Description:

Chicago Shakespeare Theater is seeking Chicago-based actors for our 2020/21 Season.

As theater-makers, we are charged with engaging honestly and deeply in conversations about our humanity, and our inhumanity. We are holding ourselves accountable to an ongoing practice that will ensure that Chicago Shakespeare is an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and actively anti-racist in all areas of the organization, including casting.

General auditions provide us the opportunity to meet the broadest spectrum of the theater community—even more so now, when we are not limited by time and location. We encourage all people to submit who did not attend our winter 2020 auditions; if we saw you in January/February, we have your information on file and will consider you for the upcoming season. We welcome actors of all gender identities, abilities, races, and ethnicities to submit.

PLEASE NOTE: With the exception of AS YOU LIKE IT, which was initially cast for Spring 2020, all roles are currently open. Specific character breakdowns for each play will be announced shortly, but the following should give you a good sense of skill sets and character types needed for each production. Actors do NOT need to choose text from these plays.

All roles will be understudied. All dates and productions for the 2020-21 season are subject to change.

WINTER 2021
-I, SHAKESPEARE, by Tim Crouch. The in-person/streaming season will start with a pair of solo shows, under the umbrella of I, Shakespeare. Audiences will be able to choose whether to attend in person in a reduced-capacity performance space or stream the production live from home. This, of course, is subject to current COVID safety guidelines from the government and Actors Equity for all productions listed.

-I, BANQUO, directed by Marti Lyons. This is a one-act prose piece. Banquo. A soldier/warrior who carries the bulk of the play. Requires a dynamic performer with excellent language and memorization skills, emotional complexity and depth. Age 30-45. Also Fleance, Macbeth's son. Seeking actor over the age of 18. Actor will also play musical instrument TBD. Both roles open to all gender identities, abilities, races, and ethnicities.

-I, CINNA (THE POET) directed by Tyrone Phillips. This is a one-act solo prose piece that requires an engaging, dynamic performer with excellent language and memorization skills, and emotional depth and complexity. Open to all gender identities, abilities, races, and ethnicities. Age 25-40.

WINTER/ EARLY SPRING 2021
-IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, book by Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair, music by Kinosian, and lyrics by Blair, and based on the Universal Pictures film. Laura Braza will direct. Seeking highly skilled comic actors with strong voices, great versatility, inventive physicality and a great sense of off-beat humor. Also seeking two "romantic leads" with a strong sense of the 50s period style and with Golden Age of Musical Theater voices. Strongly seeking all gender identities, abilities, races, and ethnicities. Ages 25-50.

SPRING 2021
-MEASURE FOR MEASURE, DIRECTED BY Henry Godinez, and TWELFTH NIGHT, directed by Barbara Gaines. These two productions, using a ten-member ensemble of actors, will be performed by the same cast in repertory. Seeking versatile comedic/dramatic performers comfortable with Shakespeare. Performances will take place in the Yard, which will be configured to maintain safety measures. Both pieces will be played in adaptations that eliminate intermissions. All gender identifications, abilities, races, and ethnicities strongly encouraged to submit. A separate understudy company will be hired as well. Ages 25-65.

SPRING/SUMMER 2021
-AS YOU LIKE IT, adapted and directed by Daryl Cloran (postponed from the 2019-20 season.) A Beatles-infused musical version of this great pastoral comedy. Currently this play has been cast except for understudies. Understudies require singing actors with experience in Shakespeare, and for some, proficiency in various instruments including, piano, percussion, electric guitar, and bass guitar. Ages 25-70.

Pay: AEA CAT Minimums are $800/wk (Tier Five), and $959/wk (Tier Six). NON-AEA performance minimum is $550/wk.

Material To Prepare:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, state and local mandates and safety efforts, Chicago Shakespeare will be holding these additional season auditions through video submissions.

We invite actors to virtually submit two pieces of their choosing, not to exceed three minutes total. This can take a number of forms:

-one classical and one contemporary piece;

-two contemporary pieces; or

-one monologue and 32 bars of a song with pre-recorded accompaniment. (Online streaming sites such as Spotify, Apple Music, etc. can provide resources for this).

Playwrights and poets of all cultures are welcome. Showcase your talents as you think best serves you.

Since we know that not all actors have equal access to adequate space or equipment, you are not required to record something new for us, whether it be monologue or song. We will gladly view content that you already have on hand if you believe it represents you strongly. If you have neither previously recorded material, or access to equipment, please contact us and we will work with you to provide access.

Pre-screening and auditions for specific productions will be done by invitation on a play-by-play basis based on submissions.