Needed: 12-14 men and 4-6 women (listed below). All roles are open.
Dates:
Sunday Feb 28th, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Monday, March 1st 6-10 p.m.
Callbacks: Saturday, March 6th (time to be determined).
No appointment necessary; come either day, any time within the hours listed.
Auditions will consist of monologues and script readings. Please prepare at least one classical monologue; if you don't have a monologue prepared, you may read from one of the provided sides.
Please bring a current headshot and resume, as well as your schedule of conflicts for the end of April through June.
Troilus and Cressida will be Cromulent's 12th annual free Shakespeare in the Park production. The play will perform in Minneapolis and St. Paul area parks throughout the month of June. (Exact dates and locations TBD.)
The Cromulent Shakespeare Company embraces non-traditional casting
in our endeavors to best serve the plays we produce and the
audiences for whom we perform. We encourage actors of all ages, all
racial and ethnic backgrounds, and actors with disabilities to
audition.
Brief production summary: Troilus and Cressida is set during the later years of the Trojan War, faithfully following the plotline of the Iliad, from Achilles' refusal to participate in battle to Hector's death.
The Greek king, Agamemnon, and his brother Menelaus, together with Ulysses, are camped outside the Trojan walls. The problem is that the great military hero, Achilles, is sulking in his tent, refusing to fight, and talking only to his friend, Patroclus. In Troy itself, King Priam and his sons, the general, Hector and his brother Paris, whose theft of Menelaus' wife, Helen, had started the war seven years before, are arguing. Their priestess sister, Cassandra, prophesies destruction for all while their younger brother Troilus is not paying attention to the conflict as he has met and fallen in love with Cressida, whose father, Calchas, has defected to the Greek camp. Cressida's uncle, Pandarus, assists the lovers to consummate their union but on the same night there is an exchange of prisoners and despite her protests, Cressida is sent to join her father in the Greek camp, swearing eternal loyalty to Troilus. A challenge from Hector is answered by the Greek hero, Ajax, but Hector withdraws as Ajax is related to his family.
In the Greek camp Cressida is pursued by Diomedes. She is confused by what has happened and believes that she'll never see Troilus again. Not knowing that Troilus has secretly left Troy to seek her, she responds to Diomedes. Troilus and Ulysses overhear their encounter and Troilus realizes that his love has turned against her vows of faithfulness, and he returns to the city to fight more determinedly against the Greeks.
In the final battle Hector kills Patroclus and Achilles is finally provoked by this death to join the fighting. At first overcome briefly by Hector, but spared, Achilles succeeds in trapping the great champion and Hector, unarmed, is slaughtered by Achilles' troop of thuggish soldiers, the Myrmidons. Troilus swears revenge for his brother's death, and mourns the end of his innocence with the loss of his beloved Cressida.
Roles:
Troilus - The younger brother of Hector and Paris, he is a valiant warrior and an honorable man. He is in love with Cressida.
Cressida - The daughter of Calchas, a Trojan priest who defected to the Greek camp, she becomes Troilus's lover.
Hector - The greatest Trojan warrior—matched only by Achilles himself—he is a hero to his city and is respected by his enemies.
Ulysses - One of the Greek commanders. A highly intelligent, even philosophical man, he is renowned for his cunning.
Pandarus - Cressida's uncle. He serves as a go-between for Troilus and Cressida, acting as a cheerful, bawdy pimp for his niece.
Thersites - A deformed slave serving Ajax who has a vicious, abusive tongue.
Achilles - The greatest of the Greek warriors, he is also arrogant, vain, and refuses to fight in the war whenever his pride is injured.
Ajax - A Greek warrior, he is as proud as Achilles, but less intelligent and less skilled in battle.
Agamemnon - The Greek general, and the elder brother of Menelaus.
Diomedes - A Greek commander who seduces Cressida.
Paris - A prince of Troy. His theft of Menelaus's wife, Helen, precipitated the Trojan War.
Menelaus - A Greek commander, Agamemnon's brother, and the abandoned husband of Helen.
Helen - Menelaus's wife. Her elopement with Paris led to the Trojan War.
Calchas - A Trojan priest, and Cressida's father. He defected to the Greeks in the early days of the war.
Aeneas - A Trojan commander.
Cassandra - A Trojan princess and prophetess; she is considered mad.
Patroclus - A Greek warrior. Achilles's best friend—and, it is suggested, his lover.
Priam - The king of Troy, and the father of Hector, Paris, and Troilus, among others.
Antenor - A Trojan commander, he is exchanged for Cressida after his capture by the Greeks.
Helenus - A prince of Troy.
Andromache - Hector's wife.
VARIOUS servants, soldiers, etc.
Questions: e-mail the director at pink_ariel_lion@hotmail.com.
