AUDITION for Tri-C Metro Campus Spring Production of The Tempest Written by William Shakespeare Directed by Miriam Bennett Auditions will be held at the Metro Main Stage Theater Room MTA 100 Auditions will be held: MTA 100 (Metro Main Stage) Thursday, 12/15 3pm-6pm, Sunday, 12/18 10am-2pm Please complete the online form <https://goo.gl/forms/s9MTbujJa0jW5bd93> here. direct link: https://goo.gl/forms/s9MTbujJa0jW5bd93 *Please contact Miriam Bennett directly if you would like to submit a video audition.* All interested students are encouraged to audition! Novice and experienced actors alike are welcome to join in this most magical of plays, *The Tempest. *Actors, please arrive dressed to move. Actors may perform a prepared monologue or read from a selection of the script. Sides will be available at the audition. Please bring a current headshot and resume if available. There are lots of roles available for all skill levels! *Students interested in photography, videography, costume, graphic design, production design, sound, prop and mask-making should contact * *Miriam.Bennett@tri-c.edu* <https://mail.tri-c.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=1S_ZPOcp1r4h_fOhBxW2CSogBiYsZzlDFklJh_mXORsJImOVMB7UCA..&URL=mailto%3aMiriam.Bennett%40tri-c.edu>* for information about getting involved behind-the-scenes.* *Roles are available for high school age actors as well as children and adult.* Spring 2017 Performance Dates: April 12th at 10:30am and 7:30pm; April, 13th, 14th, and 15th at 7:30pm *The Tempest - Character Descriptions* *These characters have been cast:* *Prospero** - (30s) The play’s protagonist, and father of Miranda. Twelve years before the events of the play, Prospero was the duke of Milan. His brother, Antonio, in concert with Alonso, king of Naples, usurped him, forcing him to flee in a boat with his infant daughter. The honest counselor, Gonzalo aided Prospero in his escape. Prospero has spent his twelve years on the island refining the magic that gives him the power he needs to punish and forgive his enemies**.* *Miranda** (age 14)- The daughter of Prospero, Miranda was brought to the island at an early age and has never seen any humans other than her father and Caliban, though she dimly remembers being cared for by female servants as an infant. Because she has been sealed off from the world for so long, Miranda’s perceptions of other people tend to be naïve and non-judgmental. They are also influenced by her understanding of her own power and knowledge of the spirit world. She is compassionate, loyal to her father, and fearless.* *These characters remain to be cast:* *Please note, all actors under the age of 18 must be accompanied by parent or guardian.* *Ariel* - (male or female, any age) Prospero’s spirit helper. Ariel is powerful but also delicate like air. He is a shape-shifter and can assume many forms as well as become invisible. Rescued by Prospero from a long imprisonment at the hands of the sorceress, Sycorax, Ariel is Prospero’s servant until Prospero decides to release him. He is mischievous. Bound by a debt to serve Prospero but vocal about his desire for freedom. He carries out virtually every task that Prospero needs accomplished in the play by communicating with the Orishas and Spirits. Dance or acrobatic skills preferred but not required. *Ariel as child forms* – (age 7-9 should seem younger) In this form, Ariel teases and tricks Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban. Dance or acrobatic skills preferred but not required. Seeking to cast three children for the child forms. *Caliban* - (male, age range 14 - 17) Another of Prospero’s servants. Caliban, the son of the now-deceased witch Sycorax, acquainted Prospero with the island when Prospero arrived. Caliban believes that the island rightfully belongs to him and has been stolen by Prospero. His speech and behavior is sometimes coarse and and sometimes eloquent and sensitive, as in his rebukes of Prospero in Act I, scene ii, and in his description of the eerie beauty of the island in Act III, scene ii. Caliban was once loved by Prospero but has fallen out of favor and is now treated cruelly. He is wears a complex mask to hide his true self from Prospero and the other humans. Only Miranda, Ferdinand and the Spirits can see the person behind the mask. *Ferdinand* - (male, age 14 -17) Son and heir of Alonso. Ferdinand seems in some ways to be as pure and naïve as Miranda. He falls in love with her upon first sight and seeks to win her father’s approval. Believing