I am in my 50's and finally decided to audition for a play in a town with a very large theater culture. This is a dream I have had my entire life but lacked the self confidence to persue. Well, I was cast as Mrs. Beaver in a VERY large production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. My understudy is very angry at my casting saying she has been in 28 plays and has been making rude comments during rehearsal about it being "unfair" and says every day that I "need to be sick at least once so she can perform more". They do have one understudy performance planned. How do I manage her hurt feelings? Btw....I am Mrs. Beaver....eeeekkkkk!!!!! Sooooo excited!!!!

Hello everyone!! Im new to reddit, so I have no clue if I can be making posts like this (sorry if not), but theres a version of The Play That Goes Wrong that I used to watch that I am unable to find anymore. All I remember is that the person playing Perkins was female, and that the tech lady (i dont know her character name) had glasses and some kind of teddy bear?? Anyway, not sure if it got taken down for copyright reasons, but if anyone has any info (or a recording of the play that i could borrow) it would be much appreciated!!

Hi, I have never been to a play in a theater before.

A person I really respect is the director of the play and I have not seen her in years.

I really wish to bring her flowers but I don’t know how to do it properly.

She said they would do a play reading and then they would have a question period.

What does that mean? When is it appropriate to give her flowers? And what flowers should I give to her? Can I just stop by the flower shop and ask them for flowers for a play to show respect and appreciation?

I asked her and she said bringing flowers would be appreciated.

Sorry for all the questions and I have no clue what I am doing. I just want to show support and my appreciation to her.

Thank you in advance!

Please use this thread to ask for help with your auditions. Try to add as many relevant details as possible; age, gender, comedy/serious, vocal range, etc. For those adding answers, writing the names of the suggestions in bold is nice, to make it easier for people skimming the thread to pick out the suggestions.

Feel free to also check out our FAQ for information on things like how to pick a monologue: https://www.reddit.com/r/theatre/wiki/index/faq#wiki_auditions_and_casting

I'm designing some merchandise for my regional theatre, and I want to do something more creative than just slap a logo onto some promotional products. (Although that will also happen)

What's your favorite piece of merchandise you ever saw in a theatre gift shop, or ordered online, or just thought was incredibly clever? Or just plain cool? Or it was a fitting memento of the show you saw?

I especially want to know what YOU* BOUGHT. It can be related to a specific show, or to the theatre in which you saw the show.

I'll go first: My favorite piece of merch was at the Globe, it was a tote bag that said “I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.” with a drawing of the theatre. I didn't care about a tote bag, what I liked was the Shakespeare quote inferring its meaning was about the Theatre. It's still on their website.

But sometimes it's the item itself + what's on it that make a good pairing. There's a water bottle on the Globe's site that has a cute "Poison" design with broken hearts for Romeo and Juliet.

I also like The Public Theatre's tote bag (again, not because it's a bag) with their logo stamped on it in different sizes. It's just a cool design.

* I'll also take what your mother, auntie or grandmother bought, since the bulk of theatre audiences are women over 65.

Mods - please remove if not allowed.

So I'm an actor for a semi-professional theatre company, they are a lovely creative bunch and I've been acting with them for over 5 years now.

There is one very problematic actor through, who is very unashamably out spoken about her beliefs (Anti-Vax, Mental Illness, Far-Right wing) We've grinned and bared it and there have been complaints in the past that have been messy but eventually worked through.

For context, we are doing a Christmas showcase with some self-written plays from within the company, extracts and a few hymns. (The play is being performed for a church congregation who have invited us back after a previous successful performance)

She has also submitted a play (Written by herself and a friend) but been incredibly secretive about it, saying it's not finished yet. So the company director said they would accept it on her word.

In rehearsal the other day (They were rehearsing on their own in a separate room) I came in made some conversation and as they left I noticed they left a spare script behind and put it in my bag to read for myself.

IT.IS.TERRIBLE. It makes reference to the annoyance of winter fuel allowance being cut (A valid criticism I accept) but also 5G monitoring devices listening to everywhere in the house and a Tax on sex and the intensity of orgasm.

Their is no innuendo or wink and a nudge, just those words crystal clear.

I, obviously, am horrified and embrassed at the thought of being even associated with that, even worse for the audience which will contain children.

The problem is, I have a very strong feeling she will leave the theatre company after being involved with it for 20+ years and I also fear that the company director might even dissolve the group as a whole.

What are ideas to resolve this complicated event, that works out best for all?

