[KEY: Adult = Ages 18 to 118. Teen; ages 13 to 19; Youth: ages 11&12; Any= Youth, Teen or Adult   (Dress = The character will probably wear a dress. Trouser = The character will probably wear trousers. Either = Dress or Trouser)]

Hippolyta (Adult; Dress) — Queen of the Amazons. Having been defeated in battle by Theseus, she is now forced to marry him.

Titania (Adult; Dress) — Queen of the Fairies. She quarrels with Oberon because she still refuses to give up the changeling child of her human friend who has died and left him in her care. Oberon, who is the king of the fairies, wants the boy and this is the root of their argument.

Thesus (Adult; Trouser) — The Duke of Athens, has recently won a war against the Amazons, and to reward himself for his victory is going to marry their queen Hippolyta, whether she likes it or not.

Oberon (Adult; Trouser) — King of Fairies. Proud, angry, and vengeful, he quarrels with Titania for the sake of a changeling boy, and on being refused decides to humiliate her into obedience.

Nick Bottom (Adult; Trouser) A weaver by trade, who is part of the band of Rude Mechanicals. Bottom feels they are the greatest actor in the world and spends much of the play telling everyone how great they are. They want to play all of the parts in the play that his friend Peter Quince has written that will be performed at the wedding of Duke Theseus to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Bottom transforms into a donkey so the actor should be comfortable wearing a mask and making an ass of themselves.

Philostrate (Adult; Trouser) — Master of the Revels. He is the party planner to the Duke and his job is to organize the citywide wedding celebrations that will take place over the four days in Athens leading up to the ceremony.

Puck (Any; Either) — Also known as Robin Goodfellow. Puck is a sprite and a real prankster; they are the defacto jester to Oberon, King of the Fairies. They delight in playing practical (and impractical) jokes on any and all creatures, especially if they are lovers romping about in an enchanted forest.

Hermia (Teen; Dress) — Egeus’s daughter. In love with Lysander, she refuses to marry Demetrius despite her fathers’ threat that if she disobeys him he can have her put to death or sent to a convent to live the rest of her life as a Nun. She doesn’t care, she wants Lysander and she’s willing to die for him.

Demetrius (Teen; Trouser) He seems to be confused about who he loves. We learn, before the curtain goes up, that he spent a lot of time getting Helena to fall in love with him and then, once she did, he shifted his attentions to Hermia, who doesn’t love him (she loves Lysander) but her father (Egeus) loves him and so he uses this as leverage to try and force Hermia into falling in love with him. Demetrius starts as kind of a narcissist and a player and makes an nice character transformation in the end.

Lysander (Teen; Trouser) — A young man of Athens, smart, of good family and fortune. He is in love with Hermia and wants to protect her by risking his own life to take her away from her father who has threatened to have Hermia put to death if she doesn’t marry Demetrius. Lysander is clearly the better match for Hermia, whom he truly loves.

Helena (Teen; Dress) — A young lady of Athens, she is best friends with Hermia and she is in love with Demetrius, who wooed her in to loving him and now wants to marry her best friend. Helena remains obsessively in love with Demetrius and stalks him through the woods where she makes a nice character transition.

Egeus (Adult;Trouser) — He is an Athenian who tries to keep his daughter, Hermia, from marrying Lysander the man she loves. He has a great speech and will also be playing a fairy in the woods.

Tom Snout (Adult; Trouser) A tinker by trade, he is part of the band of Rude Mechanicals who is also cast as Pyramus’s father and Wall in Peter Quince’s play. Depending on the need for doubling, the actor who plays Snout could also play one of the fairies.

Robin Starveling (Adult;Trouser) — A tailor by trade, he is part of the band of Rude Mechanicals who also portrays Moonshine in Peter Quince’s play. Depending on the need for doubling, the actor who plays Starveling could also play one of the fairies.

Peter Quince (Adult;Trouser) — A carpenter by trade, Quince is a member of the band of Rude Mechanicals. He is an amateur playwright who has aspirations to be a producer. He organizes “The Rude Mechanicals” into rehearsing the play he’s written which is an adaptation of Pyramus and Thisby (think Romeo and Juliet). When we meet him he is very pleased that his play has been picked to be performed at the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. He also plays Prologue in his play. Depending on the need to double, Quince could also play one of the fairies.

Francis Flute (Adult;Trouser) — A bellows-mender by trade, Flute is also a member of the band of “Rude Mechanicals”, He is a young man whose facial hair is only just beginning to grow. His voice may be unbroken. He plays the role of Thisby in Quince’s play. Depending on the need for doubling, the actor who plays Flute could also play one of the fairies.

Snug (Adult;Trouser) — A joiner by trade, he is also a member of the band “The Rude Mechanicals”. He is concerned about how many lines he will have to say in Quince’s play because he’s not sure he can memorize them, and therefore Peter Quince casts him as The Lion who only has to roar and maim, and so there is no need to memorize any dialogue. Snug is quite pleased with his part. Actor should be comfortable with wearing a mask. Depending on the need for doubling, the actor who plays Snug could also play one of the fairies.

Peaseblossom (Any; Either) — A fairy of Titania’s court. Commanded by Titania, it is one of the ones to attend on Bottom.

Mustardseed (Any; Either) — A fairy of Titania’s court. Commanded by Titania, it is one of the ones to attend on Bottom.

Cobweb (Any;Either) — A fairy of Titania’s court. Commanded by Titania, it is one of the ones to attend on Bottom.

Moth (Any;Either) — A fairy of Titania’s court. Commanded by Titania, it is one of the ones to attend on Bottom.

Singing Fairy One (Any;Either) — A fairy of Titania’s court. Commanded by Titania, They are one of the ones to attend on Bottom. They sing a charm to keep Titania’s sleeping place safe.

Singing Fairy Two (Any;Either) — A fairy of Titania’s court. Commanded by Titania.They are one of the ones to attend on Bottom. They sing a charm to keep Titania’s sleeping place safe.

Changeling Child (Youth;Trouser) — A movement role which is vital to the plot of the play. King of the Fairies, Oberon is driven by jealousy. Basically, his Queen Titania is paying this little boy more attention than she is showing him.

Other Roles Available – Athenians (Any;Either), Faries (Any;Either) Citizens of Athens; Courtiers/Servants (Any;Either)

Ages: 11 to Adult (2 Casts of 25-30)

Rehearsals: Monday through Thursday 6:30 — 10:00 PM and Saturdays 1:00 PM — 5:00 PM beginning January 7th

**Younger cast members will rehearse until 8:30 PM – Not all cast members called for every rehearsal

Performances: February 14 – 24, 2019

Registration opens Sunday, November 18th at 8pm

HOW TO AUDITION

Please be prepared to recite a MEMORIZED monologue from a Shakespeare play. Keep the length of the monologue to 2 minutes or less. Monologues from A Mid Summer Night’s Dream are preferred but not necessary. We want to see that you 1) have memorized the words 2)  know what the words mean 3) see how much fun you can have with the words.

We will also be doing some wordless improvisation so please wear something that you are prepared to move in. Also, if you play a musical instrument or have a special skill like juggling or acrobatics, please be prepared to show us your other special talents.