HUDSON VALLEY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 2023 SEASON - EQUITY VIDEO SUBMISSIONS
HUDSON VALLEY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
NEW
Equity actors for roles in Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival's 2023 Season (see breakdown).
All actors will be cast in two of three productions.
Actively seeking diversity of every kind in every role. We encourage BIPOC actors and actors of all abilities and genders to submit.
Please prepare two brief appropriate speeches from Shakespeare. If you sing and/or play musical instruments, including but not limited to: guitar, electric bass, cello, percussion, and violin, please include a sample video selection along with your speeches. Email your headshot/resume and video submission link (YouTube or Vimeo) for role you’d like to be considered for. Subject line: HVSF 2023 Mainstage Season, [Your Name].
Deadline: Fri, Dec 30, 2022
auditions@hvshakespeare.orgmailto:auditions@hvshakespeare.org">auditions@hvshakespeare.org
Artistic Director: Davis McCallum
Directors: Davis McCallum, Amanda Dehnert, Eva Steinmetz
Playwrights: William Shakespeare, Alex Bechtel and Grace McLean
Casting: Calleri Jensen Davis
First Rehearsals:
Henry V, April 18th 2023
Love's Labor's Lost June 6th, 2023
Penelope, August 2, 2023
Previews:
Henry V, June 1st, 2023
Love's Labor's Lost July 12th, 2023
Penelope, Sept 2, 2023
Openings:
Henry V; June 4th, 2023
Love's Labor's Lost, July 15th, 2023
Penelope, Sept 5, 2023
Closings:
Henry V August 21st, 2023
Love's Labor's Lost, August 27th, 2023
Penelope, September 17, 2023
http://hvshakespeare.org" target="_blank">hvshakespeare.org
Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.
TRACK 1: TO PLAY THE FOLLOWING - [CAST] BEROWNE in Love’s Labor’s Lost - Male, 30s. Will double as DAUPHIN / AS CAST in Henry.
TRACK 2: TO PLAY THE FOLLOWING - [CAST] ARMADO (SIR ADRIAN) in Love’s Labor’s Lost - Male, 50s/60s. Will double as EXETER / As Cast in Henry V.
TRACK 3: TO PLAY THE FOLLOWING - [CAST] PISTOL / As Cast in Henry V - Male, 20s/30s. Will double as COSTARD or KING OF NAVARRE in in Love’s Labor’s Lost.
TRACK 4: TO PLAY THE FOLLOWING - [CAST] CHORUS / ELY / BARDOLPH / WILLIAMS / As Cast in Henry V - Male, 40s. Will double as NATHANIEL in Love’s Labor’’s Lost.
TRACK 5: TO PLAY THE FOLLOWING - CANTERBURY/ CHARLES VI / ERPINGHAM / As Cast in Henry V - Male, 50s. May double as DULL in Love’s Labor’s Lost.
TRACK 6: TO PLAY THE FOLLOWING: CONSTABLE / GOWER / As Cast in HENRY V - Male, 30s. Will double as COSTARD or NAVARRE in Love’s Labour's Lost.
TRACK 7: TO PLAY THE FOLLOWING - MOTH in Love’s Labor’s Lost - Male or Non-Binary 20s-30s. Will double with MONTJOY / NYM As Cast in Henry V.
TRACK 8: TO PLAY THE FOLLOWING - [CAST] KING HENRY / As Cast In HENRY V - Female, 20s-30s. Will double as ROSALINE, MARIA, or KATHERINE in Love’s Labor’s Lost..
TRACK 9: TO PLAY THE FOLLOWING - KATHERINE / BOY / As Cast In HENRY V - Female, 20s-30s. Will double as ROSALINE or PRINCESS in Love’s Labor’s Lost.
TRACK 10: TO PLAY THE FOLLOWING - [CAST] FLUELLEN / ALICE / As Cast In HENRY V - Female, 50s. Will double as HOLOFERNES in Love’s Labor’s Lost.
TRACK 11: TO PLAY THE FOLLOWING - PENELOPE in PENELOPE - Female, 35-45. Will double as BOYET in Love’s Labor’s Lost.
by William Shakespeare, directed by Davis McCallum
KING HENRY - Impetuous, headstrong, brilliant with words, snatches victory from the jaws of defeat when he finally understands what is required of a leader. Makes lots of bad decisions along the way, for reasons less to do with the people he is called to lead, and more to do with himself. NOTE: Male-identifying.
KING CHARLES VI - Trying to hold his fractious cohort of headstrong nobles together as the pressure mounts and the cracks grow wider. Anxious that he will be seen as weak. NOTE: Male-identifying.
DAUPHIN - Loves the spotlight and craves unadulterated admiration, and never feels he gets enough of it, except from his horse. NOTE: Male-identifying.
PRINCESS KATHERINE - Brilliant, funny, tres tres French. Cloistered from the world of men and war, but sees the writing on the wall, and understands that eventually she will have a crucial role to play, and may be the sole defender of France. So, she’s preparing for that moment of encountering Henry, almost as if she’s in training for a contest of wills, with equal parts fascination and determination. NOTE: Female-identifying
CANTERBURY - Savvy, pragmatic, shrewd, cynical. He has spent 30 years navigating the halls of power, and knows how to work the system of government, politics, prestige. Slightly smug, and with a little bit of a dark sense of humor as well.