Feel free to ask more questions if you wish.

i’m sure this has been asked before, but does anyone have ANY sort of working doc/link to watch james norton in a little life! my friend and i have been scouring the internet and can only find the other version.

Hello, has anyone ever been to the Kit Kat club in London? If so, I was hoping if anyone could help me identify or describe the scent that lingers in the Red Bar area as you first enter the theatre. You go in the entrance, down through the tunnel things, get the stickers for your cameras and then enter the Red Bar and I love the smell and would like to know the name of it or have a description because for me, it’s unexplainable. Thank you.

So ive(15f) never been attracted to my scene partner(15m) (a mid summer nights dream. I'm hyppolita and he is Theseus). Like I've never felt anything for him and we've kissed before at least five or six times. Now this is highschool production and today was Halloween, so we were all in costume. And my scene partner was dressed as a character I had a huge crush on when I was younger. This costume also was not covering his biceps and I didn't know that he was sorta toned till now. And now I'm worried that this might not go away by tomorrow (our opening night) when we will kiss in a wedding scene, and do all sorts of couple-y stuff. I know that it's out characters and not us, but it's really tripping me up

Has anyone staged a Terry Pratchett play, adapted by Stephen Briggs? There's multiple publishers involved and I need livestreaming rights, not traditional, which isn't covered in their forms.

i am a senior in highschool and my scene partner is just a grade below me we are doing the play that goes wrong and i play sandra while he plays cecil/arthur and he just HATES me for some reason he never hated me before we got casted in these roles and started working on the kissing scenes but since we started he has been rude to me he’s been very aggressive and has been, what i’m hoping is accidentally, careless when doing scenes like picking sandra up after getting knocked out to the point where he will grab me and lift me up by like my arms and it hurts, he yanks my arms so hard to the point it feels like if he could rip them out of place he would, i don’t know what to do the show is in a week any ways we can resolve this would be sooo greatly appreciated

I am a part of one of the student theaters here at my college and I am having trouble putting curtains up. The building we use is incredibly old so our "grid" is not exactly a grid, nor is it very easy to hang things. I am trying to put curtains up for a show coming up but the best I could manage was putting hooks up on the walls and flats, and hanging a rope taught (or as taught a possible) between the two hooks and hanging the curtains on the rope. Technically this solution works, but it does not really look good visually since there are no pipes/battens where I could hang long, unbroken stretches of curtain properly. I have considered renting or purchasing a Pipe & Base curtain system but I wanted to see if anyone else could provide some insight into solutions for this problem, since I assume other shows in our season will want to use curtains as well and my current solution isn't very visually pleasing or easy.

Is the date set yet?

I(F19) am a college sophomore and Theatre Major taking a Theatre History course where today we had to stage a scene from Tartuffe. I have a classmate(F22) who I've known since I was in high school. For context: both of us are autistic, and because of this I tend to get more overwhelmed and stressed out about the details of things during shows or performances like my character work, my lines, blocking, etc.

This person and I have drifted apart as friends because of her challenging behavior where she will sometimes behave rudely to others and outright refuse to participate or follow directions just to spite others when she is needed. She has also insulted other classmates when they make mistakes or struggle with understanding stuff, and my professor struggles to get her under control. Today we had to get into groups of three(me, her, and another friend) and stage and block Act two scenes three and four. This person from the start was petulant and refused to take any kind of notes or ideas that either of us threw out.I basically was staging and blocking different things and little gimmicks the entire time hoping it would work while improvising as much of my blocking in little time as possible. When I got nervous and started to be honest about how I hadn't done staging or blocking before myself or blocking other actors(as I am primarily an actor who is the one being directed) she openly insulted me about my lack of experience and how I ought to be taking more classes. Anyways the performance happened, wasn't great, and I felt myself start to tear up unintentionally because I felt so embarrassed and horrified at the mess of the scene and then ran out of the classroom to the bathroom where I cried and had a panic attack because of the overwhelming feelings surging up through me.

My professor spoke with me afterwards out of concern and told me that it wasn't my fault but I still feel embarrassed about tearing up and shutting down in front of my classmates, as I am part of an industry where people like me who show any strong emotion are not going to be hired or cast, as that is a sign of mental/emotional disturbance, and given that I've already struggled with mental health challenges in the past and had been working towards ridding myself of them for the long run, this is disappointing for me, as I just wanted to have a good Halloween and a great class experience today and not get put into a situation where I'm offered no support or input, then expected to lead it all alone, just to be berated for being a student and not some seasoned director.

Was I in the wrong for feeling upset?

