Westport Country Playhouse 2025 Season - NYC EPA
Westport Country Playhouse | Westport, CT
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM (E)
BREAK: 1:00PM - 2:00PM
LORT Non-Rep
$1051 weekly minimum (LORT C)
Equity actors for roles in Westport Country Playhouse 2025 Season (see breakdown).
No roles will be understudied.
The Playhouse is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive company throughout the season and strongly encourage actors of all backgrounds to audition.
Please prepare a 2-minute monologue of your choice, and provide a hard copy picture and resume.
Ripley-Grier Studios (520)
520 8th Ave
New York, NY 10018-6507
Room 16I for auditions, Room 16J for holding.
See breakdown for production-specific personnel.
See breakdown for production-specific dates.
westportplayhouse.org
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
By Oscar Wilde
Director: Melissa Rain Anderson.
1st Rehearsal — September 30, 2025
1st Preview — October 28, 2025
Opening — November 1, 2025
Closing — November 15, 2025
Possible Extension — November 16, 2025
JOHN (JACK/ERNEST) WORTHING, J.P.
Age: Late 20s – Early 30s. A respectable young man with a carefully constructed double identity. In the country, he is Jack Worthing, a responsible guardian to his young ward Cecily Cardew, admired for his apparent integrity. In London, he adopts the name Ernest, a name he invented to escape the pressures of country life and indulge in a freer existence. This deception becomes problematic when he falls in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, who insists she can only love a man named Ernest. The mysterious origin of his parentage is seen by Lady Bracknell as socially unacceptable and becomes the main obstacle to Jack’s engagement to Gwendolen.
ALGERNON MONCRIEFF
Age: Late 20s – Early 30s. Jack’s best friend and Gwendolen’s cousin. A witty and perpetually irreverent bachelor, Algernon thrives on social games, wordplay, and theatrical deception. He lives in a stylish London flat and avoids responsibility through a clever ruse: he has invented an invalid friend named “Bunbury,” whose constant illnesses allow Algernon to excuse himself from social engagements. Algernon’s quick wit and improvisational charm get him into trouble and out of it again with comical ease.
GWENDOLEN FAIRFAX
Age: Early 20s. The daughter of Lady Bracknell and cousin to Algernon. She is polished, poised, and acutely aware of her social status. She carries herself with the certainty and sophistication of someone raised to lead society. Though she projects intelligence and refinement, she is also entirely consumed by her romantic ideals. A sharp-witted character who thrives on verbal sparring.
CECILY CARDEW
Age: Early 20s. Jack’s ward. Living in the countryside under Miss Prism’s supervision, Cecily is imaginative, romantic, and rebellious in subtle, clever ways. She fantasizes about romance and has invented an elaborate imaginary relationship with Jack’s fictional brother Ernest. When Algernon arrives posing as this invented brother, she is delighted to discover her romantic daydreams seemingly coming to life. She exhibits childlike wonder, comic bravado, romantic passion, and playful wit.
LADY AUGUSTA BRACKNELL
Age: 50 – 65. The embodiment of Victorian social propriety, Lady Bracknell is Algernon’s aunt and Gwendolen’s mother. She is formidable, haughty, and utterly convinced of her moral and social superiority. Lady Bracknell’s speeches are filled with absurd conclusions delivered with absolute conviction. She is obsessed with lineage, wealth, and appearances, and is a brilliant caricature of the aristocracy.
MISS PRISM
Age: 40 – 65. Cecily’s governess, an upright, moralistic, and deeply repressed woman with a sharp tongue and a mysterious past. Though she lectures Cecily about discipline and decorum, she is flustered and flirtatious in the presence of Dr. Chasuble. Her dry demeanor masks romantic longing and a past scandal. Miss Prism is a deliciously comic character with rich contradictions—pedantic yet distracted, strict yet soft-hearted, practical yet faintly ridiculous.
REV. CANON CHASUBLE, D.D.
Age: 50 – 65. Dr. Chasuble is scholarly, mild-mannered, and rather bashful in his interactions with Miss Prism. Though he appears proper and dutiful, Chasuble is clearly affected by Miss Prism’s attention and dreams of a more romantic, less ascetic life. He is often the voice of moral respectability, though undercuts that image with subtle irony. Carries gentle authority and understated comic sensibility.
LANE / MERRIMAN
Age: Flexible. These two roles offer excellent comic opportunities. Lane, Algernon’s London manservant, is droll, discreet, and unfazed by the absurdity of his employer’s habits. Merriman, the country butler at Jack’s estate, is formal and slightly flustered by the mayhem that ensues.
