Upcoming Auditions

Announcing auditions for

The Book of Will

by Lauren Gunderson

Produced by Foothill College Theatre Arts, Nov 4-21

Directed by Bruce McLeod

Live performances

Non-AEA, no pay

Roles range from older actors and their very vocal spouses, to younger preening performers, a cantankerous competitor, a devious publisher, saucy servers, and more.

All ages, types needed. No roles precast.

“Casting should be diverse. Shakespeare is for everyone.”

-Lauren Gunderson, The Book of Will

All cast and crew will be enrolled at Foothill College and must be vaccinated before attending on-campus rehearsals and performances

Casting:  Sep 7 until all roles filled

Callbacks: Sep 8-9, 6-8pm; Sep 14-16, 6-8pm or as arranged

Schedule notes:

• In person full cast reading TBD; September 19,20, or21 6:30-10pm
• Virtual rehearsals as arranged Sep 22-30.
• In person rehearsals Sun-Thursday 7-10pm starting Oct 1
• Tech Sat/Sun, Oct 30,31
• Dress M-Th /Preview, Nov 1-3
• Performances: Th-Sat evenings, Sun Mat; Nov 4--6, 11-14, 18-21

TO BE CONSIDERED:

Send the following to foothill.stage.management@gmail.com with WILL in the subject line:

1. A short video: 90 seconds maximum with two contrasting selections
2. A headshot and current resume Including performance history and contact info.

If you have performed for Foothill in the past 5 years, either live or virtually, in a musical or play, please use WILL FH in the Subject line and include a current headshot, resume and contact info. You are not required to send a video at this time.

For questions email mcleodbruce@foothill.edu

GENERAL CASTING NOTES:

Ages and gender notes are guidelines and may be modified as necessary for a diverse cast.

MAJOR ROLES:

HENRY CONDELL—40; feisty, hopeful friend and actor in the King’s Men.

JOHN HEMINGES—50s; reasonable friend and financial manager of the King’s Men; owner of the Globe Tap House; a good man, a gentleman, if serious.

RICHARD BURBAGE—50s; seasoned lion of the stage, famous across England, loud and proud.

ALICE HEMINGES—30s, John’s daughter and alewife, knows everyone and hangs with the boys.

BEN JONSON—Poet laureate of England, friend/rival of Shakespeare. Amazing drunk. A bear of a man. Surprisingly weepy.

ELIZABETH CONDELL—Henry’s wife, savvy and fun.

REBECCA HEMINGES—John’s wife, a good wife. Strong, busy with their grocery business, a woman who has weathered much but loves her husband and sons and God.

ED KNIGHT—“Stage manager” for the King’s Men, self-serious and particular.

RALPH CRANE—Humble scrivener of the King’s Men. Quick, sure, quiet.

WILLIAM JAGGARD—Successful if shady publisher of books, plays, and playbills. Confident in his ability to get what he wants. Very experienced, very connected, willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. An ass.

ISAAC JAGGARD—William’s son, will inherit the business. Sensitive, an artist at heart.

MARCUS—20, printer’s apprentice at the Jaggard print shop, nosy but honest.

EMILIA BASSANO LANIER—40-50, fiery Italian feminist and poet, independent

woman, lover of life (and of Shakespeare).

ANNE HATHAWAY SHAKESPEARE—60, Shakespeare’s now ailing wife. Strong-willed, a classy lady, a survivor.

OTHER ROLES:

BOY HAMLET, Young actor

BARKEEPERS, Ruffians and drunks

COMPOSITOR, Works in Jaggard’s printshop, young

TOWN CRIER, what it sounds like,young,

HORATIO, actor playing the part

BERNARDO, actor playing the part

FRANCISCO, actor playing the part

FRUIT SELLER, selling on the street

MARCELLUS, actor playing the part

SIR EDWARD DERING, book and theatre lover

SUSANNAH SHAKESPEARE, Shakespeare’s daughter

 

“Imagine a world without Macbeth, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Taming of the Shrew or Julius Caesar. Before the publishing of Shakespeare’s anthologized plays in Folio format in 1623, these plays and many others had never appeared in print. Once the actors who originated these roles – and then anyone who remembered seeing them – had died, they risked being completely forgotten.

Following the death of iconic actor Richard Burbage, and still reeling from Shakespeare’s death three years earlier, the surviving senior members of the King’s Men acting company realize that without a herculean effort to amass the various scraps of surviving manuscripts, sides and prompt books, the works of Shakespeare could be lost to time entirely except for the unauthorized and inferior printings of a handful of his plays. The story of this compilation is brought to life.… in Lauren Gunderson’s vibrant play, The Book of Will.”

-John Geoffrion, DC Theatre Scene, 2017

 “[Gunderson] has peopled the stage with lively, historically based characters…She paints a vivid portrait of the times in language sometimes formal, sometimes poetic and often…contemporary…She also gives a real feel for theater life and what it means to be an actor; you sense this is a work of both scholarship and love…[THE BOOK OF WILL] serves as homage to those who sacrificed to make the first folio happen and to Shakespeare’s magnificent words.” —Westword (Denver, CO).

Audition Mailing List

Would you like  to be added to our audition and performance schedule distribution list?

Please send an email with your email address in the body of the email to: theatreboxoffice@fhda.edu