RICHMOND SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY
AUDITION NOTICE
‘Let’s have one other gaudy night…Let’s mock the midnight bell.’
‘ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA’
by William Shakespeare
PLAYING DATES Saturday 6th March to 13th March 2010
(excluding 10th March)
Reading at the Mary Wallace Theatre — Monday 16th November at 8pm
Auditions at the Mary Wallace Theatre:
Sunday 22 November at 7pm (roles of Cleopatra and Antony),
and Monday 23rd November at 8pm (all other roles)
nd
(If you are unable to make the proper audition, pre-auditions can be heard at the MWT on Wednesday 18 th
November at 8pm by prior arrangement with the director)
Director Gerald Baker
0208 891 0612 or baker.gerald@googlemail.com
Rehearsals will begin on Tuesday, 5th January and follow the usual RSS Sunday afternoon (approx
2.30 to 6) and Tuesday/Thursday/Friday evening (approx 7.45 to 10.30) pattern until the week or 10
days before opening. I’ll be using the Penguin Shakespeare edition (ISBN 978 0 14 101228 5) — this
has the same text and lineation as the older New Penguin Shakespeare for anyone not wanting to
rebuy, but has different page references.
I have written a little about the play in the last couple of issues of our Rumour newsletter. You will
therefore know that this production is not going to be a spectacular Roman costume piece and that I
am looking for 13 to 15 actors to double over 50 speaking roles in this linguistically challenging and
emotionally helter-skelter script (I cannot therefore at this point give an exact doubling chart). Be
aware too that although no character’s gender will be changed I am very happy (positively desirous, in
fact) to cast one major male role with a woman — see below for details.
The auditions will be spread over two evenings, but these are not alternative dates: on the Sunday call
I will hear all the auditionees for Cleopatra and for Antony, a solo piece each and a duet, and I will
hear every possible Antony/Cleopatra combination. On the Monday I’ll hear all the other roles and
then will consult in the usual way with the General Committee to cast all the roles heard on both
evenings, in the hope of making the usual announcement that night.
Characters in the following list of audition pieces are divided into two groups, older and younger.
The dividing line is approximately 40/45 years old at the time of the historical action. Only a very
few roles would fit into either list. Please be aware that in auditioning for these named roles you are
committing yourself to playing a cluster of roles that would include this role: there isn’t scope for just
doing Ventidius or Dolabella for example.
Auditions are open only to RSS Acting Members.
Please contact the Membership Secretary for details on how to join:
(020) 8940 1606 or membership@rss-mwt.org.uk
You can join either at the reading or at the auditions.
‘ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA’
Audition Pieces
Older characters
Antony — solo IV 8 lines 1-11 (p100)
— duet with Cleopatra I 3 lines 40-end (pp17-19)
Lepidus — II 2 lines 17-25 (p29)
Enobarbus — II 2 lines 211-231 (pp36-37) This is from the famous barge description, but
don’t give me poetry, make it consonant with Enobarbus’s usual rougher persona
Ventidius — III 1 lines 11-24 (p58)
Menas — II 7 lines 61-83 (with Pompey) (pp 54-55)
Cleopatra — solo IV 15 lines 72-90 (p116)
— duet with Antony I 3 lines 40-end (pp17-19)
Younger characters
Caesar * — III 6 lines 42-55 (p69) and III 12 lines 26-33 (p81)
Agrippa — I 2 lines 123-125 and run straight into lines 130-144 (pp33-34)
Sextus Pompey — II 7 lines 61-83 (with Menas) (pp54-55)
Iras — I 2 lines 59-76 (with Charmian) (pp9-10)
Octavia — III 4 lines 10-19 (p65)
Could be older or younger
Charmian — I 2 lines 59-76 (with Iras) (pp9-10)
Clown * — V 2 lines 249-259 (pp130-131). Make me laugh
* = open to cross-gender casting
There are many other roles both named and unnamed. If you would like to audition but don’t
have a particular yen for any of the above roles, then please use as a general audition piece
either the Ventidius piece or the Agrippa selection given above. If there’s a role you’re
interested in that doesn’t have a specific audition piece, then please name it on your audition
slip.
In addition the Pompey scene (II 7) requires a Singer, who could be one of the characters
already scripted in that scene or might be added to it. If you would like to audition for this
specifically, please prepare and give a verse (two verses if they’re short) from any
Shakespeare song or from a traditional English song.
RSS auditions don’t require you to learn the pieces. If you want to, by all means do, because
knowing the piece does give you greater flexibility. But don’t feel that you have to.
Please return your audition slip to the Secretary by mid-day on Saturday, 21st November, so
I can prepare a running order. I’ll happily hear people who return their slips later, but not
until the end of the evening.
Have fun reading the play and preparing your pieces. I look forward to seeing you on the
22nd and 23rd.
GB