Stage West is announcing one audition for the 2023-24 season. Sides are posted below the title of each show when available.
General Notes for All Auditions:
Roles are open to both Equity and Non-Union. All roles are open to all ethnicities. EMC points may be received for Non-Union performers. Non-Union performers are paid for rehearsal and performances.
Actors of all ethnicities, and gender identities encouraged to submit. In reference to the character descriptions below—most characters we encounter currently are on the binary and are written with he/him or she/her pronouns and you will see that in the following descriptions. But however limiting the descriptions are, our casting seeks to be as inclusive as possible and we invite gender non-conforming, genderqueer, transgender and non-binary actors to submit for the roles they most identify with. We will also list race/ethnicity when specific to the character but are otherwise seeking all races and ethnicities. Let us know if you have any questions, concerns, or if there are any accommodations we can provide (Language developed by Kevin Kantor and Emily Tarquin from the Actors Theatre of Louisville).
PLEASE PROVIDE HEADSHOT AND RESUME!
The Importance of Being Earnest
Both the scenes and the monologues will be used at auditions. There may be additional scenes for callbacks.
Sides: Algernon Mono Cecily Mono Chasuble Mono Gwendolen Mono Jack Mono Prism Mono
Cecily-Algernon Cecily-Gwendolen Jack-Algernon Jack-Gwendolen Prism-Chasuble
by Oscar Wilde
Director: Ashley Puckett-Gonzales
September 5-22, 2024
So, there are these two rich and eligible English bachelors. Both are pretending to be a man named Ernest, because they are trying to woo these two ladies who have decided they are all about that name. But when their romantic schemes collide, the whole charade unravels in a whirlwind of wacky surprises and dazzling wit. This classic comedy of courtship and manners is a masterpiece of social satire for all who appreciate the humbling folly of falling in love.
Roles: (British dialect required)
JOHN (JACK/ERNEST) WORTHING, J.P. - he/him; late 20s - early 30s; Any Ethnicity; a seemingly responsible and respectable young man who leads a double life. In the country, where he has an estate, Jack is known as Jack. In London he is known as Ernest. As a baby, Jack was discovered in a handbag by an old man who adopted him and subsequently made Jack guardian to his granddaughter, Cecily Cardew. Jack is in love with his friend Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax. The initials after his name indicate that he is a Justice of the Peace.
ALGERNON MONCRIEFF - he/him; late 20s - early 30s; Any Ethnicity; a charming, idle, decorative bachelor, nephew of Lady Bracknell, cousin of Gwendolen Fairfax, and best friend of Jack Worthing, whom he has known for years as Ernest. Algernon is brilliant, witty, selfish, amoral, and given to making delightful paradoxical and epigrammatic pronouncements. He has invented a fictional friend, "Bunbury," an invalid whose frequent sudden relapses allow Algernon to wriggle out of unpleasant or dull social obligations.
GWENDOLEN FAIRFAX - she/her; late 20s; Any Ethnicity; Algernon's cousin and Lady Bracknell's daughter. Gwendolen is in love with Jack, whom she knows as Ernest. A model and arbiter of high fashion and society, Gwendolen speaks with unassailable authority on matters of taste and morality. She is sophisticated, intellectual, cosmopolitan, and utterly pretentious. Gwendolen is fixated on the name Ernest and says she will not marry a man without that name.
CECILY CARDEW - she/her; early 20s; Any Ethnicity; Jack's ward, the granddaughter of the old gentlemen who found and adopted Jack when Jack was a baby. Cecily is probably the most realistically drawn character in the play. Like Gwendolen, she is obsessed with the name Ernest, but she is even more intrigued by the idea of wickedness. This idea, rather than the virtuous-sounding name, has prompted her to fall in love with Jack's brother Ernest in her imagination and to invent an elaborate romance and courtship between them.
MISS PRISM - she/her; 40s - 60s; Any Ethnicity; Cecily's governess. Miss Prism is an endless source of pedantic bromides and clichés. She highly approves of Jack's presumed respectability and harshly criticizes his "unfortunate" brother. Puritan though she is, Miss Prism's severe pronouncements have a way of going so far over the top that they inspire laughter. Despite her rigidity, Miss Prism seems to have a softer side. She speaks of having once written a novel whose manuscript was "lost" or "abandoned." Also, she entertains romantic feelings for Dr. Chasuble.
REV. CANON CHASUBLE, D.D. - he/him; 50s - 60s; Any Ethnicity; the rector on Jack's estate. Both Jack and Algernon approach Dr. Chasuble to request that they be christened "Ernest." Dr. Chasuble entertains secret romantic feelings for Miss Prism. The initials after his name stand for "Doctor of Divinity."
LANE / MERRIMAN - he/him; 30s - 60s; Any Ethnicity; Lane is Algernon's manservant. When the play opens, Lane is the only person who knows about Algernon's practice of "Bunburying." Lane appears only in Act I; Merriman is the butler at the Manor House, Jack's estate in the country. Merriman appears only in Acts II and III.
PLEASE NOTE: The role of LADY BRACKNELL has been cast.
Audition Dates/Times:
Saturday, September 16, 2023 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Sunday, September 17, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Callbacks will be held Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 6:00 PM.
LOCAL DFW ACTORS HIGHLY ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT
Audition Requirements: IN-PERSON AUDITIONS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY!
To make an appointment, please sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/4h6rbtcj . Auditions will involve cold readings from the script. The script is available at the Stage West Offices. Auditions will be held at Stage West, 821 W Vickery. Please provide headshot and resume. Advance perusal of the script is requested.
SIDES WILL BE POSTED ABOVE WHEN AVAILABLE
Video Submission deadline is Friday, September 15, 2023 by 5:00PM CT.
Please submit videos and materials using Airtable at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/cvy8kx4h .
If questions arise, please e-mail auditions [at] stagewest.org
The AEA contract on the production will be an SPT 6, with a weekly rate of $576.
The Non-Union rate for this production is $300 per week.
Rehearsals:
Begin Monday, August 12, 2024.
Rehearsal schedule is Monday through Saturday with Sundays off.
Rehearsal times are Mondays through Fridays 6:30-11PM, and Saturdays 1-5PM and 6:30-9:30PM.
Performances:
Thursday, September 5, 2024 through Sunday, September 22, 2024 at Stage West, 821 W Vickery.
[Note: performances will be Thursdays at 7:30PM, Fridays at 8:00PM, Saturdays at 2:00PM and 8:00PM, and Sundays at 2:00PM and 7:30PM.]
Please get on our email list (select Actor Audition List) for any additional projects.
