The Acting Company 2025-26 Season Equity Principal Actors - The Acting Company Auditions

AUDITION DATE

Wednesday, July 9, 2025
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM (E)
Lunch 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

CONTRACT

LOA
$799 weekly minimum (Ref. to LORT) - Until 12/31/25
$816 weekly minimum (Ref. to LORT) - After 1/1/26
Travel, housing, and per-diem will be provided only while on tour.

SEEKING

Equity actors for roles in The Acting Company's 2025-26 Season (See breakdown).
Local NYC actors are encouraged to audition.
These productions will be performed in Rep.

PREPARATION

Please prepare a short, heightened text monologue of your choosing. Please bring your headshot and resume, stapled together.
If you are not able to make the EPA, please feel free to email your materials to:
submissions.cky.casting@gmail.com.

LOCATION

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

PERSONNEL

Artistic Director: Kent Gash
Managing Director: Erik Schroeder
Producing Director: Devin Brain
General Manager: Shelley Little
Associate Producer: B. Rafidi
Casting Director: Claire Yenson, CSA
Casting Assistant: Dorie Magowan

Expected to attend:
Devin Brain (Producing Director for TAC/Director of GREAT EXPECTATIONS)
Claire Yenson (Casting Director)
Dorie Magowan (Casting Assistant)
See breakdown for production specific personnel.

OTHER DATES

See breakdown for production specific dates.

OTHER

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

BREAKDOWN

The Acting Company 2025-26 Season

The Acting Company develops actors by touring professional theater across America. Founded in 1972 by John Houseman and Margot Harley with the first graduating class of the Drama Division of The Juilliard School, The Company has launched the careers of some 400 actors, including Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Mary Lou Rosato, Keith David, Rainn Wilson, Lorraine Toussaint, Frances Conroy, Harriet Harris, Lisa Banes, Jeffrey Wright, Hamish Linklater, Jesse L. Martin, Roslyn Ruff, Jimonn Cole, Kelley Curran, among many others, while bringing sophisticated theater to hundreds of communities from coast to coast.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

by Nikki Massoud, adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens
Directed by Devin Brain

SYNOPSIS: Great Expectations follows the harrowing journey of working-class orphan Pip as he navigates a challenging upbringing at the hands of his abusive sister, encounters an escaped prisoner, and meets the wealthy and eccentric Miss Havisham and her daughter Estella, a stunning, young heiress of ruthless intelligence. When Pip receives a sizable fortune from a mystery donor and enters the ranks of high-society London, his life is forever changed, learning hard truths about integrity, loyalty, and love. Akin to a bingeable dramedy carved with the beautiful prose that made Dickens popular, Nikki Massoud’s take on this uproarious, thrilling, and surprisingly relatable story will keep audiences of all ages on the edge of their seats.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

by William Shakespeare
Directed by Risa Brainin

SYNOPSIS: A rapturous, fresh take on one of William Shakespeare’s most popular and widely performed plays, The Acting Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a captivating, coming-of-age story that will surprise and delight! In this fast-paced, crowd-pleasing comedy, a pair of young lovers flee to an enchanted forest where a troupe of amateur actors rehearse a play. With the help of a mystical flower, the fairy king and queen’s mischievous servant Puck creates chaos for these unsuspecting humans, leading to mistaken identities, romantic entanglements, and comical transformations. Bursting with mirth, music, magic, and mayhem, this uplifting tale of illusion and love comes to life with an electric cast.

DATES:

Rehearsals (in NYC): September 23, 2025 - November 16, 2025
Tech (Ventura, CA): November 17, 2025 - November 30, 2025
Ventura, CA Run: December 1, 2025 - 21, 2025 (Opening: December 6 & 7)
Holiday Break: December 22, 2025 - January 4, 2026
Brush Up Rehearsals (in NYC): January 5, 2026 - January 8, 2026
Tour: January 9, 2026 - March 1, 2026
Tour Stops Include: New Brunswick, NJ; Norfolk, VA; Radford, VA; Asheville, NC; Hoover, AL; Athens, GA; Green Bay, WI; Bay Harbor, MI; West Lafayette, IN; Overland Park, KS; Wayne, NE; and Queens, NY.

CASTING NOTE:

We are seeking a company of flexible, game, transformative collaborators who are game to portray multiple roles. Everyone should be comfortable with bold physical comedy and have excellent language and dialect skills. Singing and/or playing instruments are pluses! GREAT EXPECTATIONS will explore finding the beating heart in the breast of monsters. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM will explore the power of imagination to transform us.

SEEKING:

TRACK 1 : He/him. 20s, any AAPI, Black, First Nations, Indigenous, Latine, MENA, Multiracial, or Native ethnicity.