Hey! I'm planning a fun theatre hangout with a friend in mid-November and am wondering what we should see? We're open to anything and everything, and are just interested in supporting smaller shows/writers! Any recs? Thanks!

So me and my partner are pretty big fans of Punchdrunk, and i want to get us tickets to “Violas room” for christmas, but they’re out of my budget and i really want to be sure that we’re gonna enjoy ourselves if we go. We both enjoyed sleep no more and Burnt city, but most of the reviews say it’s completely different than their other experiences. Could someone who has been give me a description of how their experience was- ( i don’t mind if there are “spoilers”) the description of the experience is super vague on the website and i just need an example of what i could be getting for my money.

My friend (F) and I (M) are looking for a good competition duet scene. Any recommendations? We’re both looking for something really dramatic since that’s what we’re good for. Preferably contemporary.

I most recently got cast in my schools spring musical and I got bakers wife and here is the thing. This would be my second musical ever and I’ve been having a lot of imposter syndrome with everything because so many talented people auditioned, yet they didn’t get a callback or even a chance to sing for BW. I feel kind of guilty because I don’t know if I will be able to do this role justice rather than these other people who are seasoned and know what they are doing. I’ve also had thoughts like “oh I just got it because im a senior” or “I just got it because he is my teacher” but how do I get over this mindset and just be happy that I got the role and when others congratulate me, I’m so shy it’s pitiful #help

Hi! I run a non profit community theatre company and we need to find a new rehearsal studio. Owning or renting a building is out of the budget, so we’re just renting a studio at a community centre hourly. I know a lot of theatres do this - does anyone have advice on where/how to keep set pieces and props? Since we rent hourly we can’t exactly keep them on the premises and we can’t move anything into the theatre until the week we’ve booked it.

Any advice or insight would be super helpful ! Thank you !

For those who have seen Puffs: does the play spoil the 7th Harry Potter book? My son’s school is putting on the play and he wants to see it, but he hasn’t finished the series yet (just started the 7th book). He doesn’t want to go see the show if it’s going to spoil the end of the series.

I’ve heard it’s very funny, and I’d love to go see it with him! But I understand his hesitation.

Hey there, I need some help navigating a situation I just ran into.

For context, the small independent theater I work with has a yearly show where the idea is writers get a week to write the show, and then the director and actors get a week to put the show on stage. It’s stressful but fun, about celebrating spontaneous creation and making art that is imperfect (it wouldn’t only be a week if we wanted something polished). One of the traditions, is that writers are allowed to show up to the first rehearsal to talk about their ideas, but after that they can’t see the show until opening; it’s never been openly discussed why that is, I would assume it is so directors and actors have space to be spontaneous and not directly follow the writer’s idea.

So we put the show on, it is about as you would expect it to be, and our first weekend of three is complete. Today, I receive a multi-paragraph passive aggressive text from the writer (last show was Saturday) about how I didn’t obey the script and she wouldn’t have written it the way she did if she knew how we were performing it. The complaint is about some of the blocking (as we have been staying as close to the script as possible) where a character makes an involuntary tea kettle sound with their mouth (this happens a couple times). She says that we drastically changed it by playing the facial expression the character makes more subtle/underplayed when her script meant for it to be a drastic, attention grabbing change.

I’m a little shaken up because she’s taking it very personally, but I looked in the script and the only mention of the reaction in the script is a stage note that reads “She opens her mouth and tea kettle sound happens. Feel free to be extra expressive with this”. Obviously the point of the show is free expression and playfulness (and I thought saying “feel free” made it more of a suggestion than a rigid direction), but is our change overstepping? I have never had any of the writers I’ve worked with message me like this, and the decision was one the actor and I came to and thought was funniest? I don’t want to be an asshole, but ultimately we were the ones who got to shape the direction and vibe of the performance.

I would appreciate some advice, thank you.

I want to do Lenny's monologue from Rumors for my first college audition since its from a play that I personally adore, but I'm given a limit of 3 minutes and I know that Lenny's monologue goes WELL over that limit. So I was wondering if I should do an abridged version of the monologue or if anyone knows any similar monologues that're as expressive as his monologue that're at most 3 minutes

Some context- I have been offered a role in a piece of physical theater that acts out a fairy tale from One Thousand and One Nights. I didn't audition for it; the company offered it to me based on past productions I've done with them. Think Commedia-style, panto theatre; there's no dialogue, we wear masks, there are puppets, and it's set to an orchestral piece of music (written by a white person). The character I've been offered is the titular character, and she is Persian. I am a white, Jewish person.

