Download Audition Packet for A Midsummer Night`s Dream

Audition Packet for A Midsummer Night’s Dream
WHAT?
This spring, Ms. Stanford and Ms. Boisclair will be running an after-school production of William
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
WHEN?
Auditions will be held Tuesday, April 23rd and Wednesday, April 24th from 3:15pm until 4:30pm.
WHERE?
Auditions will be held in the Multi-Purpose Room in the Middle School. Upper School students should take
the bus to the Middle School for their audition. Students may wait for their audition in room 105 (Stanford).
WHO CAN AUDITION?
Students who wish to audition for and participate in this production must currently attend Rising Tide
Charter Public School in grades 5-10, and must be in good standing both in behavior and academics. Poor
academic performance and/or not meeting the Community Standards of Behavior may result in a student
being ineligible to audition or participate in the production.
Sign-up sheets for auditions will be available outside of Ms. Stanford’s and Ms. Boisclair’s classrooms.
Students may sign up for auditions through Tuesday, April 23rd until all audition spaces are filled. Students
must attend auditions in order to be considered for a part.
Only students available every day after school until 5:00 pm from April 23rd through June 8 should audition
for a role. If you are unable to make a full commitment to the production, there might be other
opportunities for students to help with backstage elements. Please see Ms. Stanford or Ms. Boisclair if
interested.
PARTICIPATION FEE:
For this production there will be a participation fee of $125, which must be paid by the first day of
rehearsal
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO AUDITION?
1. A completed Audition Form, which is attached to this packet.
2. To sign up on an audition sheet with either Ms. Stanford or Ms. Boisclair
3. To choose one of the four options of a “side”, a selection from the play, to perform at the audition
i.
Helena Monologue
ii.
Demetrius and Helena Side (Choose either Demetrius or Helena to perform)
iii.
Oberon Side (perform the part of Oberon)
iv.
Puck Monologue
Please note that students are not guaranteed a role because they have written it on their audition sheet,
or because they had read for that particular role.
REHEARSAL SCHEDULE and PERFORMANCE
Rehearsals for this production will begin on Thursday, April 25th and will take place in the Multi-Purpose
Room at the Middle School. Upper School students who are selected as part of the cast will be able to take
the bus to the Middle School for rehearsals. Rehearsals will occur after school until 5:00pm, four days per
week on Monday-Friday. We will not rehearse on Early Release days or days that fall on faculty/staff
meetings. The tentative performance dates are Thursday, June 6th at 7:00pm and Saturday, June 8th at
2:00pm.
SYNOPSIS
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare
The play takes place in Athens, Greece -- where everything is going wrong.
The play starts in the court room of Duke Theseus. A man named Egeus is having trouble with his daughter,
so he brings her to the Duke for help. Egeus’s daughter, Hermia doesn’t want to marry Demetrius- the man
her father has promised to her. Instead, Hermia wants to marry Lysander, the poet. So, the two decide to
run away against her father’s wishes.
The audience is then introduced to Helena, a plain but clever girl, who is in love with Demetrius -- the suitor
to Hermia. This love story is unfortunately one-sided until the troublemaking trickster Puck intervenes and
turns the lives of Hermia, Helena, Demetrius and Lysander topsy-turvy.
The audience also follows Oberon, King of the Fairies and Titania, Queen of the fairies. Titania has taken a
boy into her care as a favor to a friend. Oberon doesn’t like losing any attention from his beloved, and his
jealousy gets the best of him. He calls on the troublemaking Puck to do his bidding and seek revenge. But,
to his dismay and our entertainment, his plans to not go quite as planned. A group of actors who are
rehearsing a play for Theseus on his wedding day are also caught in the crosshairs (especially Nick Bottom,
whose head is transformed into that of a donkey).
The play ends happily, each couple reunited and very much in love. The fairy kingdom is also back to
normal, as Oberon reverses the magical mischief put upon Titania, and Nick Bottom, and Puck apologizes for
his many mistakes.
