-- Click below to navigate this page --
Auditions, Callbacks & Casting
WINTER 2024 WINTER 2024 ONE ACT AUDITIONS
THTR 152-D/49/149
WEEK 1
1/7 & 1/8
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY
FUNERAL IN THE RAIN
By F.J. Hartland
Director – Linyi Chen
FAREWELL TO GALATEA
By Ford Ainsworth
Director – Alex Guaydacan
Stage Manager – Emalee Corona
ANOTHER MOON CALLED EARTH
By Tom Stoppard
Director – Queenie (Jinglan Yang)
Production
Faculty Supervisor -- Irwin Appel
Graduate Tech TA – Mayra Gomez-Labrada
PERFORMANCES:
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8 2pm & 7:30pm
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9 2pm
GENERAL AUDITIONS:
TUESDAY, JANUARY 7
6pm until 10pm
LOCATION: Studio Theater (1101)
CALLBACKS:
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8
6pm until 11pm
LOCATION: Studio Theater
INCLUSIVITY STATEMENT:
We encourage any UCSB enrolled student actor who identify as/with any gender, race, age, sexual orientation, disability, religious or political belief and affiliation to audition. WELCOME!!!
COURSE CREDIT:
All enrolled UCSB students are eligible to participate and receive course credit! Actors cast in the one-acts have the option to earn 3 units of THTR 49 and/or 149 credit.
IMPORTANT REHEARSAL INFORMATION:
Individual directors will organize weekly rehearsals with their casts. Rehearsals are to be conducted Monday – Friday Weeks 1 – 5 between the hours of 6PM-10PM until tech week. There is also the possibility of rehearsals on Saturdays. Please note: ALL ACTORS MUST ATTEND CREW VIEW, TECH AND PERFORMANCE
SCHEDULES (FEB. 3 – 9) in addition to outside rehearsals scheduled by their director.
SCRIPTS:
ALL THREE scripts and sides are now available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/116W04G85LHKI1usHjDIslHjKnerMS8iF
AUDITION REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION: PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AS ALL 3 STEPS ARE CRUCIAL TO A SMOOTH AUDITION!
STEP 1
PLEASE thoroughly complete the electronic audition form. It is MANDATORY that you complete this form BEFORE your audition: https://forms.gle/6dcZvXn1GNnpV28F7
STEP 2
RESERVE A TIME-SLOT TO AUDITION ON TUESDAY, 1/7. The link to sign up for your audition slot here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UKUno6_S5djdrG5SjWjbpGBXlQWTyxH6BPfOwQKWf7k/edit?tab=t.0
STEP 3
PLEASE PREPARE ONE scene or ONE speech chosen from the audition “sides”of one play for your audition. Link is here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/116W04G85LHKI1usHjDIslHjKnerMS8iF?u sp=drive_link
- Your text need not be memorized, but please be very familiar with it and thoroughly invest yourself in the language, situation, and needs of the character.
- Specific audition texts will be found under each play description – see below.
Please note:
THERE will be a reader available should you be sharing a scene OR you may audition with a chosen partner (some people pair up in the waiting area - come early ;).
Please understand that you are auditioning for all three plays and directors during your general audition. Your choice of scene/monologue will not preclude you being called back and/or cast in any of the three plays.
INDIVIDUAL PLAY INFORMATION:
FUNERAL IN THE RAIN
by F. J. Hartland
Directed by LINYI CHEN
Actors of all gender identities, races, and ethnicities are encouraged to audition for any role.
THE PLAY:
Funeral in the Rain by F. J. Hartland is a heartfelt and humorous story of love, memory, and human connection. Set in a cemetery on a rainy day, the story revolves around the life and legacy of Esther Cavanaugh. Through a series of reflections and anecdotes, family, friends, and acquaintances gather to share their memories of Esther. Her kindness, wit, and resilience profoundly impacted everyone she encountered.
CHARACTERS:
WOMAN (plays Doris, Mildred, Flo, Enid and Heidi)
MAN (plays Rev. Bramblatt, Laird, Roland, Orvil, Nick and Dr.Pruitt)
Link to audition sides for Funeral in the Rain: Sides
FAREWELL TO GALATEA
by Ford Ainsworth
Directed by ALEX GUAYDACAN
Actors of all gender identities, races, and ethnicities are encouraged to audition for any role.
