9/8-9/09: Midsummer, Brooke McVety’s Senior Project in Directing. An exploration in speaking Shakespeare’s language that uses text from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The ensemble will explore the relationships among the four young lovers, and their relationship to the fairy world and its magic. Throughout the process, the ensemble will seek to discover -- and begin to answer -- questions concerning agency, gender and the nature of love. Through this open process of investigation, a final product should emerge that establishes strong connections between performer, text, and audience.
We will be working with text from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but no preparation is necessary. Rehearsals begin 9/14.

Details: 7 p.m., Studio 3 in Webster Hall, Amherst College. Perusal scripts and signup sheets are posted outside the Theater & Dance Office, Webster G27.

Callbacks: 9/10, 6 p.m., Studio 3 in Webster Hall, Amherst College.
Roles: 3-5 men and 3-5 women.

Performances: 11/12-14, 8 p.m., Holden Theater, Amherst College.

9/8-9/09: The Mistakes Madeline Made by Elizabeth Meriwether, directed by Peter Lobdell; Sarah Skeist’s senior project in acting. The Mistakes Madeline Made is an existential comedy about survivor guilt. The play also examines ways we attract and repulse each other in our daily lives.

Details: 7 p.m.,Studio 2 in Webster Hall, Amherst College. Perusal scripts and signup sheets are posted outside the Theater & Dance Office, Webster G27. No preparation is necessary. You will be asked to read from the script and to engage in some exercises.

Callbacks: 11/10, 7 p.m., Studio 2 in Webster Hall, Amherst College.

Roles: Sarah will play the role of Edna. There are additional roles for one woman and three men.

Performances: 12/3-5, 8 p.m., Kirby Theater, Amherst College.

9/8-9/09: Mrs. California by Doris Baizley, directed by Sam Rush. A crowd-pleasing comedy that pokes fun at “Homemakers’contests” popular in the post World War II 1950s. The scene is 1955, at a Los Angeles hotel, where the four finalists for the Mrs. California pageant vie for the state title of “ideal woman” and for prizes that include a New Freedom All Gas Kitchen. For more information about the play, playwright and director, see the description under the Productions section.

Details: 7-10 p.m., Theatre 14, Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Smith College. Auditions are open to all Five College students and to the general public. Copies of the play will be available to peruse in the Josten Library at the Mendenhall Center. Direct questions to Sam Rush, srush@smith.edu or (413) 585-3249.

Callbacks: 9/13, 7-10 p.m., Theatre 14, Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Smith College.

Roles: Cast of seven, parts for women and men include Dot, Mrs. Los Angeles; Babs, her neighbor; Dudley, Dot’s Gas Company sponsor; Mrs. San Francisco; Mrs. Modesto; Mrs. San Bernardino; Stage Manager, plus voices of male and female judges.

Performances: 10/22-24 and 10/28-31, 8 p.m., Theatre 14, Smith College.

9/8-9/09: Las Meninas by Lynn Nottage, directed by Ellen W. Kaplan. From a forgotten bit of history, playwright Lynn Nottage creates a hilarious and heart-wrenching play about a romance between Louis XIV’s Queen, Marie-Therese and Nabo Sensugali, an African dwarf sent as a gift for her royal amusement. These two lonely people find comfort in an illicit love, for which Nabo pays with his life. Their affair produced a daughter, Louise Marie, who was immediately whisked off to a convent and never heard from again. Ms. Nottage is a major African American playwright and recipient of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, among other prestigious awards. For more information about the play, playwright and director, please see the description under the Productions section.

Details: 7-10 p.m., Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre, Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Smith College. Auditions are open to all Five College students and to the general public. Copies of the play will be available to peruse in the Josten Library at the Mendenhall Center. Direct questions to Ellen W. Kaplan, ekaplan@smith.edu or (413) 585-3207.

Roles: Cast of seven: parts for males and females and additional parts for an ensemble. Multiple roles for actors of color. Needed are dancers and actors who move well.

Callbacks: 9/13, 7-10 p.m., Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre, Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Smith College.

Performances: 12/4-5 and 12/9-12, 8 p.m., Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre, Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Smith College.

