THE WINTER'S TALE and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Equity Principal Actors - Chicago Shakespeare Theater Auditions

THE WINTER'S TALE and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM - Chicago EPA

Chicago Shakespeare Theater | Chicago, IL

Notice: Audition Call Type: EPA

AUDITION DATE

LOCATION

Monday, April 20, 2026
Chicago Shakespeare
800 E Grand Ave
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (C) Chicago, IL 60611-5436
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM 6th Floor Studio.

CONTRACT

PERSONNEL

CAT Artistic Director/Production Director: Edward Hall
$1122.15 weekly minimum (Tier 6) - until 10/4/26
Expected to attend:
$1167.05 weekly minimum (Tier 6) - after 10/5/26
Casting Director: Bob Mason
Casting Associate: Alexis Taylor
Actors will receive an additional 15% bump to salary when both productions play in the same week.

OTHER DATES

THE WINTER’S TALE

SEEKING

CONTRACT

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

REHEARSAL BEGINS: 9/8/2026
FIRST PREVIEW: 11/11/2026
OPENING: 11/15/2026
CLOSING: 1/3/2027

As theater-makers, we are charged with engaging honestly and deeply in conversations about our humanity, and our inhumanity. Chicago Shakespeare Theater is deeply committed to welcoming artists, audience members, and staff of broadly diverse and intersectional identities, including (but not limited to) race, ethnicity, ability, faith/belief tradition, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, age, socio-economic background, and nationality. Acknowledging the entrenched structural inequities around race in the American theater, we are especially focused on addressing equity and inclusion for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals within our IDEA efforts.

PREPARATION

Please prepare one Shakespeare monologue of your choice from any play, not to exceed two minutes. Always bring your Equity Membership card to auditions.

Breakdown

THE WINTER'S TALE and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

While characters may be written on the binary, casting will be expanded to consider the entire range of the gender spectrum. Roles open to all races and ethnicities and abilities unless specifically noted.

Possible Role Pairings in the Repertory:
LEONTES/OBERON (OFFER OUT)
PAULINA/STARVELING (OFFER OUT)
OLD SHEPHERD/BOTTOM
MAMILLUS/PERDITA/HERMIA
CLOWN/LYSANDER
FLORIZEL/DEMETRIUS
DORCAS/HELENA (OFFER OUT)
MOPSA/TITANIA (OFFER OUT)
POLIXINES/EGEUS
CAMILLO/QUINCE (OFFER OUT)
HERMIONE/TBD
ANTIGONUS/SNUG (OFFER OUT)
AUTOLYCUS/SNOUT (OFFER OUT)

THE WINTER’S TALE

SEEKING:

LEONTES: Late 30s–40s. Male-identifying. King of Sicilia. A rational man seized by an irrational and wild thought that his wife is unfaithful, destroying everyone in his oath until it is too late.
HERMIONE: Late 30s–40s. Female-identifying. Queen of Sicilia. A woman of great honor, integrity, and grace, who is undone by her husband's mad fit of jealousy.
POLIXENES: Late 30s–40s. Male-identifying. King of Bohemia. Leontes’ childhood friend. A well-loved and well-respected ruler falsely accused by Leontes. Can be strict and volatile when it comes to his crown and his son.
CAMILLO: 40–60. Male-identifying. A Sicilian Lord. Warns Polixines of Leontes' harm and flees with him to Bohemia. A man of true soul and morals.
PAULINA: Female-identifying. 40s to 60s. Fierce and righteous. Shows unyielding loyalty to the Queen.
ANTIGONUS: Male-identifying. 50–60. A Sicilian Lord and Paulina’s husband. Rescues Perdita from infanticide, only to be pursued and eaten by a bear. A good man.
PERDITA: Female-identifying. Late teens or early 20s. Leontes and Hermione’s abandoned daughter. Even though she has been raised in the country amongst shepherds and shepherdesses, her demeanor indicates her royal birth. Wise beyond her years. Elegant and lovely.
FLORIZEL: Male-identifying. 20s. Polixenes’ son. A chip off the old block. A good-natured man who is also impulsive and rebellious.
AUTOLYCUS: Male-identifying. 30s-60s. An entertaining con man with no scruples. Slippery as an eel.
OLD SHEPHERD: Male-identifying. 40s to 60s. A kind-hearted simple man who raises Perdita as his own.
CLOWN (YOUNG SHEPHERD): Male-identifying. Late 20s–early 30s. The Old Shepherd’s son. Sweet and simple, with a warm heart.
CLEOMENES and DION: Male-identifying. 30s to 60. Sicilian Lords.
MOPSA and DORCAS: Female-identifying. 20s. Shepherdesses. Earthy and bursting with life. They fire on all cylinders.
MAMILLUS: Female-identifying. 18+ to play 8 years old. Leontes and Hermione’s son, doomed by Leontes' rejection of the Oracle.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

SEEKING:

OBERON/THESUS: The King of the Fairies, in a contest of passion and will with Titania.
TITANIA/HIPPOLYTA: Female-identifying. 30s to 40s. Powerful and bewitching Queen of the Fairies, tricked into falling in love with an ass.
NICK BOTTOM THE WEAVER: Male-identifying 40s to 60s. A ham-handed and egotistical amateur actor. Is transformed into an ass.
HELENA: Female-identifying. 20s. Put-upon, insecure, and scorned young lover. Tall in stature.
HERMIA: Female-identifying. 20s. Lysander's sweet love, who can be a tiger when provoked. Small in stature.
LYSANDER: Male-identifying. 20s. Hermia's love who gets drugged by Puck to fall in love with Helena.
DEMETRIUS: Male-identifying. 20s. In love with but rebuffed by Hermia. Once dated Helena. Can be harsh when pushed.
EGEUS: Male-identifying. 40s to 50s. Hermia's domineering father. Quick to anger.
THE RUDE MECHANICALS: (Amateur actors performing for the Duke. 20s to 60s. Any gender.)
PETER QUINCE: A carpenter and the director/stage manager of the play. Can be very particular.
SNOUT THE TINKER: Plays Wall.
SNUG THE JOINER: Shy. Plays the Lion.
FRANCIS FLUTE THE BELLOWS MENDER: 20s. Male-identifying. Reluctant to play Thisbe, the female love interest. He has a beard coming.
ROBIN STARVELING THE TAILOR: Plays Moonshine.