Auditions

The Book of Will
By Lauren Gunderson

Directed by Julie Bray. Produced by Jason Sharland.

On stage 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 Oct, 1, 2, 3 8, 9 Nov

Rehearsals: Sunday afternoons 1.30-4.30pm (starting 29 July)
 Mondays & Thursdays evenings 6:30-9:30pm

 

Audition date: Saturday 9 June, 2024
Time: 1:00pm
Venue: Windsor School of Arts
381 Lutwyche Rd, Windsor

Callbacks: Thursday 13 June, 6pm

How to Audition

  1. Download the Audition pack PDF (contains character descriptions, rehearsal schedule))
  2. Fill out the Audition registration form
  3. Prepare 2 x 1-2 minute audition pieces. One comedy piece and one excerpt from Shakespeare  There may also be cold reading  i.e. to read sections of the play without preparation.
  4. Email a headshot and acting CV to the Directors at

Membership fees: If you are cast for a role, you are required to become a 2024 financial member of Growl Theatre, which is $30 per calendar year (expires December 2024)

Other Costs: Growl Theatre will provide the vast majority of your costume. Depending on the role, the cast may be expected to purchase smaller items such as socks, stockings, gloves etc. Cast will be required to bring their own makeup basics (including foundation, eyeliner etc).

Characters (description & ages)

IMPORTANT NOTES

  • Apart from those playing John Heminges and Henry Condell, several actors will be required to take on other secondary/minor roles.
  • Ages are guidelines for the playing age, not the actor’s age. There may be some accommodation for the actors cast with overlapping roles.
  • An English accent will be required for all characters.
  • While remaining ‘true’ to the era and settings, cast diversity is encouraged and supported.
  • It will be an advantage to be familiar with the story of the publication of the First Folio.
  • There will be understudies for key roles and these will be allocated by invitation after the
    play is fully cast. These understudies will most likely be drawn from the main cast but may also be undertaken by those who play a role in the transitions of this play and/or double as Stage Crew.

PRIMARY ROLES

  • Henry Condell: 40; Feisty and hopeful, charismatic and confident, Shakespeare’s friend, and actor in the King’s Men.
  • John Heminges: 50; THIS ROLE HAS BEEN PRECAST
    Reasonable and serious, Shakespeare’s friend, and financial manager of the King’s Men. He is a good man, a gentleman, and owner of the Globe Tap House.
  • Richard Burbage: 50s; A seasoned lion of the stage, loud and proud, and famous across England.
  • Elizabeth Condell: 30s; Savvy and fun, intelligent friend, wife to Henry.
  • Alice Heminges: 32; John’s daughter and alewife, knows everyone, and hangs with the boys.
  • Rebecca Heminges: 50; John’s wife, Rebecca is strong, busy with their grocery business, and a woman who has weathered much but loves her husband, her sons, and God. She is a good wife.
  • Ben Jonson: 47, Poet laureate of England and friend/rival of Shakespeare, Ben is an amazing drunk, comically pompous and playfully arrogant, surprisingly weepy.
  • Ed Knight: 30s, “Stage manager” for the King’s Men, Ed is self-serious and particular.
  • Ralph Crane: 30, Humble scrivener of the King’s Men, quiet and introverted, but also quick and sure with a surprising confidence.
  • William Jaggard: 51, Successful if shady publisher of books, plays, and playbills, William is confident in his ability to get what he wants. He is very experienced, very connected, willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, but an ass.
  • Isaac Jaggard:  24, William’s son, Isaac will inherit the business. He is sensitive, an artist at heart.

 

SECONDARY/MINOR ROLES

  • Marcus: 20; Printer’s apprentice at the Jaggard print shop, Marcus is nosy but honest.
  • Compositor: 20, Works for Jaggard, young, arranges the type for printing.
  • Emilia Bassano Lanier: 50; A fiery Italian feminist and poet, an independent woman, and a lover of life (and of Shakespeare).
  • Sir Edward Dering: 60; A book and theatre lover.
  • Anne Hathaway Shakespeare: 60; Shakespeare’s now ailing wife, Anne is strong-willed, a classy lady, a survivor.
  • Susannah Shakespeare: 30; A good girl, serious, well-behaved and daughter of Shakespeare.
  • Boy Hamlet: A young actor.
  • Two Barmen: Drunk ruffians.
  • Crier: A newsboy.
  • Fruit Seller: in the streets/marketplace
  • Bernardo, Francisco, Horatio, Marcellus

 

About the Play

First produced in 2018, The Book of Will tells the story of the compilation of most of Shakespeare’s plays in a single volume, The First Folio. This was an inspired project undertaken by Shakespeare’s friends in the years following the playwright’s death in 1616. 

An historical comedy, the play portrays the families of John Hemings and Henry Condell, the two actors who led the work, and their relationships with the renowned actor Richard Burbage, Shakespeare’s rival Ben Jonson, and the publishers William and Isaac Jaggard. The play opens a window on a remarkable historical chapter when Shakespeare’s work was saved for future generations. Amidst the noise and color of Elizabethan London, finds an unforgettable true story of love, loss, and laughter, and sheds new light on a man you may think you know.