Casting Call to Action asap, Sydney/Melbourne Actors

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Dear Actors Hello!

I hope you are putting Your Secret Weapon to good use, from THE SECRET OF YOUR SUCCESS AS AN ACTOR ebook, if not, make sure you download it NOW, its only $9.95.

As usual I am here to help, so here is a casting call you should action asap if you are interested!

NIDA graduating directors are interested in meeting actors who would be interested in volunteering to perform in their graduation plays at NIDA in Nov/Dec 2011.

Following the success of the tour to Melbourne this year, all the plays will also tour in 2012 to either Melbourne or Albury in February/March.

NIDA/ Albury Season-
Frenzy for Two, Eugene Ionesco
Push Up, Roland Schimmelpfennig
The Collection, Harold Pinter

NIDA/Melbourne Season-
Electronic City, Falk Richter
Howl, Alan Ginsberg
Thirst, Eugene O’Neil

Details of the plays and roles are attached, along with further information on the final page about key dates and the 2012 tours. If you are interested in being considered, please return your preferences, bio/CV and contact details to lisa.burns@nida.edu.au as soon as possible. The directors will then be in touch with audition information where suitable.

Please feel free to contact me with any queries on (02) 96977608. Please note, these roles are unpaid, however expenses on tour in 2012 are covered by NIDA.

Kind Regards,
Lisa Burns
Postgraduate Courses and Projects Coordinator 

GRADUATE DIPLOMA OF DRAMATIC ART

DIRECTING COURSE

2011

GRAD SHOW CASTING CALL

Private View (dir. Jeffrey Jay Fowler) Directors Graduation Productions 2010 

Toured to Theatre Works, Melbourne March 2011 

PARADE SPACE PROGRAM

Howl by Alan Ginsberg

Director:   Daniel Lammin (pictured) 

Designer:   Ruth Arnold 

Dramaturg:   Jack Richardson

Mentor:   Sam Strong  

Outline: A classic text of the Beat Generation, Howl will be a performance of the poem

as a 1-man monologue.  An explosion of words and ideas on masculinity, social injustice,

and the voice of a young man struggling to find his place in the world. Rhythmic, gutsy,

unapologetic and not a typical theatrical experience.

Casting:

1M:  mid- to late-20s, a disillusioned everyman, American accent

Electronic City by Falk Richter

Director:  Felicity Nicol (pictured) 

Designers:   Ally Mansell (set) &  

Genevieve Shrayer (costumes)  

Dramaturg:   Jane Bodie

Mentor:   Simon Stone  

Outline: Year? Unknown. Place? Anywhere. People? Lost. Explores our relationship with

the world, where time moves faster, people/places into the indistinguishable and reality is

a shifting quicksand. Non-specific 21stC space. An in between space (eg an airport,

limbo, waiting room.).

Casting: 

Tom: (20s-30s) Modern businessman, lost/confused, spinning out of control.

Joy: (20s) Modern temp worker, lost, daydreamer, lonely.

Chorus (between 5-15 people): Businessmen, movie executives, commentators, narrators,

provocators and audience. Bleeding between one to the other in an instant.

NB – The text is a dense, unstoppable avalanche. Interest in language and physical

expression is important.

Thirst by Eugene O’Neill

Director:   Dominic Mercer (pictured) 

Designer:   Katren Wood 

Dramaturg:   Jono Burns

Mentor:   Robyn Nevin  

Outline: Three characters; a gentleman, a coloured sailor and a dancer, are stuck on a

lifeboat. They have run out of food and water and don’t know how they will survive. Short,

punchy piece about how far people are willing to go to survive when resources become

scarce.

Casting:  2M 1F 

Gentleman - Male, 20s/30s. A first class passenger. Well-spoken, refined, rakish Caucasian.

Sailor – Male, mid to late 20s. A regular crewman. Well-built, powerful, dangerous,

coloured. Can sing.

