Audition for Metamorphoses & Our Town

Audition for Theatre 21's Spring Production of Metamorphoses & Torrey Theatre’s Production of Our Town

Location
Theatre 21

Date & Time

• Performances dates: April 6 – 7 (7:30 p.m.), 8 (2:30 p.m.), 13 – 14 (7:30 p.m.), 15 (2:30 p.m.)
• Auditions will take place on Tuesday, January 16 from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.
• Acting callbacks will be held on Wednesday, January 17 from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.
• Movement Callbacks will be held on Thursday, January 18 from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.
• You will receive an email if you are needed for Metamorphoses callbacks
• You will be contacted separately for Our Town callbacks

Materials
Please bring the following printed out:

• Two 8x10 headshots with resume stapled to the back
• One completed audition form

Links
Audition Sign Up Sheet
Audition Form

Instructions for auditioning:

You will be provided a maximum of 5 minutes to present the following program. If you are only interested in Metamorphoses, only the first two are required. The third piece is only necessary if you also wish to be considered for Our Town.

• Narrate a Fairytale:
  You will choose one of the following: a classic fairytale, folk tale, or fable and narrate it. Your goal is to tell the story in a creative way using your body, voice, and embodiment of characters presented in the story. If it helps, think of it as reading a story to young children. You will have 3 minutes. You do not have to fill the entire time, but please know that you will not be allowed to run over this allotted time.
  
  
• The Animal Exercise:
  Maria Ouspenkaya used the animal exercise for the physical training of actors. For this exercise you will pick an animal to study ahead of time, and then embody their movements and behaviors for 1 minute on stage. You may not perform any of the following animals: pets such as cats, dogs, rodents, or fish.
  
  Over multiple sessions, take time to study your subject, being specific in your recorded observations of the animal. What is the animal's posture? How does it move? When does it move? Why does it move? Can you imagine what it might be thinking? Begin physically imitating the movements. Always be specific about why the animal is moving. Mirror the animal’s behavior even if you feel silly – let your inhibitions go.
  
  As your time runs out, I may direct you to make the animal “human.” If this happens, simply stand upright, keeping as much of the physical and psychological aspects of the animal as you can, and answer any question I have as that animal character.
  
  
• Dramatic Monologue
  Prepare a one-minute dramatic monologue, written after 1900.

Show Synopsis:

Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses is a retelling of Ovid’s classic narrative poem. Many of you will be familiar with the Greek myths in this play, all of which speak to some facet of the transforming power of love. When Metamorphoses premiered, Time magazine hailed it as the “theatrical event of the year” and the New York Times raved, "With its emphases on love, loss and the transforming powers of memory and the imagination . . . the production has been reducing calloused New Yorkers to sobs."

A minimalist theatrical piece, Thornton Wilder’s beloved classic examines the lives of the ordinary citizens of the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, a town meant to represent all towns. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama, Our Town is a poignant portrait of the universality of the human experience.