Greetings from Shore Shakespeare Company! We hope this finds you well and enjoying life to the extent possible in these trying times.
Events of the last few months have thrown into turmoil any and all plans for live performance. Shore Shakespeare is no exception. Now, as we begin to come out the other side of The Great Lockdown, so we begin to reassemble our plans. The health, safety, and comfort of everyone involved, including our audiences, is our overriding concern.
Last fall, we chose Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor as our 2020 tour production, directed by Nita Wieczoreck. Throughout this pandemic, she has been refining her concept, assembling her team, and addressing the endless details that are a director’s burden and delight. Merry Wives follows the further adventures of Sir John Falstaff, as he attempts to swindle and seduce the good matrons of Windsor, and is himself swindled. It is a broad, physical comedy, perfect relief for these perilous times. As adapted, the script explicitly calls for doubling, even tripling, of many roles. Wieczoreck anticipates casting 15-18 actors for all roles, including at least nine men and three women. There may be cross-casting; no roles have been pre-cast. Roles of varying size and for varying levels of experience are available, and many will involve robust physical activity.
With current concerns in mind, and in lieu of open in-person auditions, we are instead providing auditioners the opportunity to submit a video of themselves performing a Shakespeare monologue. The monologue should be from another Shakespeare play, and be about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes long. Don’t worry about production values. We just want to see and hear you! The director will review the submissions and get some preliminary ideas. Provided there is enough interest, and it is deemed prudent to proceed, we will have in-person callbacks the week of July 6th (time and place TBA), after which she will cast the show.
We are currently scheduled to open in Oxford on September 18th for three performances, with subsequent performances in Cambridge and Centreville, closing on Oct 4th. All performances will be held outside, and are free and open to the public. We are currently engaged in attempting to secure confirmation from our various venues, assuming the venues are able and willing to host us. Rehearsals are scheduled for Mon, Tue & Thu, beginning the week of July 13th, and may be held outside, or under the SSC tent. All of this is subject to change.
Given the unpredictability of ongoing developments, it is possible that we won’t be able to perform at all, that we will have to cancel. Nevertheless, because we perform outdoors, we are uniquely positioned to restart Live Theatre Performances on the Eastern Shore. A Shakespeare comedy is just what we all need! Everybody going into this should be aware that it may not come off. While there is the outside chance of a backup plan, we may have to pull the plug entirely.
Please address videos, along with any questions, concerns or comments to:
auditions@shoreshakespeare.com
Videos may be uploaded to Vimeo, YouTube, or similar service. Just send us the address!
We are currently reviewing official guidelines and discussing safety precautions, including requiring masks during rehearsals, having hand sanitizer at all callbacks, rehearsals and performances, and moving callbacks and rehearsals outdoors. Stayed tuned for more details.
Thank you for your interest in Shore Shakespeare Company.
AUDITIONS!!
The Merry Wives of Windsor
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Nita Wieczoreck
Performance Dates
September 18th – October 4th, 2020
(SUBJECT TO CHANGE!)
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~ Shore Shakespeare