Auditions:
Mary Stuart
by Friedrich Schiller, adapted by Peter Oswald. Directed by John Oakenfull
Thursday 13th August 8 p.m.
Monday 17th August 8 p.m.
Friday 28th August 8 p.m.
Performance dates: Monday 22 – Saturday 27 February 2016
Imagine a country where people go in fear of religious fundamentalism, a country where an
idealistic young man may be groomed by his country’s enemies to commit an act of
terrorism, a country where a political refugee may be imprisoned for years without trial.
Schiller’s exciting classic play Mary Stuart, portrays England in the Sixteenth Century rather
than the Twenty-first, but provides us with insights into our own time as much as that of the
Tudors and Stuarts. We shall be using Peter Oswald’s robust modern translation which has
been a hit both in the West End and on Broadway, where it gained seven Tony Award
nominations.
I shall want to be fairly flexible as regards actual and playing age, and in bringing out the
parallels between the Tudor society and our own I would like to encourage both female and
male actors to consider auditioning for some of the roles which were originally specifically
male. We’re not going to be silly though. I’m not really expecting to see budding drag stars to
portray Mary Queen of Scots or Queen Elizabeth I!
Famously, the play includes a meeting between the two queens which did not in fact take
place.
It shows the plots and political machinations leading to Mary’s execution, but was she
really the tragic victim as she is often portrayed, or an accomplished politician who finally
runs out of options?
Characters
Name
ELIZABETH, Queen of England
Age considerations
Mary was actually in her
early 40s at this time, and
Elizabeth about 50 but
we’re not going to fuss
MARY STUART, Queen of Scots, a Prisoner in
England
HANNAH KENNEDY, her Nurse
WILLIAM CECIL, Lord Burleigh, Lord High
Treasurer
ROBERT DUDLEY, Earl of Leicester
Casting of
these
characters
needs to be
genderspecific
Similar age to Mary or
older
40s or older
SIR EDWARD MORTIMER, Paulet’s Nephew.
Elizabeth’s younger suitor
– 30s?
Youngish – 20s/30s
O'KELLY, Mortimer's Friend
Similar age to Mortimer
GEORGE TALBOT, Earl of Shrewsbury
EARL OF KENT.
SIR WILLIAM DAVISON, Secretary of State.
SIR AMIAS PAULET, Keeper of MARY
COUNT L'AUBESPINE, the French
Ambassador.
COUNT BELLIEVRE, Envoy Extraordinary from
France
Casting of
these
characters
need not be
exclusively
male.
I think we can be flexible
with the ages of these
characters. Some will not
have many lines and may
be merged or doubled, and
if cast you will be
appearing in various court
scenes.
SIR ANDREW MELVIL, Mary’s House Steward
SIR DRUGEON DRURY, another Keeper of
MARY
Auditions will be held in the Rehearsal Room. If you can’t manage any of the dates, let John
Oakenfull know (telephone 020 8290 0266) and he’ll be happy to arrange an alternative time
for you to read.