that his father is dead, he feels the weight of inheriting the kingdom so young. He is as smitten and enchanted by the Island as he is by Miranda. *Alonso* - (male, adult any age) King of Naples and father of Ferdinand. Alonso aided Antonio in unseating Prospero as Duke of Milan twelve years before. As he appears in the play, however, he is acutely aware of the consequences of all his actions. He has recently attended the wedding of his daughter to the Prince of Tunis (Tunisia) and is shipwrecked on the island after being blown off course on the way bay to his Italy. *Antonio* - (male, adult any age) Prospero’s brother. Antonio quickly demonstrates that he is power-hungry and foolish. In Act II, scene i, he persuades Sebastian to kill the sleeping Alonso. He then goes along with Sebastian’s absurd story about fending off lions when Gonzalo wakes up and catches Antonio and Sebastian with their swords drawn. *Sebastian* - (male, adult age range 20's - 50's) Brother to the King of Naples. Like Antonio, he is both aggressive and cowardly. He is easily persuaded to kill his brother in Act II, scene i, and he initiates the ridiculous story about lions when Gonzalo catches him with his sword drawn. *Gonzalo* - (male, adult, playing an older gentleman) An old, honest counselor, Gonzalo helped Prospero and Miranda to escape after Antonio usurped Prospero’s title. Gonzalo’s speeches provide an important commentary on the events of the play, as he remarks on the beauty of the island and the mysteries of the human condition. *Trinculo & Stephano* - (male or female any age - teen to adult) Trinculo, a jester, and Stephano, a drunken butler, are two minor members of the shipwrecked party. They provide a comic foil to the other, more powerful pairs of Prospero and Alonso and Antonio and Sebastian. Their drunken boasting and petty greed reflect and deflate the quarrels and power struggles of Prospero and the other noblemen. *Boatswain* - (male or female teens to 20s) Appearing only in the first and last scenes, the Boatswain is vigorously good-natured. He seems competent and almost cheerful in the shipwreck scene, demanding practical help rather than weeping and praying. And he seems surprised but not stunned when he awakens from a long sleep at the end of the play. *Mariners -* (male of female, teens to 20s - 3 or 4) appear in the beginning of the play desperately trying to navigate the ship carrying the King through the storm. *Child with Book* - (female age 6-10) reads from a book about the mysteries of migration at the opening of the curtain at the beginning of the play. *Juno / Yemaya (orisha) *- dances with Oshun to create the Tempest in the beginning of the play; appears as Juno in the mask at the betrothal of Miranda and Ferdinand *Ceres / Oshun (orisha)* - dances with Yemaya creating a Tempest in The beginning of the play. Appears as Ceres in the mask at the betrothal of Miranda and Ferdinand *Iris *- messenger of the gods, a rainbow *Dancers*: *Yemaya* (orisha) - dances with Oshun to create the Tempest in the beginning of the play; appears as Juno in the mask at the betrothal of Miranda and Ferdinand *Oshun* (orisha) - dances with Yemaya creating a Tempest in The beginning of the play. Appears as Ceres in the mask at the betrothal of Miranda and Ferdinand *Oya* (orisha) - dances with Yemaya and Oshun to create the tempest in the beginning of the play. Appears with Iris at the betrothal of Miranda and Ferdindand *Iris* - messenger of the gods, a rainbow *Ariel forms* - 1 principle and 3-5 additional iterations of the spirit in physical form. *Hounds* - these spirits manifest as scary hounds who Prospero sets loose on human enemies. *Nymphs and Reapers *- dance at the summons of Iris composed of Island spirits playing dress-up *Sycorax* - a banished sorceress; mother of Caliban. Appears in a shadow play during Caliban's and Prospero's retellings of Caliban and Ariel's history on the Island *Island spirits - (ensemble) *elegant and mysterious inhabitants of the island who are mostly unseen by the human visitors but known to Prospero, Miranda, Caliban and Ariel and occasionally visible to other humans. Miriam Bennett Professor of Media Arts & Filmmaking Faculty Coordinator, Media Arts & Filmmaking | Visual Communication & Design Cuyahoga Community College, Metropolitan Campus 2900 Community College Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115 moblie: 330-475-4577 | office: 216-987-5436 | miriam.bennett@tri-c.edu | mstudioproductions@gmail.com