Majestic Readers' Theatre presents The Tragedy of Antony & Cleopatra By William Shakespeare
Adapted and directed by Rachel Kohler
Open Auditions: January 22 & 23, 2024 7:00-9:00pm
First Cast Meeting: January 31, 6:30-9:30pm
Rehearsal Timeframe: February 5-23
Evening Performances (7:30pm): February 24
Matinee Performances (2:30pm): February 25
The Majestic Theatre (a division of the City of Corvallis Parks and Recreation department) is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion and to creating a safe place for actors of all backgrounds to explore their craft. We are particularly eager to work with artists of color and other artists from marginalized communities. All auditions are free and open to the public. This audition is for an amateur, volunteer production. The Majestic Theatre staff and volunteers do not discriminate on the basis of age, national origin, race, gender, ethnic background, ability, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or any protected class.
Auditions will be held in person at The Majestic Theatre. A headshot will be requested to be posted with the cast list.
SHOW SYNOPSIS
A story of doomed love between two extraordinarily selfish and powerful people, set against a sweeping background of the geopolitical conflicts of antiquity. Antony, Roman general and politician, and Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, can't settle on one choice: should they put their desire for one another above their responsibilities? Or prioritize their politics over their passions? In striving for both, they achieve nothing but miscommunication, isolation, and ultimately, utter tragedy.
FROM THE DIRECTOR, RACHEL KOHLER
This is a play that is, at its core, about people who are incapable of communicating effectively. Antony and Cleopatra, Caesar and Antony, Cleopatra and Caesar – all of the principal characters and many of the incidental characters spend most of the play talking at and around each other. They all have monstrous social and emotional needs, but they are incapable of making the true connections that they require to fulfill them. The play is by definition a tragedy because “everyone dies,” but in this particular tragedy, almost every death is by suicide. These people are lonely, broken, and disconnected. Because of these themes of isolation, I created this adaptation originally as a response to the social and staging pressures of the height of the COVID pandemic. The concept and the staging were intended to maintain social distance for safety. While that's no longer as much of a concern for most people, the ideas of isolation reflected in this play and this adaptation of it hit a little differently three years out from the pandemic's height - now we, as a society, must reckon with the damage that the isolation of the past few years inflicted upon us. The adaptation is designed for three actors to play all 20 roles (pared down considerably from the 35+ roles in the full play).
CONTENT WARNING
This play contains discussions and descriptions of intimacy, violence, and war, as well as several onstage suicides.
PREPARATION NOTES
You do NOT need to prepare a monologue or piece. Wear comfortable clothes to audition. Be ready to move (within your comfortable ability to do so), collaborate with others, and make bold choices. Auditions will consist of group acting exercises followed by cold readings from the adaptation.
If you have any questions, feel free to email kohlerrl6297@marybaldwin.edu and ask!
CASTING NOTE
Because this adaptation calls for three actors to play 5-8 roles apiece, what we are most looking for in auditions is flexibility and range. In what ways can each actor change their voice, body, demeanor, carriage, and/or gait in order to create multiple characters? The casting breakdown below is organized by actor, listing every character that actor will portray. This is Shakespeare, so we have a lot of leeway with the gender presentation of some of the characters, but generally speaking, all actors will need to have some level of comfort with portraying a variety of gender expressions in a genuine, respectful, and grounded manner. Bear in mind also that the nature of this adaptation means that all three actors will be onstage for the entirety of the play.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
Actor #1
Actor Age: 18+
Actor Race: Any.
Actor Ethnicity: Any.
Desired Actor Gender: Any, but leaning towards female-presenting or non-binary.
Ability/movement: Ability to stand, sit, lie down on the ground, perform multiple quick changes.
Characters portrayed:
Eros, one of Antony’s Roman soldiers (pronouns: any)
Charmian, Cleopatra’s servant (pronouns: any)
Lepidus, one of the triumvirate rulers of Rome (pronouns: any)
Menas, a pirate, ally to Pompey (pronouns: any)
Octavia, sister to Octavius Caesar, later wife to Antony (pronouns: she/her)
Euphronius, ambassador from Antony to Caesar (pronouns: any)
A Roman Guard (pronouns: any)
Clown, a rural fellow (pronouns: any)
Actor #2
Actor Age: 18+
Actor Race: Any.
Actor Ethnicity: Any.
Desired Actor Gender: Any, but leaning towards male-presenting or non-binary.
Ability/movement: Ability to stand, sit, lie down on the ground, perform multiple quick changes.
Characters portrayed:
Marc Antony, one of the triumvirate rulers of Rome, lover to Cleopatra (pronouns: he/him)
Iras, Cleopatra’s servant (pronouns: any)
A Messenger (pronouns: any)
Menecrates, a pirate, ally to Pompey (pronouns: any)
Thyreus, ambassador from Caesar to Antony (pronouns: any)
Dercetas, one of Antony’s Roman soldiers (pronouns: any)
Proculeius, ambassador from Caesar to Cleopatra (pronouns: any)
Actor #3
Actor Age: 18+
Actor Race: Any, but leaning towards a nonwhite actor, as Actor #3 plays Cleopatra. The historical Cleopatra was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Macedonian Greeks who ruled Egypt from 305 to 30 BC, originally appointed as governors by Alexander the Great. Cleopatra was therefore ethnically Greek rather than Egyptian. Regardless of her historical reality, as a character, she has almost always been played by a white actor and generally depicted as “exotic” in some way. While there is a lot of discourse these days about the relative merits of casting Cleopatra with an actor of one race versus another, this production intends to take a simple stance: the director has seen only white women play Cleopatra and thinks it would be much more interesting for her to be played by a nonwhite actor of any gender.
Actor Ethnicity: Any.
Desired Actor Gender: Any, but leaning towards female-presenting or non-binary.
Ability/movement: Ability to stand, sit, lie down on the ground, perform multiple quick changes.
Characters portrayed:
Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, lover to Antony (pronouns: she/her)
A Soothsayer (pronouns: any)
Enobarbus, one of Antony’s Roman soldiers (pronouns: any)
Octavius Caesar, one of the triumvirate rulers of Rome (pronouns: any)
Pompey, rival to the Triumvirate, seeks to rule Rome (pronouns: any)