THE PLAY
A young painter nicknamed Pyggy–after the Greek mythology sculptor Pygmalion–creates his perfect sculpture from the ideal parts of all the people he encounters and sees around him, naming her Galatea. Eros, the Greek god of love, brings her to life, causing Pyggy to realize his ideals weren’t everything he imagined them to be.
CHARACTERS
PYGGY
Male, 20s.
A young and passionate artist; he is creative, impractical, idealistic, and impulsive. He is a perfectionist in his art, but rather careless about matters which are not related to art. He has a great deal of energy and enthusiasm for his work and ideas.
*ROLE INCLUDES INTIMACY*
THALIA
Female, 20s.
Cloud Crest hostess. She is resourceful, practical, ambitious, and energetic. She has a quick intelligence and a powerful drive to achieve her goals. She is usually adroit in handling the situations which envelop her.
*ROLE INCLUDES INTIMACY*
GALATEA
Female, 20s.
Created by Pyggy as his “perfect statue” and is brought to life by Eros. She is rather naive, her experience of the world having been restricted to the workings of Pyggy’s idealistic mind. She learns quickly, however, and is sensitive to the moods of others. Her charm–aside from her fantastic beauty–lies in her open, innocent, and eager attitude.
EROS
Male, 20s.
The Greek god of love. Larger than life. He moves quickly but with an unhurried ease and grace. Despite his boyish nature, he is a wise and experienced practitioner of the game of love.
MRS. BEDFORD
Female, 40s.
A client of Pyggy’s. She is a cultured, well-educated, gracious, and sensitive woman. She has a mature charm, in which she is as secure personally as she is financially in her millions. She radiates confidence in herself and her world.
JULIA
Female, 16-20.
The pretty, impressionable, eager young niece of Mrs. Bedford. She has a great interest in all the arts and views the artists who create such works in a romantic light. She expresses her admiration and pleasure in an open, unsophisticated manner which is refreshing and rather touching.
[LINK TO SIDES] (Sides for MRS. BEDFORD and JULIA available during Callbacks)
ANOTHER MOON CALLED EARTH
by Tom Stoppard
Directed by QUEENIE (JINGLAN YANG)
Actors identifying as/with any gender, race, and ethnicities are encouraged to audition for any role in this play.
THE PLAY
An astronaut has first landed on the moon. Penelope is plagued by an illness which she could not get out of bed, she starts to receive daily visits from a dubious doctor. In the same flat, her husband, Bone, is working on the history of mankind. The mysterious death of Penelope’s nanny takes a back seat to philosophical musings on absolute truth.
CHARACTERS
PENELOPE, 34 years old or older. She has an appetite for games and is bound to her bed.
BONE, her husband, fifthly, a logician, He dedicates his life’s work to history
ALBERT, younger or older than Bone. He is a medical person with a smooth way around things.
CROUCH, the hall porter downstairs of Penelope’s flat.
TV COMMENTATOR, a TV commentator reporting on the moon man.
Link to audition sides: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JMDIG2ZU_Dr8vcqWBVDsYXA6gINw_hTY/view?u sp=drive_link
QUESTIONS? Please contact Faculty Supervisor Irwin Appel
and Graduate Tech TA Mayra Gomez-Labrada
irwinappel@ucsb.edu and mgomez-labrada@ucsb.edu
FOR BOTH AUDITIONS YOU MUST FILL OUT THIS FORM IN ADDITION TO SIGNING UP FOR SLOTS BELOW.
AUDITION ANNOUNCEMENTS
AN ACTOR FOCUED - STUDIO PRODUCTION
of the
Olivier and Tony Award Winning play
ART by Yasmina Reza
Olivier and Tony Award Winner
Director – Julie Fishell
PERFORMANCES:
Friday February 6 7:30pm
Saturday February 7 7:30pm
Sunday February 8 7:30pm
GENERAL AUDITIONS: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25 - 6pm until 10pm
LOCATION: Theater Dance West 1507
Callbacks: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26 - 6pm until 11pm
LOCATION: Theater Dance West 1507
Please note that auditions are this FALL QUARTER for this WINTER QUARTER 2025 production.
Auditions are 0PEN TO ALL ENROLLED UCSB STUDENTS – MAJORS AND NON-MAJORS.
INCLUSIVITY STATEMENT:
We encourage any UCSB enrolled student actor who identify as/with any gender, race, age, sexual orientation, disability, religious or political belief and affiliation to audition. ALL ARE WELCOME!!!