By Eboni Booth
Director: TBA
1st Rehearsal — March 17, 2025
1st Preview — April 14, 2025
Opening — April 18, 2025
Closing — May 2, 2025
Possible Extension — May 3, 2025
KENNETH
Male-identifying, Black, late 30s. Quiet, imaginative, and deeply sensitive, Kenneth carries the weight of a past hurt that has kept him in a tightly controlled life. He is intelligent and observant, with a rich inner world and a love of small rituals. Though cautious and slow to trust, he has a genuine warmth that emerges when he feels safe. His journey is one of learning to embrace change and allow himself to connect more fully with others.
BERT
Male-identifying, Black, late 30s – early 40s. Kenneth’s closest, and perhaps only, friend. Solid, grounded, humorous and steady, with a natural ability to make people feel at ease. He has a practical way of viewing life but is attuned to others’ needs and feelings. Bert’s loyalty and warmth anchor Kenneth, yet he’s not without his own moments of vulnerability.
CORRINA / WALLY’S WAITER / BANK CUSTOMER
Female-identifying, Black, 30s – 40s. Multiple roles, including Corrina, a self-assured, open-hearted waitress who befriends Kenneth. Corrina has a playful sense of humor, speaks her mind, and doesn’t waste time worrying about others’ opinions.
CLAY / SAM / BARTENDER
Male-identifying, any race, 50s – 60s. Multiple roles, including Clay, a former college football star now reflecting on the passage of time and what comes next; and Sam, the gruff, sharp-tongued bookstore owner with a hidden well of kindness. Ability to create distinct characterizations is key.
Adapted for the stage by Mark Shanahan
From the novel by Agatha Christie
Director: Mark Shanahan
1st Rehearsal — June 16, 2025
1st Preview — July 14, 2025
Opening — July 18, 2025
Closing — August 1, 2025
Possible Extension — August 2, 2025
DR. JAMES SHEPPARD
Male Identifying, 40s – 50s. Our narrator. The local doctor for King’s Abbot. Affable, smart and a good storyteller. A self-described “old fogey.” He makes himself available to others and knows everyone in town.
CAROLINE SHEPPARD
Female identifying, 50s – 60s. The nosey older sister of James. She prizes gossip above all else and uses it to her advantage whether it is correct or not. She has a fun sense of humor and a gleam in her eye.
HERCULE POIROT
Male identifying, 50s – 60s. The Belgian detective, in retirement. A brilliant mind who sees every detail, and has a strong sense of moral justice.
RALPH PATON
Male identifying, late 20s – 30s. Young and handsome, Ralph is Ackroyd’s foster son. Wild, with a restless past, Ralph is a bit of a loner and hates his status as the ne’er-do-well foster child of a wealthy man.
HELEN RUSSELL
Female identifying, 40s – 50s. Roger Ackroyd’s personal secretary. A stern and tight-lipped woman. She controls Ackroyd’s personal and business affairs with a steady hand, while keeping secrets of her own. She might seem to some as cold and curt in her interactions, but she has an emotional side boiling beneath the surface.
ROGER ACKROYD
Male identifying, 50s – 60s. The wealthy businessman and lord of Fernly Hall. Ackroyd is an emotional man and the center of much attention in the town of King’s Abbot.
FLORA ACKROYD
Female identifying, 20s – 30s. Roger Ackroyd’s niece. Young, beautiful and willful. Though she has lived a life of privilege, she and her mother have fallen on hard times. She appears to have a warm and generous nature, though can turn suddenly cold when confronted.
MAJOR HECTOR BLUNT
Male identifying, 50s – 60s. A big game hunter and friend of Roger Ackroyd’s who has come to stay at Fernly. A man who has lived all over the world, he believes he understands human nature better than anyone at Fernly.
URSULA BOURNE
Female identifying, 20s – 30s. A young maid at Fernly. She possesses a strong backbone. Though often outspoken, she keeps much to herself and knows more about the comings and goings at Fernly than she is willing to admit.
GERTRUDE ACKROYD
Female identifying, 50s – 60s. Roger Ackroyd’s eccentric sister-in-law and mother to Flora. Flamboyant and overbearing, she resents her dependence on Roger Ackroyd. Often at odds with her daughter and the house staff and house guests. She seems to have a bit of a crush on Dr. Sheppard.
INSPECTOR RAGLAN
Male identifying, 40s – 50s. An Inspector from Cranchester. Not the best of the lot, though seemingly well intentioned. But why can’t he see the obvious?
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