s–50s. A wealthy widow who’s perceived as an outsider, mostly because she’s the one character who’s happy. Socially adept, flirtatious, practical, and emotionally intelligent beneath the surface.