COURSE CREDIT:
All enrolled UCSB students are eligible to participate and receive course credit! Actors cast in the one-acts have the option to earn 3 units of THTR 49 and/or 149 credit.
VERY IMPORTANT REHEARSAL INFORMATION:
Rehearsals are to be conducted Monday – Friday during Weeks 1 – 5 between the hours of 6PM-10PM until tech week. There is also the possibility/likelihood of rehearsals on Saturdays. Please note: THIS PRODUCTION WILL BE A STUDIO PRODUCTION WITH THE EMPHASIS ON ACTING AND WILL FEATURE MINIMAL PRODUCTION ELEMENTS.
FOR ACCESS TO THE SCRIPT - ACTION REQUIRED
Please contact Julie Fishell at fishell@ucsb.edu
FOR ACCESS TO THE SIDES – ACTION REQUIRED
Please contact Julie Fishell at fishell@ucsb.edu
PLEASE PREPARE - ONE SIDE for either Marc, Serge or Yvan chosen from materials sent via email.
NOTE: Your text need not be memorized, but please be very familiar with it and thoroughly invest yourself in the language, situation, and needs of the character.
YOU MAY SIGN UP FOR AN AUDITION TIME HERE
YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE SENT THE SCRIPT, SIDES AND AUDITION FORM ONCE YOU HAVE SIGNED UP FOR AN AUDITION TIME
NOTE: PLEASE thoroughly complete the electronic audition form that will be sent to you by stage management once you reserve an audition time-slot. It is MANDATORY that you complete this form BEFORE your audition.
THE PLAY
SETTING: The Main Room of an Apartment.
Serge purchases of a monstrously expensive all-white painting that becomes the Bermuda Triangle for Serge, Marc and Yvan’s individual and collective friendships. Everyone scrambles for safety and security as they are plunged into a verbal and physical war of opinion as choosing sides ensues.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
Please note: All Characters in this play identify as male. And ages are TBD.
Serge: A dermatologist who buys an expensive, all-white painting by an obscure artist.
Marc: An aeronautical engineer.
Yvan: A textile and stationary worker. Soon to be married.
THOUGHTS FROM THE DIRECTOR: Do we NEED our friends to view art (and by extension life choices, partnerships, belief systems) as we do? If so, why? Is this because we believe we need to have power over others to shape their beliefs and opinions - in order to ensure they are valid and worthy of our friendship. In these close relationships, why does equanimity and neutrality bring out the primal instinct to destroy?
Art is at once Epic in scope and Intimate in the telling -- structured to be played at breakneck speed using monologue and dialogue forms.
And … It is brutally funny. Come and join the fun!!!
Actors of all gender identities, races, and ethnicities are encouraged to audition for any role.
QUESTIONS? Please contact Julie Fishell: fishell@ucsb.edu
PERFORMANCES: Thursday, February 20nd – March 1st Performing Arts Theater
GENERAL AUDITIONS: Monday, November 25th - 6pm-10pm
LOCATION: Performing Arts Theater
CALLBACKS: Tuesday, November 26th - 6pm-10pm
LOCATION: Performing Arts Theater
1ST REHEARSAL: Monday, January 6th
REHEARSALS:
Typically 20-25 hours per week until tech rehearsals begin. This play will rehearse Monday – Friday between the hours of 6-11 until tech week. There will be some Friday afternoon rehearsals and possibility of rehearsals on Saturdays. There are additional hours for techs and dress rehearsals leading to performances including Saturdays and Sundays.
CREDIT:
3 units of THTR 49 and/or 149 will be given to cast members.
AUDITION REQUIREMENTS:
Any full time UCSB student is welcome and encouraged to audition.
Please sign up for an Audition Slot HERE
AUDITION PREPARATION:
The current draft of the script can be found HERE
Please read the script carefully and choose a short scene or monologue from the play to perform for your audition. You do not need to memorize the material, but it should be prepared well.
If you choose a scene, you may also choose a partner and prepare together. It is possible to have a partner who is not auditioning for the role that they read in the scene. If you want to do a scene and don’t have a partner a reader will be provided. NOTE: please see specific instructions for the role of Frank below.
Selections should be no more than 2-3 minutes. Time your scene, please. Please specify which role you are reading for on the sign-up sheet.
If you have questions or need more information contact Artistic Director Risa Brainin at rbrainin@ucsb.edu.
