Walking Shadow Theatre Company
2024-2025 Season Auditions
September 8 – 11, 2024
Walking Shadow Theatre Company is having general auditions for our 2024-2025 season. We are hiring 6 actors for each of these upcoming productions:
WITCH
Witch by Jen Silverman, directed by Cody R. Braudt & Amy Rummenie. Rehearsals will begin the week of Feb 17. WITCH runs March 22 – April 13, 2025 (14 performances) at Open Eye Theatre.
A charming devil arrives in the quiet village of Edmonton to bargain for the souls of its residents in exchange for their darkest wishes. Elizabeth should be his easiest target, having been labeled a “witch” and cast out by the town, but her soul is not so readily bought. As the devil returns to convince her – and then returns again – unexpected passions flare, alliances are formed, and the village is forever changed. An inventive riff on a Jacobean drama, this sharp, subversive fable debates how much our souls are worth when hope is hard to come by.
Roles:
- Elizabeth Sawyer (F 50+) Just about done with all of this, with people, with everything. May just give up. Or set the world on fire.
- Scratch (M 20s-40s) The devil. Well, a devil. Trying really hard to be a devil.
- Sir Arthur Banks (M 50s-60s) A wealthy and powerful man.
- Cuddy Banks (M 20s-30s) Sir Arthur’s son, painfully shy, a Morris dancer. He is secretly in love with Frank (also in hate)
- Frank Thorney (M 20s-30s) A confident and successful young man, charming and ruthless. His ambition knows no bounds
- Winnifred (F 20s-30s) Sir Arthur’s servant, resigned and pragmatic, secretly married to Frank.
Cuddy and Frank engage in extensive stage combat. WITCH will work with Intimacy Director Alli St. John and Fight Director Annie Enneking.
Cuddy does perform a Morris dance. We will work with a Morris Choreographer for this scene.
Content advisory: WITCH contains adult language, violence, death, the Devil, selling souls to the Devil, medieval gender and class bias, and descriptions of witchcraft. But no actual witches.
MAE WEST AND THE TRIAL OF SEX
Mae West and the Trial of Sex by John Heimbuch, directed by Allison Vincent. Rehearsals will begin the week of April 28. MAE WEST… runs May 31 – June 22, 2025 (14 performances) at Crane Theater.
Extra! Extra! Provocative Playwright Mae West Runs Afoul of Broadway Censors, Her Popular Play SEX Raided for Obscenity. Tammany Hall claims it was necessary to prevent West’s new homosexual drama, THE DRAG, from corrupting the youth of New York. The sultry starlet faces time in the slammer if she doesn’t amend her immoral ways and stop SEX at once!
Mae West and the Trial of Sex draws from court documents, newspapers, and West’s own plays to explore the overt sexuality and curious queerness of her rise to fame, in this world premiere production by Artistic Director John Heimbuch.
Roles:
- Mae West (F 34, but only admits to 27) A Broadway actress/playwright with a Brooklyn accent. Self-assured, wisecracking, sex-positive, and tough. Not yet a movie star. Actors who do not look exactly like Mae West are encouraged to audition for the role of Mae West.
- The Ensemble (any age or gender) These five performers play friends, family, actors, lawyers, drag queens, gangsters, police, politicians, prisoners, professionals, and the public.
This is a new play, and the script is being developed over the coming year. We will hire an Intimacy Director, Drag Consultant, or other advisors as needed.
Content advisory: MAE WEST… contains adult language, outdated LGBTQIA+ terminology, and references to sexuality. This play is still in development so this advisory may be incomplete.
For both plays, actors of all ages, races, and genders are encouraged to apply.
Trans and non-binary performers are encouraged to apply.
We can currently only hire non-Equity actors.
AUDITIONS
The first round of auditions will be held in person from September 8-11 (or via video submission, if needed).
Invited callbacks will be held in person on September 15-16. Alternative callback options may be available.
Please provide/prepare:
- A short monologue that shows off your strengths (about 2 minutes long)
- An up-to-date acting headshot and resume, highlighting relevant experience
- Your known availability and conflicts through June 2025.
- Links to your website, acting reel, or previous works are encouraged.
Each audition will take about 5 minutes. We will not be reading sides at these auditions.
Audition times are:
- Sunday, Sept 8: 2:00 – 8:00 pm
- Tuesday, Sept 10: 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
- Wednesday, Sept 11: 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm (if needed)
To schedule an audition, please register here.
Select all times you are available, then we’ll contact you to confirm your audition time.
Auditions will be held at:
Children’s Theatre Company
2400 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis
If you have general questions about the company or the audition process, please email info@walkingshadow.org. All scheduling requests should go through the online form.
If you are unable to attend in-person auditions, you are welcome to send a video monologue audition to john@walkingshadow.org through Weds, September 11. Please include your headshot, resume, acting reel (if you have one), and known conflicts.
For more information on Walking Shadow Theatre Company and our past productions, visit: www.walkingshadow.org
COMPENSATION
Compensation is $18/hour, with a 3-hour minimum for any performance or in-person rehearsal call, and a 2-hour minimum for any Zoom rehearsal call. A limited amount of memorization time outside of rehearsal will be paid at the same rate. Paid as employee (with taxes taken out, with workers comp insurance). Pay is non-negotiable. These are non-union positions.
COVID PROTOCOLS
All Walking Shadow workers must be “up to date” on their COVID vaccination, and remain up to date as those guidelines are updated. The description of “up do date” is at:
https://www.cdc.gov/covid/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html
OR employees must request an exemption to this vaccination requirement as an accommodation.
Each production will be performed in-person in 80-100 seat theatres. The actors will be unmasked during the performance.
Audience masking will be optional, and masks will be available upon request.
We are not currently requiring testing. Our COVID policy is subject to change depending on the current local rate of infection. We will provide tests should they be required.
We will not have understudies for these productions. In the case of performer illness or injury, we will work with the actors and venue to reschedule or cancel any performances that might be impacted.
If you have any questions, please contact us!