Ohio Shakespeare Festival, located in downtown Akron, is casting select roles for

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams

Any and all productions have the potential to be rescheduled or canceled as updates to COVID-19 safety guidelines are made. Ohio Shakes only moves forward with productions if our safety requirements for employees/contractors and the audience can be maintained in a reasonable fashion. Read on to learn some of the safety protocols and requirements.

For anyone submitting, it is IMPERATIVE that you read thoroughly not only the audition information, but also the safety and vaccination requirements for performing should you be cast. 

Up to three AEA contracts available for this production. All non union actors paid a stipend determined by size of role, length of commitment, housing needs, and number of years spent working with the company. You are welcome to inquire about stipend sizes for an approximate idea of your non-union pay scale at any time.

Open Auditions will be in-person on SUNDAY JANUARY 29, starting at 1pm and TUESDAY JANUARY 31, starting at 7pm. 

Video submissions also accepted and must be submitted before Feb 1 to be considered. In person auditions are distinctly preferred, though we understand the need for video submissions according to your particular circumstances.

To sign up for an audition time or submit a video audition, click this link: https://forms.gle/71wEXmpzwMjFRRiB8

If you need support in learning to upload videos to YouTube*, or are in any way unable to access needed technology to create and send an audition video, please reach out to tess@ohioshakespeare.com and we will work with you. 

*Please know your analytics may not properly reflect the timing of when we have viewed your videos— sometimes, we download videos to view offline, and sometimes we view YouTube links through GoogleDrive preview boxes, which do not consistently reflect correct analytics on your end. 

Please bring to audition 1 headshot and 1 theatrical resume. 

Prepare 1 dramatic monologues or choose a scene from CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF to read (reader provided). Please keep total length of audition to 2 minutes or less. 

Invited callbacks will be scheduled by the director as needed. 

OHIO SHAKESPEARE COMPANY MEMBERS:

Ohio Shakespeare Festival operates with an informal resident acting company. Ohio Shakespeare company members who have worked with the Festival in the recent past do not need to attend general auditions. All company members must fill out this form to be considered: https://forms.gle/unhMpjvM1sv4gQiUA

Directors will reach out if they would like to invite you to further callbacks.

COVID-19 Safety and Vaccination Requirements for 2022 Season: 

• If you are working on a production with Ohio Shakespeare, you must have received both your COVID-19 vaccine and first booster before the first rehearsal/day of your contract. (If your brand of vaccine requires only one dose, the booster is irrelevant in that case.) 
• Beginning in 2023, we highly recommend a more recent booster shot, but will not require proof of additional booster.

● You do not need to be vaccinated before auditioning or accepting a role; but the full vaccination and booster must be complete before the first rehearsal. Ohio Shakespeare will work with you in any way possible to help you achieve that deadline. 

● Everyone working with the production (designers, contractors, employees, etc.) will also be vaccinated. 

• Vaccinated company members who come into contact with COVID exposure in their personal lives while working on a production with Ohio Shakespeare will immediately notify Ohio Shakespeare and will stay home until testing negative for the virus (or some similarly effective safety measures have been met, depending on the situation). This could lead to canceled or postponed rehearsals or performances. Ohio Shakespeare will appropriately support contractors during this process. 
•  These are just some of the potential safety measures we will take. You are welcome to ask any questions about COVID safety procedures throughout the audition process. OSF reserves the right to change any pandemic safety protocol at any time to more accurately reflect the current state of the pandemic and recommendations from local and national health officials.
  

When indicating gender descriptions below, please know that Ohio Shakespeare is open to all the ways a person can identify on the gender spectrum. Ages and descriptions are approximate to the character, not necessarily the actor.  

CAT ON HOT TIN ROOF

By Tennessee Williams 

Performing indoors at Greystone Hall on the Henry C. Bishop Stage

Directed by Nancy Cates

Invited callbacks: TBD

Rehearsals begin:  March 28, 2023 (evenings and weekends, Mondays off)

Performances begin: April 27, 2023

Performances closes: May 14, 2023

Description: Tennessee Williams Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece. Brick, the aging football star and favorite son of Big Daddy, is married to gorgeous and feisty Maggie “the Cat”. But Brick seems to be living in another reality, constantly drinking and uninterested in his seemingly perfect wife. Big Daddy is dying of cancer and has yet to decide which of his sons will inherit his estate. And on a particularly sweltering Mississippi evening, as the family gathers for Big Daddy’s birthday, long-hidden truths will come to light, and this dysfunctional Southern family will forever be changed.

The roles of Brick, Big Daddy, and Big Mama have already been cast from our acting company.

AVAILABLE ROLES:

• Maggie, female, late 20's or early 30’s, any race/ethnicity; sexual, volatile, and combative
• Gooper, male, late 30's or early 40’s, any race/ethnicity; hardworking, frustrated, resentful "good son"
• Mae, female, late 30’s, any race/ethnicity; socially grasping and competitive
• Doctor Baugh, male, wide age range, 40+, any race/ethnicity
• Reverend Tooker, male, wide age range, 40+, any race/ethnicity
• Servants, any gender, 18+, any race/ethnicity