Description:

Blue in the Right Way is thrilled to announce auditions for our debut production of WOMEN BEWARE WOMEN by Thomas Middleton, directed by Kevin V. Smith, freely adapted by Kevin V. Smith and Daiva Bhandari with Spanish translation by Sonia Perello.

Thomas Middleton's 1621 psychosexual revenge tragedy tells the story of four women's lives in the stranglehold of the patriarchy. In this queer feminist take, the lacerating personal narration of two surreal transfemme drag queens frames Middleton's timeless tale, rushing it into the here and now. Our original English/Spanish adaptation dives deep, excavating the social frameworks of gender violence and the gender of violence, as the plot hurtles towards a devastating and outrageous new ending for our modern times.

CW: Incest, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, sexual coercion, assault and violence.

PLEASE NOTE: We ask that you read the full script before auditioning for this play as there is difficult content in this adaptation. We want to make sure each actor takes the time to check in with themselves before auditioning and, furthermore, before committing to this process.

PRODUCTION TEAM
Director: Kevin V. Smith
Production Manager: Anna Gelman
Stage Manager: Sam Flipp
Casting Director: Catherine Miller
Intimacy Director: Courtney Abbott
Violence Design: R&D Choreography - Rick Gilbert and Victor Bayona
Scenic Designer: Xuan Chen
Lighting Designer: Keith Parham
Costume Designer: Alaina Moore
Wig, Hair, and Makeup Designer: Juan Contreras-Kirby
Video and Projection Designer: Eme Ospina-Lopez
Spanish-language Translator: Sonia Perello
Intimacy Consultant: Leo Mock
Producers: Daiva Bhandari and Kevin V. Smith (Blue in the Right Way)
P/R: SHOUT Marketing and Media Relations

Auditions will be held at the Edge Theatre

ROLES
NOTE: All roles must be played by actors aged 18+.

SOLANGE (she/they)
Transfeminine drag queen.
Blistering, wistful, abstract-thinker, mystic, brave, surreal and poetic.
Any age. Open ethnicity.

CLARA (she/they)
Transfeminine drag queen.
Excoriating, insightful, verbal processor, funny, unflinching, surreal and poetic.
Any age. Latine or Afro-Latine
The actor playing this role should be a native Spanish speaker.

BIANCA (she/her)
Wife to Leantio.
Pure of heart, intelligent, intuitive, sarcastic, a force.
16 years old. Black or Afro-Latine.

LEANTIO (he/him)
Husband to Bianca. A merchant.
Athletic, cocky, philosophical, controlling, sex-obsessed.
22 years old. Open ethnicity.

DUKE of Florence (he/him)
Dictatorial. Socially graceful, appreciative, ruthless.
35-45 years old. Open ethnicity.

Leantio's MOTHER (she/her)
A widow. Folksy, frank, convivial.
60 years old. Open ethnicity.

ISABELLA (she/her)
Daughter to Fabritio; niece to Livia and Hippolito.
Sincere, contemplative, courageous, loyal.
16 years old. Open ethnicity.
This role requires a strong singer (part of the audition will be to sing "Silver Dagger")

WARD (he/him)
A rich young heir.
Grotesque, pompous, childlike, guileless.
19 years old. Open ethnicity.

GUARDIANO (he/him)
Guardian to the foolish Ward.
Machiavellian, ambitious, refined, aloof.
39 years old. Open ethnicity.

FABRITIO (he/him)
Father to Isabella; brother to Livia and Hippolito.
Dotty, daffy, boorish, sees in dollar signs.
45 years old. White.

HIPPOLITO (he/him)
Brother to Livia and Fabritio; uncle to Isabella.
Soulful, tortured, devastatingly handsome, gentle, murderous.
32 years old. White.

SORDIDO (he/him)
The Ward's Man.
Mischievous, misogynistic, clever, spritely, a wordsmith.
21 years old. BIPOC.

Lord CARDINAL (he/him)
Younger brother to the Duke.
Fire and brimstone, true believer, closeted, patriarchal, depraved.
33-43 years old. Open ethnicity.

THE ROLE OF LIVIA IS PRECAST.

In reference to the character descriptions - most characters we encounter currently are on the binary and are written with he/him or she/her pronouns, and you will see that in the descriptions above. But however limiting the descriptions are, our casting seeks to be as inclusive as possible, and we invite gender non-conforming, genderqueer, transgender and non-binary actors to submit for the roles they most identify with. We will also list race/ethnicity when specific to the character but are otherwise seeking all races and ethnicities. In addition, we will list disabilities when specific to a character but are otherwise seeking actors with disabilities as well as non-disabled actors for all roles. (Source: Emily Tarquin, Kevin Kantor and Marilee Talkington)

All cast members must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to be cast in the show. "Fully vaccinated," as defined by the CDC, is more than 14 calendar days following receipt of a final dose of an FDA or World Health Organization authorized or approved vaccine.