9/10/09: Preliminary auditions for Trifles by Susan Glaspell and A Quarreling Pair by Jane Bowles, directed by Brooke O'Harra. Two short, provocative plays, written by American Women: Trifles, the 1916 proto-feminist one-act, and A Quarreling Pair, an absurd feminist 1943 mini-play. About Trifles: "Exploring the real-life murder case that Glaspell covered extensively as a reporter, wherein a man was killed by his wife, Trifles is ultimately concerned with the changing female role in a society that was not wholly ready to accept it. The play might literally be about the murder, but much more is at stake -- Trifles is a groundbreaking work that demanded a recognition of the powerlessness of females of the time, and made way for a realization of a more subtle, sophisticated power, even in the face of law triumphing over justice." About A Quarreling Pair: "This short comic/tragic play about two arguing sisters has been interpreted and re-interpreted by many great directors and choreographers. Is it a play about family, about the inner mind, about fear, about women?  These are just a few of the themes we'll explore."

Details: 7-10 p.m., Mount Holyoke College.

Roles: For 5 and 2.

Performances: 12/10-13, Rooke Theatre, Mount Holyoke College.

9/10-11/09: Harlequin's Lesson in Love by Marivaux , directed by Roger Babb. A short comedy concerning the determined attempt by a woodland fairy to capture the heart of the churlish and unappreciative Harlequin. Magic is involved and many of the theatrical conventions on Commedia dell'Arte.

Details: 9/10, 7-10 p.m. and 9/11, 3-6 p.m., Rooke Theatre, Mount Holyoke College.

Callbacks: 9/11, 7-10 p.m., Rooke Theatre, Mount Holyoke College.

Roles: Six main actors and a chorus of sheep who are also musicians and dancers, as follow: Fairy -- beautiful and obsessed with Harlequin; Trivelin -- Fairy’s servant; Harlequin -- a famous, not very bright clown; a shepherd -- in love with Sylvia -- a shepherdess loved by Harlequin; Cousin -- Sylvia's cousin, also a shepherdess; Dancing Master; Chorus -- sheep who occasionally dance and play music -- four to six talented actors who can move and sing and crawl around on all fours and bleat. Rehearsals begin immediately.

Performances: 10/22-24, 8 p.m. and 10/24-25, 2 p.m., Rooke Theatre, Mount Holyoke College.

9/14-15/09: The Burial at Thebes and Marta the Divine Joint Auditions. In a future time, the citizenry has been pushed to breaking by a fierce civil war. Attempting to consolidate his power in a fragile peace, the newly crowned King Creon takes a harsh stand against dissent, and here, Antigone faces a terrible choice. A brother who died in the war lies unburied outside the city gates. To bury him is treason; to leave his corpse to rot is untenable. Antigone’s integrity and defiance, and her honor, shine like a beacon in Seamus Heaney’s powerful version of Sophocles’ tragedy.

Details: 6:30-10:30 p.m., Curtain Theater, Fine Arts Center, UMass Amherst. Please be ready to begin your audition promptly at your chosen audition time (Plan to arrive early for your audition to allow check-in and warm-up time). Sign up on the callboard for a five (5) minute audition slot. Check in with the stage management staff in the Curtain Theater Lobby when you arrive for your audition. Please read the plays before arriving for the audition. Be prepared to make an entrance and take the stage at the beginning of your audition. Prepare a joke and a 1-2 minute monologue with heightened language (either comedic or dramatic). Come dressed to move comfortably. Sign up sheets for auditions are posted on the Department of Theater Call Board outside Fine Arts Center Room 112 about a week before auditions. Copies of the scripts may be signed out from Room 112 for two hours at any time. Call (413) 545-3490 if you have further questions.

Callbacks: Thebes -- 9/16, 7-10 p.m., Curtain Theater, UMass Amherst; Marta -- 9/17, 7-10 p.m., Rand Theater, UMass Amherst. Check the callboard on Wednesday morning for the callback list and schedule. Callbacks will also be posted online. Stage management staff will have instructions at the auditions.

Performances: See the UMass Amherst Department of Theater production calendar for rehearsal and performance information.

9/16/09: Performance Project. An evening of original choreography & performance works developed by students during the fall semester in Theater & Dance 62, Performance Studio, Amherst College taught by Wendy Woodson.

Details: 7-9 p.m., Webster Hall, Studio One, Amherst College. The auditions will be held as a workshop. Choreographer/directors will present their ideas and preliminary material or improvisational structures.

Roles: A wide variety of parts is available for performers of different backgrounds and skill levels in both dance and theater.

Performances: 12/11-12, 8 p.m., Holden Theater, Amherst College.

9/21-22/09: Final auditions for Trifles by Susan Glaspell and A Quarreling Pair by Jane Bowles, directed by Brooke O'Harra. See 9/10.

Details: 9/21, 6-9 p.m., and 9/22, 4-6 p.m., Mount Holyoke College.