• [GREAT EXPECTATIONS] PHILLIP “PIP” PIRRIP: A young orphan. A restless, curious soul. He believes that climbing the class ladder will help him achieve a sense of purpose and meaning. He learns and then unlearns deep shame for his working-class background. Has a hard time valuing or accepting love that is expressed in a “normal” way because he was raised by an abuser.
• [MIDSUMMER] LYSANDER: Hopeless romantic, poetic, sweet.
  PETER QUINCE or FLUTE: One of the Rude Mechanicals. A strong physical comedian.
  FAIRY: Part of Titania’s entourage.
  May portray additional roles AS CAST. PLEASE NOTE ANY MUSICAL ABILITIES.

TRACK 2 : She/her. Late 30s-40s, white.

• [GREAT EXPECTATIONS] MISS HARRIET HAVISHAM: Transitions from a vibrant, vulnerable, clever young woman to a bitter, sadistic, but exciting recluse. She had enormous potential and ambition, but once she is jilted at the altar, she chooses to reject society and wage war on it, rather than allowing it to reject her. Miss Havisham loves Estella, and even Pip, but doesn’t fully understand that using them both as tools damages them deeply – until it’s too late.
  MRS. JOSEPH GARGERY: A Blacksmith’s wife, Pip’s sister. A sadist with a sense of duty. She physically and mentally abuses both her husband and her brother out of terror of poverty, dirt, disease, and losing her family again.
• [MIDSUMMER] HIPPOLYTA: Strong-willed and tough. A survivor. A leader. A feminist. A deep thinker, wise. Comes from a matriarchal society.
  OBERON: Queen of the Fairies. Has magical powers, also strong-willed and tough.
  May portray additional roles AS CAST.

TRACK 3 : She/her. 20s, any AAPI, Black, First Nations, Indigenous, Latine, MENA, Multiracial, or Native ethnicity. 5’4” OR SHORTER.

• [GREAT EXPECTATIONS] MISS ESTELLA HAVISHAM: Miss Havisham’s daughter. Aside from her obvious beauty, Estella is graceful, damaged, and very, very strong. Although she is raised by Miss Havisham to manipulate and torture men, she is highly self-aware and observant, and she develops a kind of moral code. For most of her life, Estella believes that she is incapable of love or empathy – by the end of the story, she is proven to be wrong.
  BIDDY WOPSLE: A schoolmaster’s niece. Practical, hardworking, with a strong sense of integrity – and really, really smart. She is a survivor, an expert on making the best of any situation and an excellent judge of character.
  SOLDIER 2: A soldier.
• [MIDSUMMER] HERMIA: Petite in stature, feisty and fiercely independent personality. A hopeless romantic who usually gets her way.
  SNOUT or STARVELING: One of the Rude Mechanicals. A strong physical comedian.
  FAIRY: Part of Titania’s entourage.
  May portray additional roles AS CAST. PLEASE NOTE ANY MUSICAL ABILITIES.

TRACK 4 : He/him. Mid-30s-40s, any ethnicity.

• [GREAT EXPECTATIONS] JOE GARGERY. A Blacksmith, a gentle giant. Joe is simultaneously uneducated and a highly skilled craftsman. Warm, loyal, and generous. Genuinely and unselfishly wants the best for Pip. Despite his gender and physical strength, he is a victim of domestic abuse. Everyone who grew up with a bad father dreams of having a dad like Joe. Everyone who does have a dad like Joe makes the mistake of taking him for granted.
  MR. MATTHEW POCKET: Miss Havisham’s first cousin and former suitor. Honest, principled, and unpretentious, Matthew Pocket would probably have made an excellent husband. He is well-mannered and well-educated, but not aristocratic.
  WARDEN: The warden at Battersea Prison.
• [MIDSUMMER] EGEUS: Strict, unbending father. Believes in a patriarchal society where women have no rights.
  SNUG: Sweet, gentle and shy. A carpenter in the castle. Must have excellent comedic skills.
  FAIRY: Part of Titania’s entourage. Will also UNDERSTUDY PUCK, THESEUS, and TITANIA.
  May portray additional roles AS CAST. PLEASE NOTE ANY MUSICAL ABILITIES.

TRACK 5 : 30s-40s. Any gender, any ethnicity.