Dancer – Woman, early to mid 20s. A beautiful dancer. Attractive, impulsive, fragile,

Caucasian. Can dance.

PARADE STUDIO PROGRAM

Frenzy for Two by Eugene Ionesco

Director:   Rachel Baring (pictured) 

Designer:   Lauren O’Flaherty 

Dramaturg:   Melissa Lee Speyer

Mentor:   Tom Wright  

Outline: What do you do when a war is raging, when bombs are literally tearing down the

walls around you and soldiers are abducting your neighbours? You argue if a tortoise and

a snail are the same thing. An absurd comedy.

Casting: 3M, 2F

He: 30 – 45, divorced, has been in a relationship with She for 17 years, intelligent, practical

and feisty.

She: 30 – 45, left her husband for He, fierce, quick witted, attractive.

Soldier: 16 – 25 friendly (will be used physically throughout)

Neighbor: 20 – 30, newly married, excitable (will be used physically throughout)

Neighbor’s Wife: 20 – 30 newly married, excitable (will be used physically throughout)

The Collection by Harold Pinter

Director:   Mackenzie Steele (pictured) 

Designer:   Jessica O’Neill 

Dramaturg:  Hannah Malarski

Mentor:   Richard Cottrell  

Outline: In upper middle-class London in 1961, an alleged affair

between two dress designers leads to confrontation and retaliation. We need to be

simultaneously aware of the interior of both well-to-do households, which leaves the

design open to being staged realistically or abstractly.

Casting: 3M, 1F

Bill (M) – 20′s, upcoming fashion designer, cheeky, good-looking,

British accent

Harry (M) – 30′s-40′s, distinguished, socialite, stoic, British accent James (M) – mid-20′s-30′s,

fashion designer, headstrong, dangerous,

British accent

Stella (F) – mid-20′s-30′s, fashion designer, detached, enigmatic, independent, British

accent.

Push Up by Roland Schimmelpfennig

Director:   Renato Fabretti (pictured) 

Designer:   Jenny Shepherd 

Dramaturg:   Micharne Cloughley 

Mentor:  TBC

Outline: This piece looks directly to the personal and the intimate within

the high-rise business sector. Aka, the power and the frailty of kings.

Casting: 2M, 4F

Sabine (20-30) – Up-and-coming Advertising Executive, sharp, business, solitary but

ambitious.

Angelika (25-40) – Successful Company Director, married, unsure, fears her prime slipping,

strategic yet impulsive.

Robert (25-40) – somewhere between George Clooney in Michael Criton or James

MacEvoy in Wanted. Business is not everything to him, but he’s good at it. Proud.

Patrizia (20-35) – the sharpest new talent, brilliant, but exposed. She knows her work and

stands by it, but is this what’s most important to her?

Heinrich (18-40) – a cleaner, with Maria, who looks at the company with practical eyes,

grounded, charming, rough.

Maria (18-40) – a cleaner, with Heinrich, who looks at the company with romantic eyes,

sweet, cheeky, simple, kind. (think a young Miriam Margoyles)

FURTHER INFORMATION

The key production dates to note for the NIDA season are:


Mon 7th November   Rehearsals Commence (M-F 10am-6pm)

Mon 21st November   Tech Commences

Tues 29th November   Open Dress

Wed 30th Nov- Sat 3rd Dec  Season

This year, the six shows have also been programmed to tour in March 2012 to Theatre

Works, Melbourne & HotHouse Theatre, Albury. The touring dates are:

26th Feb-4th March    Albury

The Collector, Frenzy for Two, Push Up 

4th -11th March   Melbourne 

     Thirst, Electronic City, Howl 

If you are interested in auditioning for one or more of these productions please send your

preferences along with a current CV to lisa.burns@nida.edu.au or via post:

Lisa Burns

Postgraduate Course Coordinator

NIDA

UNSW, Sydney

NSW 2052

Ph: (02) 96977608

You will be contacted by the respective director to organise an audition time. Please feel free to call or email with any queries.