THE SCARLET LETTER - Sag Harbor NY EPA
Bay Street Theatre
AUDITION DATE
Sep 28, 2016
9:30 am - 5:30 pm (EDT)
Lunch 1 to 2
APPOINTMENTS
No appointments necessary. Actors will be seen on a first come, first seen basis.
CONTRACT
TYA
Tier 1; $475/week current min.
SEEKING
Equity actors for various roles. Performers of all ethnic and racial backgrounds are encouraged to attend. Actors with local housing strongly encouraged to attend.
PREPARATION
Actors will read from Sides, provided at the audition.
LOCATION
Bay Street Theatre
1 Bay Street
Corner of Bay and Main Street
Sag Harbor, NY 11963-0022
PERSONNEL
Based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Adapted by Scott Eck & Joe Minutillo Joe Minutillo—Director and John Sullivan—Associate Producer (expected to be in attendance at the EPA)
OTHER
Contract Dates (TYA): October 17-November 26, 2016
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.
BREAKDOWN
Seeking:
Hester Prynne
(20’s) Hester is the protagonist of the story. She is a married woman left alone by her husband Roger Prynne who later changes his name to Roger Chillingworth to disguise his association with Hester. During his absence Hester committed adultery with the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. She does, however, desire and love him. The outcome of this affair was a daughter, Pearl, and an outraged Puritan community. Hester however is rebel of her day. She is a feminist, religious dissenter, estranged wife, abandoned lover, and devoted mother. Through the character of Hester Hawthorne points out the hypocrisy of the Puritan society. Hester is a woman of strength, independence, benevolence and kindness.
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale
(Late 20’s early 30’s) A Boston reverend who secretly has had an affair with Hester Prynne and is the father of Pearl. Dimmesdale is loved and respected by his public. He is selfish and frightened to expose his sin and endure punishment with Hester. He punishes himself by self-flogging and fasting and eventually realizes that his guilt of selfishness and betrayal are far greater than the punishment he could have shared with Hester. He is so plagued with guilt that he becomes ill, and dies of his own pride.
Roger Chillingworth
(50’s) Roger is a scholar who married Hester before going to Boston. He is an older man with a forbidding, haunting and ice-cold presence. He married Hester for reasons other than love. Chillingworth recognizes that the love Hester has for Dimmesdale is humiliating and tormenting him and he swears to punish them. He is arrogant, twisted, bitter and villainous. These characteristics exacerbate through the story.
Pearl
(7-10) The illegitimate daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale. She is the “scarlet letter” endowed with life. She is Hester’s strength, love and also her triumph. Hester loves Pearl unconditionally and accepts Pearl as a rebellious and devilish spirit. Pearl’s character is a symbol of the victory of love over a repressed and oppressive Puritan society.
Governor Bellingham
(Late 50’s) He is the brother of Mistress Hibbins. He is an example of hypocrisy in puritan society. For others, he punishes those who do not abide by puritan rules of behavior yet he himself acts as a noble, enjoying money, luxury and power. In the novel he accuses and executes his own sister of practicing witchcraft.
Mistress Hibbins
(40’s) She is the sister of Governor Bellingham. She is very eccentric and bizarre to the point that the people in the town think that she is possibly possessed by the devil (“Black Man”). An example of this is she invites Hester to witches’ meetings in the forest. Pearl becomes fascinated by Mistress Hibbins. She often speaks of the “Black Man” to people in the village.
Goodwife Robson & Goodwife Doolittle
(both between 35 to 45). Both are bitter women, who are full of fear and uncertainty. They are typical of the village person who is full of bigotry and hatefulness due to the fact that they are unable to understand beyond the confines of her knowledge of the world, therefore they cannot connect with people who are different than themselves like Hester or Dimmesdale. They both feel no significance so therefore are negative forces in this society.
The Beadle
(40- 50) A guard and official designated to keep order in the town during town proceedings. The beadle represented the laws of the Puritans, and it was his job to deliver the punishments they required. He was a grim figure, with a sword by his side and the staff of office in his hand.
The Blacksmith
(40-50) He is a good and hard working man of the village who left for a time (7 years) to work in Boston. He is a man who knows the history of the village and knows how the people in the area think and behave. His character also importantly indicates the passing of time for the audience.
Videos