LAUNCH PAD is our new play development program housed in the Department of Theater and Dance. Strange Birds is a Preview Production of a brand new play never performed before now. Our concept of the “Preview Production” is unique in the American theatre. As a fully-realized production, the play stays in previews through the run of the show, allowing the writer to continue revising as the piece evolves through performances. For actors, it is an exciting and challenging opportunity to work on a new play. As the play evolves, you’ll be asked to learn new pages, make on the spot cuts and maybe even play a new character! We started this program in 2005 and are proud to have supported so many great playwrights and plays on their journey from incubation to professional world premieres. Click here for our full Gallery of Preview Productions.
THE PLAY:
When Jo and her forest ranger trainee, Whitney, find blood in the snow outside a remote mountain house, they suspect that something bad has happened. Can they figure out what before the storm hits?
Jo and Whitney go to Lou’s cabin, hoping she can help — since the suspicious house belongs to Lou’s sister, Gwylan. But Lou is evasive, the storm is intensifying… and then Gwylan and Phoebe literally crash the party. And they really, really don’t want to talk about what might have happened to Gwylan’s violent boyfriend, Frank…
Strange Birds is about women, and wolves, and sisters, and secrets. What do we owe to the systems that oppress us? And how do you escape something you carry inside you?
THE PLAYWRIGHT:
E. M. Lewis is an award-winning playwright, teacher, and opera librettist. Her work has been produced around the world, and published by Samuel French. Lewis received the Steinberg Award for both How the Light Gets In and Song of Extinction and the Primus Prize for Heads from the American Theater Critics Association, the Ted Schmitt Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle for outstanding writing of a world premiere play, a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, a playwriting fellowship from the New Jersey State Arts Commission, the 2016 Oregon Literary Fellowship in Drama, and an Edgerton Award for her epic Antarctic play Magellanica. Plays include: How the Light Gets In, Apple Season, The Gun Show (which has had more than forty productions across the country and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland), Song of Extinction, Heads, Infinite Black Suitcase, Reading to Vegetables, True Story, Dorothy’s Dictionary, and You Can See All the Stars. Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant, a new opera commissioned by American Lyric Theater had an orchestral workshop in New York City in February 2020. Town Hall, her opera about health care in America, was produced at University of Maryland and Willamette University. Lewis is currently working on The Great Divide, commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as part of their American Revolutions program. The play was co-commissioned by Artists Repertory Theater, and Lewis has received a three-year National Playwright Residency from the Mellon Foundation to support her work there. Lewis is a proud member of LineStorm Playwrights and the Dramatists Guild. She lives on her family’s farm in Oregon.
The Creative Team
Playwright / E.M. Lewis
Director / Risa Brainin
Scenic Designer / Ann Sheffield
Costume Designer / Hunter Kaczorowski
Lighting Designer / Michael Klaers
Sound and Music / Gaurav Mishra
Dramaturg / Linyi Chen
Assistant Lighting Designer / Siddharth Chattoraj
Assistant Director / Trevor Bishop
Asst. Scenic Designers / Maya Aragon and Yasmine Castaneda
Asst. Costume Designer / Diana Mateescu
Stage Manager / Kaitlyn Capps
CHARACTERS and CASTING – all roles are open:
Alouette (Lou) – (29, F) The eldest “bird” sister. A painter. Her name is the French word for skylark. Tough. Solitary. The one in the family who gets things done. Her only outlet for her woundedness is her art -- which is strange and dark and full of wolves. She works on the mountain during the summer, doing seasonal guide work for fishermen and hunters -- who sometimes end up buying her paintings. Believes in making her own rules.
Phoebe – (25, F) The middle “bird” sister. Works at a hardware store in town. A people pleaser. The one in the family who tries to keep things together. Believes in following the rules.
Gwylan – (23, F) The youngest “bird” sister. Works odd jobs, intermittently, and somehow manages to get by. Her name is the Welsh word for seagull. Pretty and unpredictable. Fun and trouble. What rules?
Joanne (Jo) – (29, F) A forest ranger. Went to school with Lou. Dependable. Steady. Loves the natural world, and that she gets to work in it every day. She’s charged with enforcing the rules, and is entirely capable of doing so, but is also able to determine what rules to enforce and how on her own.
Whitney – (22, F) A park ranger trainee. A city girl. A free spirit. Fun and glib and inexperienced and kind of innocent. She’s never thought that hard about the rules, or who they apply to.