EXETER - Uncle to the King, represents the older generation. Loves his nephew fiercely and would give his life to see him succeed. Fully believes in the rightness of the campaign in France. NOTE: Male-identifying.
CHORUS - Starts the play as King Henry’s cheerleader, and as he leads us through the story, he registers all the ways in which Henry isn’t quite the heroic figure that he’s been billed as. The chorus ends somewhat pushed to the margins, as the narrative he set in motion gains its own momentum. Steps in and out of the action.
PISTOL - Quick-tempered, quick to insult and quick to pull his weapon, but not necessarily to fight. A pickpocket and a liar, with swagger and a poet’s heart. He convinces Fluellen that he is a great soldier for a while, but is soon discovered. NOTE: Male-identifying.
FLUELLEN - Welsh officer in King Harry’s army. Thrilled that Harry has Welsh blood too and he can call himself a blood-relative of his King. Quick tempered, and a stickler for the tiniest detail, but a loyal and passionate soldier. NOTE: Male-identifying.
LORD CONSTABLE - Commander-in-chief of the French Army. An accomplished and experienced military tactician, he respects Henry and recognizes the threat he is to France, but is keen to go to war and convinced his troops will win against the English. Horrified when the French are losing but brave enough to run back to fight. NOTE: Male-identifying.
MONTJOY - Herald for the French court, sent by King Charles VI and the Constable to deliver and take messages to Henry during the war. Not above a little bit of improvisational embellishment, Montjoy becomes more than a messenger, carrying information between two mighty monarchies; he develops an odd personal connection with Henry over the course of the play. Note: Both male-identifying and non-binary actors are encouraged to submit for this role.
by William Shakespeare, directed and adapted by Amanda Dehnert
Music by Amanda Dehnert and Andre Pluess
BEROWNE: In a group of four friends, he’s the one most likely to convince the others that jumping off the roof and landing in an empty swimming pool full of bags of leaves is a good idea. NOTE: Male-identifying. Also, SINGER/MUSICIAN
FERDINAND, KING of NAVARRE: Serious and sharp. Very good at constructing elaborate schemes, clubs, secret codes, and pacts - in a group of four friends, he’s the one most likely to host all the sleepovers. NOTE: Male-identifying. Also, MUSICIAN or SINGER
PRINCESS: Serious, smart, and carrying heavy responsibilities. She’s never gotten to simply “be”. Her friends are the people who know her best. NOTE: Female-identifying. Also, SINGER, possibly MUSICIAN
ROSALINE: In a group of four friends, she’s the one most likely to volunteer for the overnight driving shift on the road trip - and can be trusted to not fall asleep. She’s also very good at talking her way out of speeding tickets and into parties. NOTE: Female-identifying. Also, SINGER, possibly MUSICIAN
BOYET: She is chaperone to the Princess and her train. Observant, smart, likable, if a little too serious sometimes. NOTE: Female-identifying.
ARMADO: This character has been heavily altered from the Don Armado written by Shakespeare. He’s a con man, hob-nobbing with the wealthy as he party-hops his way through life. Never pays for dinner. Despite all his social skills, manages to make a real fool out of himself by falling head-over-heels for a strange young woman who works in town .NOTE: Male-identifying. Also sings (non-expert).
COSTARD: He’s the general handyman around the place, with an endearingly nerdy way about him; he’s got a major crush on Jaquenetta. NOTE: Both male-identifying and non-binary actors are encouraged to submit for this role, so long as they are willing to accept a role gendered as male. Also, SINGER/MUSICIAN
MOTH: They travel with Armado as his ‘valet’. Moth admires Armado’s swagger and thinks of their (unpaid) employment with Armado as a sort of apprenticeship; one day, Moth will have rich friends of their own and crash in their guesthouses, too. NOTE: Both male-identifying and non-binary actors are encouraged to submit for this role. Also, SINGER/MUSICIAN
HOLOFERNES: Went to Harvard and will never, ever let you forget it. NOTE: any gender.
NATHANIEL: Of the cloth, but in a superficial sense. Likes to spend time with Holofernes and be a bit snobby about the less educated of the town. NOTE: any gender identity, so long as it differs from that of Holofernes
DULL: A man of few words. Not lacking in brains; just isn’t much of a talker. NOTE: Both male-identifying and non-binary actors are encouraged to submit for this role, so long as they are willing to accept a role gendered as male. Possibly a MUSICIAN, though not necessarily.
JAQUENETTA: She works in the local diner, and sometimes likes to set out bottle-caps with maple syrup in them, so the fruit flies and the ants can have a mixer. She’s a little strange, in a world of her own. Had what she thought was a fun, short fling with the good-looking older guy who lives in the King’s guest-house…didn’t expect the consequences, and would rather not think about it. NOTE: Female-identifying. Also, SINGER/MUSICIAN
Music and Lyrics by Alex Bechtel
Book by Alex Bechtel, Grace Mclean, and Eva Steinmetz
Directed by Eva Steinmetz
PENELOPE: The lead actor of a Greek Drama, the lead singer of a Rock Band, a seasoned Comedienne, a poetic Performance Artist; a Mom. Penelope moves through a day in her life, inviting us into her mind and heart while she waits (a very long time) for her husband Odysseus to return. NOTE: Female-identifying. Also, Strong Folk/Rock Singer
Videos
