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The Tempest Auditions

Pittsfield Shakespeare in the Park presents THE TEMPEST, playing July 21–August 7 on Pittsfield’s First Street Common. Rehearses nights and weekends in Pittsfield beginning June 19.

Seeking non-union actors for all roles. Note most roles are gender agnostic. Please prepare no more than 12 lines of text from the character you’re reading for. You can find the full text online here. Actors may also decide to audition with a friend, using a scene from the play.

Teens and children age 8 and up auditioning for Ariel/Island Spirits should prepare a few lines of a favorite a cappella song (perhaps that one might hear on an enchanted island). (A short text young actors can learn is:

All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come
To answer thy best pleasure; be’t to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
On the curl’d clouds, to thy strong bidding task
Ariel and all his quality.

AUDITION TIMES:
Saturday, March 5 from 2–6pm, or
Sunday, March 6 from 11am–3pm
at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts
(28 Renne Avenue, Pittsfield)

Please email your headshot and resume to enrico@pittsfieldshakespeare.org for an audition slot.

Character Breakdown:

KING ALONSO
Male or female—late forties or older. King of Naples, key player in overthrow of Prospero. Grief-stricken, lost of hope. Able to command the loyalties of their followers.

GONZALO
Male or female—fifties or older. Adviser to the King. Wise, kind, and thick-skinned. Ever the optimist, a survivor and caretaker.

ANTONIO
Male or female—forties or older. Arranged the overthrow of his brother Prospero and current Duke of Milan. Intelligent, conniving and ambitious. Clever and quick with a joke.

SEBASTIAN
Male or female—late thirties or older. Brother to the King. Ambitious and easily susceptible to persuasion.

ADRIAN & FRANCISCO
Male or female—late teens or older. Royal attendants/guards. Quietly reliable, perhaps in over their heads. Will possibly double as SHIP’S MATER and BOATSWAIN.

CALIBAN
Male or Female—any age. Some kind of creature born on the island, rightful heir. Desperately desires freedom from enslavement. Extremely capable with poetic text.

TRINCULO
Male or female—twenties or older. A somewhat frivolous servant. Ostensibly a follower, but might be wiser than they appear.

STEPHANO
Male or female—late twenties or older. A servant to the king. Ostensibly a leader, but not as wise as they appear.

MIRANDA
Female—teens. Raised on an island with her wizard father; wild, innocent, empathetic. Falls in love at first sight.

FERDINAND
Male—late teens to early twenties. Son of the King of Naples; kind, chivalrous, courageous. Falls in love at first sight.

ARIEL
Male or female—any age. A magical island spirit. Mischievous and playful. Will likely be played by multiple actors of mixed ages/genders. Can sing and move very well.

SPIRITS OF THE ISLAND
Male or female—age 8 to teens. An ensemble of island spirits who serve Ariel and Prospero in creating his magic. Can move well and sing.

Please email your headshot and resume to enrico@pittsfieldshakespeare.org for an audition slot.