Arcadia Auditions
Director Randy Barth and producer Pamela Northrup seek 6 performers to complete the cast of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, with performances March 3-18, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Note: The final performance will be a 2pm matinee on Saturday.
Auditions will be held December 5 and 6 at 7:00 in the lobby of the Greenbelt Arts Center. Callbacks, if needed, will be December 8. Audition sides can be found here, and all auditioners are encouraged to fill out the form here before coming to GAC for the audition.
The first rehearsal will be a read-through by January 2. Rehearsals will initially be three times a week, most likely selected from Monday through Thursday evenings depending on cast availability.
Per current GAC Covid policy, masks must be worn at all rehearsals until tech week, and all cast and crew must provide proof of full vaccination before accepting a role.
Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia has won awards and accolades ever since its first appearance in 1993. It is set in an English country house, and takes place in both 1809 and today. There scholars debate the relationships between past and present, order and disorder, and certainty and uncertainty. The (often inaccurate) sleuthing of the modern researchers is contrasted with those who lived there before and provide both comedy and drama. And indeed, there are scandals, both academic and personal, that keep the plot shifting. It presents a rich combination of farcical elements, clever wordplay, and omens of a dark future.
We initially held auditions for Arcadia in 2020, cast it, and held a read-through before canceling due to the pandemic. Some of our original cast has agreed to join our remounted effort and so those roles are pre-cast. A number of roles remain to be cast, as shown below.
EZRA CHATER – a poet, aged thirty
RICHARD NOAKES – a landscape architect, middle-aged
CAPT. BRICE – Lady Croom’s brother, middle thirties
CHLOE COVERLY – daughter of modern (unseen) Lady Croom, late teens, early twenties
VALENTINE COVERLY – Chloe’s older brother (or perhaps sister), late twenties, early thirties
GUS COVERLY & AUGUSTUS COVERLY – former brother of Thomasina and latter brother of Chloe and Valentine, teenager (the same actor plays both)
Note: there is considerable flexibility in character ages, particularly in the older parts. The information above is only a guideline. For more insight into the play and characters, please see this Wikipedia article.
For questions about auditions, please email director Randy Barth.
Casting and Audition Policy
As part of our ongoing effort to be an inclusive and welcoming space, the Greenbelt Arts Center requires that all productions follow our audition and casting policy, which can be found in full here. Production teams are not to limit casting choices unless a script specifies that an actor portraying that character must fit a specific demographic (ex. August Wilson’s plays, Lynn Nottage’s Sweat, the musical Hairspray.)
GAC will work with actors to accommodate needs within our capabilities as a non-profit organization, and is always open to suggestions about how we can improve the experience for all volunteers.