Auditions March 16/17, 2025 for "Cymbeline" and "The Taming of the Shrew",
Actors Ensemble of Berkeley is accepting in-person and video auditions for our productions of CYMBELINE in early July and THE TAMING OF THE SHREW in late August, 2025 in the John Hinkel Park Amphitheater. Details, audition instructions, synopsis, and characters follow below.
To sign up, go to the form below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeo5HHF2Kdg2h4QaJp8LjfMGUAtwb5JdLJgwdHT2DuvnVrtTg/viewform?usp=header
For in-person auditions (preferred) sign up for a specific slot here:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4EABA623A1F4C43-55398613-actors
PRODUCTION DETAILS
ACTORS ENSEMBLE OF BERKELEY is now accepting in-person and video auditions for Shakespeare's CYMBELINE directed by Glenn Havlan and Gaby Schneider, and THE TAMING OF THE SHREW directed by Jay Manley assisted by Jane Goodwin. Performances will be weekend afternoons, 4 p.m., at John Hinkel Park Amphitheater, 41 Somerset Pl. Berkeley, CA 94707, and most rehearsals (as we get close to opening we will have some rehearsals in the park itself) will be at LaVal's Subterranean Theater, 1834 Euclid Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709. Cymbeline opens July 4th and Shrew opens August 16th, both run for 3 weekends and include holiday performances on July 4th and September 1st, respectively.
Open auditions for both shows will be Sunday and Monday, March 16 and 17th, from 6pm - 10pm at Berkeley Lodge #270, International Order of the Oddfellows, 2288 Fulton St, Berkeley, CA 94704. We prefer that you audition in person, but the option of a video audition is provided. Auditions will be self-scheduled in 6 minute time intervals, please arrive at least 15 minutes beforehand.
We will be auditioning from sides, but if you have a short (e.g. less than 2 minute) classical monologue we would be very happy to hear it. Readings from sides will be provided for callbacks.
Callbacks for CYMBELINE will be Sunday, March 23rd, 2pm - 6pm and Tuesday, March 25th from 6pm to 10pm. Callbacks for THE TAMING OF THE SHREW will be Sunday, March 23rd from 6pm to 10pm. All callbacks will also be at Oddfellows Lodge.
The productions will be held in the beautiful John Hinkel Park Amphitheater, free of charge. We will ask the cast to help solicit support for the production at the end of each show, and a modicum of help with setup and teardown. For some performances we expect to offer refreshments to the audience, which will also be provided to the cast gratis.
We provide expense reimbursement up to $300 per production for each actor cast in a role.
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CYMBELINE:
Auditions: Sunday-Monday March 16-17 6pm - 10pm
Callbacks: Sunday March 23 2pm- 6pm and Tuesday March 25 6pm - 10pm
Auditions and Callbacks will be at Berkeley Lodge #270, International Order of the Oddfellows, 2288 Fulton St, Berkeley, CA 94704.
Rehearsals: Tuesday - Friday 7pm - 10pm and Saturday 2pm - 6pm beginning on May 20th. Tech week is July 1-3, Most rehearsals are at LaVal's Subterranean Theatre, 11834 Euclid Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709.
Show dates are Friday July 4, Saturdays and Sundays July 5 - 20, performed in the beautiful outdoor setting of the John Hinkel Park Amphitheater, 41 Somerset Pl, Berkeley, CA 94707, all at 4 pm. Some rehearsals will be in the park as we get closer to opening.
Cast: We will cast 12-14 actors, depending on doubling and understudying. All are encouraged to audition. Our version will work best with a diverse cast.
Cymbeline is a dark fairy tale of love and loss, loyalty and betrayal, grief and survival, with multiple interwoven storylines that all converge in a final scene of forgiveness, reconciliation, and hope. It is a strange loop—a Mobius Strip on which two separated lovers travel at different speeds until they meet again, always moving forward yet returning to where they began.
As one of Shakespeare’s lesser known works, this play will feel totally fresh even to many long-time Shakespeare fans, while still being easy for newer audience members to follow. The characters are largely archetypal, with personalities and motives that are immediately clear, yet they reveal greater depth and complexity as they develop over the course of the story.