11/16/09: Cloud Tectonics by Jose Rivera, directed by Patricia McGregor, Emmanuel Genard's and Tanya Jackson’s senior project in acting. Cloud Tectonics, Jose Rivera's meditation on life's inexplicable mysteries including chance and love. A bizarre Los Angeles downpour brings together two strangers, both searching for dreams they lost in the shuffle of life's miles and years. Just as Anibal and Celestina seem to reach an equilibrium, in bursts Nelson, Anibal's reckless missing brother on leave from his army base. Quickly, the sand beneath all their feet begins to shift. In a world where the rules of time and logic fail, where do we find truth? Perhaps, as Rivera puts it, "What better way to respond to a miracle than falling in love with it."

Details: 5-10 p.m., Studio 3, Webster Hall, Amherst College. Perusal scripts and sign up sheets located outside of the Theater and Dance Office, Webster G27.

Callbacks: 11/18, 8-10 p.m.

Role: Nelson De La Luna, in his twenties. A man with a ferocious desire to penetrate or be penetrated by life. His structured army regime feeds a reactionary, wild and destructive side. He lives by the idea of survival of the fittest and masks his pain with a parade of fast living, cheap booze, and beautiful women. Mixed with his macho aggression is a deep desire for partnership and fatherhood.

Performances: 2/18-20/10, 8 p.m., Holden Theater, Amherst College.

11/16-17/09: Scarlet P by Kendra Arimoto, Smith M.F.A. Playwriting Candidate, directed by Jeffrey Stingerstein, M.F.A. Playwriting Candidate; Board of Review, a monologue by Darren Harned, Smith M.F.A. Playwriting Candidate, directed by Roger Gordon, Smith M.F.A. Playwriting Candidate; Detour
by Roger Gordon, Smith M.F.A. Playwriting Candidate, directed by Hillary H. Bucs.

Details: 7:30 p.m., T100 (TV Studio), Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Green St., Smith College. Copies of the plays will be available to peruse in the Josten Library, Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Green St., Northampton, Smith College. Questions:
Detour: Hillary Bucs, hhbucs@yahoo.com; Scarlet P: Jeff Stingerstein, jstinger@smith.edu, Board of Review: Roger Gordon, rgordon@smith.edu.

Callbacks: 11/18, 7:30 p.m., T100 (TV Studio), Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Green St., Smith College.

Performances: 2/25-27/10 and 3/3-6/10, Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre at Smith College.

11/18/09: Cloud Tectonics by Jose Rivera, directed by Patricia McGregor, Emmanuel Genard's and Tanya Jackson’s senior project in acting. See 11/16.

Details: 6-7:30 p.m., Studio 3, Webster Hall, Amherst College. Perusal scripts and sign up sheets located outside of the Theater and Dance Office, Webster G27.

11/30/09: Harold Aaron's Senior Project. Aarons is dreaming of bringing Alice In Wonderland to life in a new light.

Details: 7 p.m., Studio 2, Webster Hall, Amherst College. Aarons is willing to have separate auditions for those who cannot attend at this posted time. Auditioners should be able to commit to rehearsals leading up to the final performance, to be set after selection including tech week (beginning 3/28/10) and the performance dates, below. Email haarons10@amherst.edu with any questions or concerns.

Roles: Movers and anyone that's interested to audition. Though primarily seeking movers with technical experience, Aarons is very interested in people with all kinds of talents and backgrounds.

Performances: 4/1-3/10, Amherst College.

11/30/09: Teana White's Senior Project. Set in a playground, this exploration of how children cope with questions of identity and come to terms with the wider world will be an amalgamation of monologues, dialogues, physical interactions, dance, and, of course, games played in the playground. Beyond the fences of the playground, a world exists that confirms and challenges what children view as truth. Though some parts of the world inevitably seep through the fences, much more is kept out. The project deals with boundaries of play, how it intersects with other aspects of life (e.g. growing up, learning, etc.) and how it is fundamental to a child’s development. By pushing comfort levels to the limit and constantly reiterating that the inner world could not exist without the outer, the plan is to analyze and discuss early encounters with difference.

Details: 8 p.m., Studio 2, Webster Hall, Amherst College. Those chosen will need to be able to commit to rehearsals throughout the Spring, 2010 semester. Email twhite10@amherst.edu with questions or if you are interested, but unable to make the audition date.

Roles: Looking for a diverse cast who enjoys childhood play.

Performances: April, 2010, Amherst College.

Last updated: 11/20/09