The Bijou Theatre located in Bijou Square, Bridgeport, is excited to announce open call auditions for “Hamlet,” directed by Mat Young. “Hamlet” will perform in rep with “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” directed by Jeremy Funke. Some actors cast in “Hamlet” will also appear in “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.”
ABOUT AUDITIONS:
Open call auditions will take place on Saturday, January 10th from 1:30pm-4:00pm and Monday, January 12th from 7:30pm-10:00pm. Actors will audition in order of arrival. All auditions will take place at The Bijou Arts Center, 277 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport, CT. The Bijou Arts Center is located on the second floor upon entering the glass door next to The Bijou Theatre Box Office. Ascend the stairs directly opposite the glass door. Signs will be posted.
“Hamlet” and “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” require strong male and female actors. Not all roles are open; please refer to the character breakdown below. Non-Equity, no pay. All types and ethnicities are encouraged to audition. Ages 16 and up. All actors should bring a current headshot (or recent photo) and one-page acting resume or list of theater/performing experience. Please prepare a 1-2 minute Shakespearean monologue and be prepared to read from the script. Monologues from “Hamlet” are strongly discouraged.
ABOUT THE SHOWS:
Mat Young will direct William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” a timeless exploration into the mind of a young man consumed with thought. Hamlet learns from the Ghost of his father that his uncle, who has since married his mother, killed his father. Can the mind of this young intellectual permit him to avenge his father, or will he thoughts devour him, and send him into madness?
“Hamlet” will perform in repertory with Tom Stoppard’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” directed by Jeremy Funke. In this award-winning absurdist tragicomedy, the title characters wander in and out of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, finding themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control and indeed their understanding. As they move unwittingly through their last days, they explore (by turns hilarious and moving) the ideas of home, fate, and isolation.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTIONS:
General rehearsal schedule for “Hamlet” and “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” is Sundays through Thursdays from 7:30pm-10:00pm. Rehearsals begin as early as January 26th. The shows run in rep May 15th-24th at The Bijou Theatre, 275 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport. Friday May 15th at 8pm “Hamlet,” Saturday May 16th at 4pm “Hamlet” and 8pm “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” Sunday May 17th at 3pm “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” and 7pm “Hamlet,” Friday May 22nd at 8pm “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” Saturday May 23rd at 4pm “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” and 8pm “Hamlet,” Sunday May 24th at 3pm “Hamlet” and 7pm “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.”
Claudius is the King of Denmark, elected to the throne after the death of his brother, King Hamlet. Claudius has married Gertrude, his brother’s widow.
Gertrude is the Queen of Denmark, and King Hamlet’s widow, now married to Claudius, and mother to Hamlet.
The Ghost appears in the image of Hamlet’s father, the late King Hamlet (Old Hamlet).
Polonius is Claudius’s chief counsellor, and the father of Ophelia and Laertes.
Laertes is the son of Polonius, and has returned to Elsinore from Paris.
Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius, and Laertes’s sister, who lives with her father at Elsinore. She is in love with Hamlet.
Horatio is a good friend of Hamlet, from the university at Wittenberg, who came to Elsinore Castle to attend King Hamlet’s funeral. He is our Storyteller.
The Players are a company of actors who arrive at Elsinore Castle. Friends of Hamlet, they had earlier performed in “the city” but faced stiff competition from boy performers, so they have traveled to Elsinore to offer Hamlet their services. At Elsinore, they perform a version—which Hamlet has modified and called The Mousetrap—of the play The Murder of Gonzago in the “play within a play”.
Alfred is one of the players. He plays all the female roles.
A Clown is a gravedigger and is one of the 1st people Hamlet encounters when returning home from England. He/She is working class with a quick wit.
Marcellus and Bernardo are sentries at Elsinore. It is Bernardo and Marcellus, who first alert Horatio to the appearance of King Hamlet’s Ghost.
Priest who presides over the funeral.
Osric is the courtier sent by Claudius to invite Hamlet to participate in the duel with Laertes.
Fortinbras Norwegian crown prince, who assumes the throne of Denmark after Hamlet’s death.
English Ambassador appears in the final scene to report that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.