• [GREAT EXPECTATIONS] MR. PUMBLECHOOK: A local farmer. Mr. Pumblechook really enjoys being around powerful people and using his proximity to them to lord it over less powerful people. His loyalty is always, always to the most powerful person in the room.
  MR. WEMICK: Mr. Jaggers’s legal clerk. Eccentric, unassuming, and observant. The kind of transplant to a big city who becomes more local than the locals. Often taken for granted by his superiors.
  PEPPER: Young, but tired, a true born-and-bred Londoner. Just trying to be the best valet he can be.
• [MIDSUMMER] PHILOSTRATE: A rule follower, but empathetic to Hippolyta’s situation. Has an administrative role in the Court.
  PUCK: Playful, loves a good joke, loves getting in trouble. Physically spry. Has magical powers and loves to use them.
  May portray additional roles AS CAST.

TRACK 6 : He/him. 40s, any ethnicity.

• [GREAT EXPECTATIONS] ABEL MAGWITCH: A convict. Tough, resilient, resourceful, loyal, and profoundly lonely. The epitome of the diamond in the rough, Magwitch survives and thrives in the most unlikely places. Has the ability to be terrifying and also incredibly warm and generous. His emotions often get the better of his judgment.
  MR. JAGGERS: Elegant, intimidating, mysterious, and extremely intelligent - the consummate legal professional. Mr. Jaggers knows where all the bodies are buried but no one will ever find out from him. His own secret is that he does, in fact, have a conscience.
• [MIDSUMMER] THESEUS: A warrior and a Duke. He is head of a patriarchal society and believes in those rules. Has a good sense of humor and is open to changing viewpoints.
  TITANIA: King of the Fairies. Loves nature and basks in connection to the earth. Loves the sensuous and sensual things in life.
  May portray additional roles AS CAST.

TRACK 7 : They/them or she/her. Late 20s-30s, any ethnicity.

• [GREAT EXPECTATIONS] MR. HERBERT POCKET: Funny, loyal, and probably the most emotionally healthy person in this story, raised with both good manners and good principles. He dreams of starting his own shipping business and he works to achieve that dream on his own, without relying on his rich cousins. He knows the truth, but he also knows that most people aren’t ready to hear it.
  MISS SALLY POCKET: Transitions from a young, sprightly girl to an anxious, greedy spinster struggling to maintain the pretense of genteel poverty. As a young woman, Sally is more honest and clear-eyed than her sister Camilla but lacks the courage to follow through with her instincts.
  HOT OFFICER: A very attractive policeman. Flirts with everyone.
• [MIDSUMMER] BOTTOM: A worker by day, a star of community theatre by night. Big personality, loves to be the center of attention. A strong physical comedian. Will also UNDERSTUDY PHILOSTRATE.
  May portray additional roles AS CAST.

TRACK 8 : He/him. Late 20s-30s, white.

• [GREAT EXPECTATIONS] MR. BENTLEY DRUMMLE: Future baronet. A sophisticated sadist. Drummle is not the brightest crayon in the box, but he is very aware of his assets and how to use them to his advantage. He is class-obsessed, rule-obsessed, and detail-oriented.
  MISS CAMILLA POCKET: Miss Havisham’s first cousin. Transitions from a hopeful matron to a weary, grasping hypochondriac. Makes a respectable marriage to man who doesn’t have enough money and, as a result, has a vested interest in keeping her cousin happy and siphoning funds from her.
  COMPEYSON: A gentleman convict. Refined, charismatic, deceptive, and ruthless. Compeyson lies to everyone he comes in contact with - Miss Havisham, the prison guards, Magwitch. He is a very convincing liar, aided by his aristocratic manners.
  ORLICK: A journeyman Blacksmith, Orlick is ambitious, angry, socially awkward, and perceptive - and a misogynist. Chronically underpaid/overworked, with neither the savings nor the people skills to start his own forge.
• [MIDSUMMER] DEMETRIUS: Can be a hothead. A bit arrogant and entitled, but also capable of deep love.
  PETER QUINCE or FLUTE: One of the Rude Mechanicals. A strong physical comedian.
  FAIRY: Part of Titania’s entourage.
  May portray additional roles AS CAST. PLEASE NOTE ANY MUSICAL ABILITIES.

TRACK 9 : She/her. 30s, any ethnicity. 5’6” OR TALLER.

• [GREAT EXPECTATIONS] Various ensemble roles AS CAST. Will also understudy TRACK 2 (MISS HAVISHAM/MRS. JOE), TRACK 3 (ESTELLA/BIDDY), and TRACK 7 (HERBERT/SALLY).
• [MIDSUMMER] HELENA: Tall in stature. She has a terrible self-image. Passionate and at times can be overly-dramatic. Desperately in love.
  SNOUT or STARVELING: One of the Rude Mechanicals. A strong physical comedian.
  FAIRY: Part of Titania’s entourage.
  May portray additional roles AS CAST. PLEASE NOTE ANY MUSICAL ABILITIES.