A LIST OF ROLES
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare
Character
Description
Size of Role
Gender
Hippolyta
Queen of the Amazons
Medium
F
Theseus
Duke of Athens
Medium
M
Egeus
Hermia’s Father
Medium
M
Philostrate
The Duke’s Master of Revels
Medium
M
Demetrius
In Love with Hermia
Large
M
Hermia
In Love with Lysander
Large
F
Helena
In Love with Demetrius
Large
F
Lysander
In Love with Hermia
Large
M
Snout
A Tinker
Medium
M or F
Bottom
A Weaver
Large
M
Flute
A Bellows Mender
Medium
M
Quince
A Carpenter
Medium
M or F
Snug
A Joiner
Medium
M or F
Robin
A Tailor
Medium
M or F
Oberon
King of the Fairies
Large
M
Titania
Queen of the Fairies
Large
F
Puck
Oberon’s Lieutenant
Large
M or F
Many Small Roles
Small
M or F
OTHER FAIRIES &
CHARACTERS
I. Helena Monologue – Midsummer Auditions
HELENA
How happy some o'er other some can be!
Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.
But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so;
He will not know what all but he do know:
And as he errs, doting on Hermia's eyes,
So I, admiring of his qualities:
For ere Demetrius look'd on Hermia's eyne,
He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine;
And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt,
So he dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt.
I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight:
Then to the wood will he to-morrow night
Pursue her; and for this intelligence
If I have thanks, it is a dear expense:
But herein mean I to enrich my pain,
To have his sight thither and back again.
II. Demetrius and Helena Side – Midsummer Auditions
DEMETRIUS
I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.
Where is Lysander and fair Hermia?
The one I'll slay, the other slayeth me.
Do I entice you? do I speak you fair?
Or, rather, do I not in plainest truth
Tell you, I do not, nor I cannot love you?
HELENA
And even for that do I love you the more.
I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius,
The more you beat me, I will fawn on you:
Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me,
Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave,
Unworthy as I am, to follow you.
What worser place can I beg in your love,-And yet a place of high respect with me,-Than to be usèd as you use your dog?
DEMETRIUS
Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit;
For I am sick when I do look on thee.
HELENA
And I am sick when I look not on you.
DEMETRIUS
I'll run from thee and hide me in the brakes,
And leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts.
III. Oberon Monologue – Midsummer Auditions
OBERON
Fare thee well, nymph: ere he do leave this grove,
Thou shalt fly him and he shall seek thy love.
Re-enter PUCK
Hast thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.
PUCK
Ay, there it is.
OBERON
I pray thee, give it me.
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;
And with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes,
And make her full of hateful fantasies.
Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove:
A sweet Athenian lady is in love
With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes;
But do it when the next thing he espies
May be the lady: thou shalt know the man
By the Athenian garments he hath on.
Effect it with some care, that he may prove
More fond on her than she upon her love:
And look thou meet me ere the first cock crow.
PUCK
Fear not, my lord, your servant shall do so.
IV. Puck Monologue – Midsummer Auditions
PUCK
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended:
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend;
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearnèd luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue
We will make amends ere long,
Else the Puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
AUDITION FORM
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Please complete and hand in at your audition
Name: ____________________________ Grade Level: _______ Advisor: ________________________
Best Phone Numbers to Reach Parent/Guardian(s) After School:
Home: ________________________ Work: ______________________ Mobile: ____________________
Parent/Guardian Names: ________________________________________________________________
Please List Any Medical Concerns: _________________________________________________________
Please List Any Previous Acting/Dancing/Singing/Theatre Experience or Formal Training:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Please List Any of Your Talents We May Not See During the Audition:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
If You Are Familiar With the Play, Please List Any Parts or Roles You Would Like to Play:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
If You Are Familiar With the Play, Please List Any Parts or Roles You Might Not Like to Play:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Please note that students are not guaranteed a role because they have written it on their audition sheet,
or because they have read for that particular role.
Please DO NOT write below this line.