CYMBELINE has something for everyone. If you’re a romantic who loves stories about childhood sweethearts defying their disapproving parents, lovers separated by tyranny and reunited by perseverance, and long-lost family members discovering each other by chance, this play is for you. If you’re a history nerd obsessed with the Roman Empire and/or the Celts, this play is for you. If you’re a feminist who wants to see men learning to treat women better, this play is definitely for you. If you want to see a thoroughly awful villain get a satisfying smackdown, this play is for you, and if you want to see a charming trickster villain go through real moral growth and feel remorse, this play is for you, too! It’s got journeys across the picturesque countryside, attempted witchcraft, mistaken identity, a severed head, and more. And it has the most principled, steadfast, and courageous heroine in all of Shakespeare.
Glenn Havlan returns to Actors Ensemble after appearing in "Mothers All" in 2022 and adapting and directing their "Much Ado About Nothing" at Hinkel in July of 2024. Previously with AE, he played Peter Stockmann in "An Enemy of the People". He most recently performed this past February, in Hillbarn Theatre's production of "Daisy". The last four summers with the Curtain Theatre in Mill Valley, he appeared as Nick Bottom in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Friar Laurence in "Romeo and Juliet", The Duke of Milan in "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" and Sir Toby Belch in "Twelfth Night". He acted in nine shows with the Marin Shakespeare Company and played Jaques in their 25th Anniversary production of As You Like It. Glenn has performed in and/or directed forty productions of twenty different Shakespeare plays. He founded two San Francisco companies, the Free Civic Theater and the Theater of Others, staging fifty productions from 2000-2019.
Gaby Schneider returns to AE after having co-adapted and directed our production of "Much Ado About Nothing" at Hinkel in July of 2024. Gaby has been studying and performing Shakespeare since childhood. She was a core company member of Theater of Others founded by Glenn. She has worked at various theaters around the Bay Area, including Marin Shakespeare, Marin Theatre Company, and Playwrights Foundation (where she is now a board member). When not on stage, she works as a staff attorney at Bay Area Legal Aid.
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THE TAMING OF THE SHREW:
Auditions: Sunday-Monday March 16-17 6pm - 10pm
Callbacks: Sunday March 23 6pm-10pm
Auditions and Callbacks will be at Berkeley Lodge #270, International Order of the Odd fellows, 2288 Fulton St, Berkeley, CA 94704.
Show dates are Saturdays and Sundays August 16 - 31 plus Labor Day Monday, September 1st, performed in the beautiful outdoor setting of the John Hinkel Park Amphitheater, 41 Somerset Pl, Berkeley, CA 94707, all at 4 pm.
Rehearsals will begin on or about July 7th, utilizing some Sunday-Thursday evenings and some Saturday day times. In-person rehearsals at the park during the day on August 2nd, 9th, and 10th, and in the evening on August 12/13/14. Some rehearsals will be in the park as we get closer to opening.
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW is one of the Bard’s most popular comedies and also, in our times, challenging, due to its depiction of male and female relationships. Working with the cast, we will develop a performance script that provides new insights into Shrew’s problematic themes. Directed by Jay Manley, who has directed throughout the Bay Area, including many award-winning productions, ranging from six “Mountain Plays,” presented at the huge amphitheatre atop Mount Tamalpais, to intimate, new works, including "The Divine Sarah" and most recently "The Spitfire Grill", both at Ross Valley Players. In August 2024 he directed AE's production of "The Imaginary Invalid" at Hinkel. He will be assisted by longtime AE board member Jane Goodwin, who was also his assistant director for "Imaginary".
There are approximately 14 characters in the script. We actively seek actors of all ages, races, genders, and persuasions; cross-gender casting is definitely possible with some roles in this play. All levels of experience are welcome. Because of the outdoor setting without amplification, strong vocal projection is a plus.
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CYMBELINE
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Glenn Havlan and Gaby Schneider
produced by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley
4 p.m. Saturday/Sunday July 5th - July 20th plus Friday, July 4th.
John Hinkel Park Amphitheatre
41 Somerset Pl., Berkeley, CA 94707.
Performances are Free of Charge
www.aeofberkeley.org
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Jay Manley with Jane Goodwin
produced by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley
4 p.m. Saturday/Sunday August 16th - August 31st plus Labor Day Monday, September 1st.
John Hinkel Park Amphitheatre
41 Somerset Pl., Berkeley, CA 94707.
Performances are Free of Charge
www.aeofberkeley.org
Actors Ensemble
P.O. Box 663
Berkeley, CA 94701
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.aeofberkeley.org
A 501(3)(c) organization