Wolf – (Ageless, Any Gender) Lou’s creation, companion, inspiration, nemesis. Confident, strong, capable. Devoted to their pack.
Frank – (25, M) Gwylan’s boyfriend. Works construction, when he’s working. NOTE: Whoever plays Frank is also eligible for casting in Art and One Acts. Since Frank only has a few lines, you may create one minute monologue for Frank talking about his marriage in first person. OR, you may do a monologue from another play that aligns with Frank’s character.
Student directed One Acts will audition Monday, January 6th, 2025. Callbacks: Tuesday, January 7th.
Reserve A Room Online!
DANCE AND THEATER MAJORS WORKING ON CLASS CURRICULUM ONLY.
Not a major or working on something for a club? Be sure to get written approval from Daniel Herrera (daniel12@ucsb.edu) prior to booking a room.
Steps for booking a room:
- Most theater/dance majors already have an account that was created for them. Just click this link to start booking: theaterdance.skedda.com
- If that does not work, click here to register an account
- Please only reserve one hour per day per project.
- If you no longer need a reservation, please delete it so it can be used by your colleagues.
- Leave your contact information in the event of an emergency.
- Don't see the room you're looking for? Scroll to the right!
Looking to book a room further out than a week or on a re-occuring basis? Email dherrera@theaterdance.ucsb.edu.
Run/Wardrobe Crew (THTR 29D/49/149)
Do you know your 29D, 49 or 149 requirement? Find it HERE
POSITIONS AVAILABLE (DEPENDS ON THE PRODUCTION)
- Light Board Operator
- Sound Board Operator
- Fly Crew
- Deck/Props Crew
- Followspot Operator
- Wardrobe/Makeup Crew
HOW TO APPLY FOR RUN OR WARDROBE CREW:
- If you have any general pre-emptive questions about crew assignments, positions feel free to email either our Technical Director Sydney Hlavaty shlavaty@ucsb.edu The dates for each of the productions can be found in the Calendars section below.
- Fill out the following google form to express your interest in specific shows/ assignments throughout the year. NOTE: Filling this out does not guarantee that position or show. 24'-25' Run Crew Sign Up
- We will schedule an appointment via email to discuss/finalize position assignments and to potentially assign your add code through the Academic Advisor Sean O’Shea.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- All crew positions are first-come, first-served your spot is not secure until you have signed the crew contract after meeting with Denise or Jackson.
- All events listed on the calendars are required. It is not possible to partially participate in a production.
- There are no opportunities to make up for an unexcused absence or lateness.
CALENDARS:
In order to see the specific dates and times of the shows, go to the following link to view the crew calendars. Each show has its own calendar to view.
CONTACTS:
- Sydney Hlavaty,TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, (Run/Board Crews and Costume) Shlavaty@ucsb.edu
Ushering
Want to be more involved with the Department? Want to see shows for free? Volunteer to be an usher for one of our shows!
WHAT: As an usher for the department's productions, you will be asked to hand out programs before the show, direct audience members to facilities during intermission, and organize the venue after the performance.
WHEN: Ushers should arrive 45 minutes PRIOR to curtain at the VENUE of the performance and check in with the house manager for instructions and a brief training session.
WEAR: Please arrive dressed tastefully in ALL BLACK.
WHY: For ushering, students may see the performance at no charge. It is possible (though not likely) that ushers will be asked to attend another performance if seating is very limited.
HOW: Use the buttons below to to sign up! You will be asked to enter your email address so that we can send you a reminder. Be advised that sign ups are on a first come, first served basis.
TO SIGN UP CLICK HERE!
Theater/Dance Mailing List
Email Sean at sposh@ucsb.edu with your @ucsb.edu address and the subject "Please add me to the Mailing List." The Mailing List will have the latest information regarding department events such as auditions, run/wardrobe crew, and special events.
Prop/Furniture Rentals
Props/Furniture Rental Guidelines
Props and furniture are available for rental to the following:
- Students currently enrolled in a class within the department
- Recognized UCSB student organizations with a faculty advisor
- Declared Majors/Minors within the department
- Others as determined by the Technical Director
Rentals are available by appointment only. To make an appointment email Devin Gee at dgee@ucsb.edu. A $50 deposit check is required for all rentals.
Props/Furniture Rental Guidelines
PERFORMANCES: Saturday, November 11th at 2pm & 7:30pm Sunday, November 12th at 2pm