My question: would it be inappropriate for me to play this character? I've been doing research, and very technically, Iranians are considered ethnically Caucasian, but of course that doesn't stop them from receiving horrible treatment at the hands of white, Euro-centric people. It's a fairy tale, but I am feeling so hesitant to accept. I don't know who is directing the piece. My best friend is Iranian, and I did ask her for her thoughts and opinions; she told me not to think about it too hard, but that she'd take issue with it if the masks and costumes were darkened and stereotypical. My gut is telling me it would be wrong, but I have been known to overthink things in the past. This company has been very respectful in their storytelling previously, which makes me wonder if I am overreacting.

I'm currently studying at Durham University in the UK (where there's a MASSIVE community for student theatre) and I'm applying for a year abroad. I can't imagine not doing theatre for a year, so I'd ideally love to apply somewhere that has an equally vibrant and high calibre student theatre community - especially musical theatre.

Boston College and Notre Dame are the only US options available to me, but quite a few of the Canadian and Australian/New Zealand universities are open for me to apply to :)

I (22M) have always excelled in theatre. I was a high level athlete throughout high school however I was always more passionate about theatre. My vocal range has grown through the years exponentially (I’m a tenor), I would say my acting skills are pretty good, and I was in ballet as well as jazz and a bunch of other dance classes throughout my teens so I’m a pretty good dancer. After I graduated in 2020, I didn’t perform for many years, not until recently where I played Seymour in little shop of horrors with a local company I had worked with in high school. After working on and performing that show, the love for theatre came rushing back and I can’t help but think what could happen if I chased this dream. I’ve spent time researching schools in my country and what options I may have but I am not totally sure what I should do. Directors and other people in the theatre world around me have always told me to chase it, they tell me that a man who can sing, dance, and act, as well as have an athletic background is rare and wanted in the theatre world. Is this true? Any recommendations on schools (Canada), or help with this topic in any way would be super super appreciated.

Hello I am the assistant costume designer on a production at my grad school. One of our dancers has a size 13 men's foot and we need help finding them a dance heel. There are some money things at play but basically if the school buys these for the student they may be able to keep them after the production as a sort of scholarship. Because of this and other reasons we would love for the shoes to be high quality.

Some preferred specs but any suggestions are helpful:

-can fit a size M13 foot (14.5-15W?)

-around 2'' or 3'' inch heel

-t-strap preferred

-hard sole

-offers inclusive skin tone options. we would prefer a nude shoe and our actor is black. (This is not a necessity as we could paint them.)

-high quality and professional

Thank you all for the help!

For those working in school theatre be sure to check the new resources available to you--including 6 tips on the new Education Department Guidance.

https://schooltheatre.org/how-to-use-federal-funds-for-your-theatre-program/

Congrats to the members of the Arts Education Alliance for the incredible work and tireless efforts in expanding federal funding towards arts education! After all, arts programs are about more than just entertainment—they're an opportunity to build self-esteem and create unforgettable experiences for our youth!

Hello!

Looking for documentaries, podcasts, books, and other non-fiction resources on the development and evolution of commedia dell'arte, harlequins, different clowns, mimes, and so on, especially from the 1500s through the 1800s.

Most of the stuff I'm finding is just a bit of historical context intended for teaching form and physicality for clowns, actors, and other comedians in training, and I'm looking for more aspects of theatre and cultural history, as well as the lives of traditional actors, mimes, and clowns. Biographies for the latter are welcome, but my focus is more on the average lives of troupe members more than famous names and their storied careers.

A lot of the videos I'm finding are also very short, and obviously looking on film sites, there's just a deluge of various clown or mime horror films rather than more robust documentaries. Public access documentaries and similar, especially miniseries, would be very appreciated indeed if any immediately come to mind!

I already have the History of European Theatre podcast and have been listening to the episodes on Commedia Dell'Arte.

Thanks in advance!

Hello!

We are currently in rehearsals for Ken Ludwig's "The Game's Afoot." Needing some suggestions for a practical on stage knife.

The stabbing takes place offstage, but in the matter of 10 seconds from exit to reentering with a knife in the back. The actor staggers around before finally falling to the floor. This is where it gets tricky, because another actor then pulls the knife of of their back on stage in the same scene.

So, this there are three necessities: 1. prop quickly placed off stage. 2. secure enough for a lot of movement. 3. easily removed to reveal a bloody knife.

Thanks for any suggestions!