Auditions
Please find below info about Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s Equity Principal Auditions and Non-Equity Auditions for our upcoming 2026-27 Season, as well as information about rehearsal dates, performances, and role breakdowns.
26-27 Season Equity Principal Auditions – ASP
LOCATION: The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts
321 Arsenal Street | Watertown, MA 02472
Tuesday, March 31st, 2026, 10am – 6:00pm (with a one-hour lunch break)
AND
Tuesday, April 7th, 2026, 10am – 6:00pm (with a one-hour lunch break)
ASP Staff Present:
Christopher V. Edwards (Artistic Director)
Regine Vital (Manager of Artistic & Community Programs)
These auditions are for MEMBERS OF ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION ONLY. Information for non-AEA auditions can be found below.
These are the only available audition days; there will be no alternate dates. If you cannot attend any of these dates, you can email casting@actorsshakespeareproject.org inquire about sending a self-tape.
For the 2025-2026 Season, Actors’ Shakespeare Project will offer a NEAT Category 5 / Tier B contract. The weekly AEA Artist Salary will be the minimum rate for a NEAT Category 5 contract.
Typical Rehearsal Schedule:
➳ Weekday Evenings: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings
➳ Weekend Days/Early Evenings: Saturday and Sunday
Actors’ Shakespeare Project does not provide housing.
Equity appointments are scheduled in seven (7) minute intervals; each Equity Member has a maximum of five (5) minutes to audition. Please bring your AEA membership card.
Please prepare material of your choice; if you wish, this may be selections from the season. For those who wish to perform a scene from the season, a reader will be available (please be prepared to supply sides for the reader, which include indication of your starting & stopping places).
Available roles are listed below; all roles are available for audition to any actor regardless of race, heritage, or gender identification unless otherwise indicated by the playwright. We seek actors who can and will enjoy playing multiple roles in a production, who are physically engaged in the work, and who are eager to collaborate with ensemble members.
No understudies will be cast.
Each production schedule will include at least 2 weekday morning student matinees, for which actors must be available.
If you have any questions, please email casting@actorsshakespeareproject.org.
Interested Stage Management candidates can submit resumes directly to Regine Vital by June 30th, 2026 (regine@actorsshsakespeareproject.org).
Thank you, we look forward to seeing you!
26-27 Season Non-Equity Auditions – ASP
LOCATION: The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts
321 Arsenal Street | Watertown, MA 02472
Tuesday, May 12th, 2025, 10:00am – 6:00pm (with a one-hour lunch break)
AND
Saturday, May 16th, 2025, 12:30pm – 8:00pm (with a one-hour lunch break)
ASP Staff Present:
Christopher V. Edwards (Artistic Director)
Regine Vital (Manager of Artistic & Community Programs)
These are the only available audition days; there will be no alternate dates. If you cannot attend any of these dates, you can email casting@actorsshakespeareproject.org inquire about sending a self-tape.
Typical Rehearsal Schedule:
➳ Weekday Evenings: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings
➳ Weekend Days/Early Evenings: Saturday and Sunday
Actors’ Shakespeare Project does not provide housing
Non-equity appointments are scheduled in five (5) minute intervals and each auditionee has a maximum of three (3) minutes to audition.
Please prepare material of your choice; if you wish, this may be selections from the season. For those who wish to perform a scene from the season, a reader will be available (please be prepared to supply sides for the reader, which include indication of your starting & stopping places).
Available roles are listed below; all roles are available for audition to any actor regardless of race, heritage, or gender identification unless otherwise indicated by the playwright. We seek actors who can and will enjoy playing multiple roles in a production, who are physically engaged in the work, and who are eager to collaborate with ensemble members.
No understudies will be cast.
Each production schedule will include at least 2 weekday morning student matinees, for which actors must be available.
If you have any questions, please email casting@actorsshakespeareproject.org.
Interested Stage Management candidates can submit resumes directly to Regine Vital by June 30th, 2026 (regine@actorsshsakespeareproject.org).
Thank you, we look forward to seeing you!
PLEASE NOTE: All Rehearsal and Performance Dates below are TENTATIVE.
by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen
Directed by Christopher V. Edwards
First Rehearsal: Wednesday, September 9th, 2026
Opening: Thursday, October 8th, 2026
Closing: Sunday, November 1st, 2026
Synopsis
Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors is a 90-minute, small-cast, gender-bending parody of Bram Stoker’s novel, in which meek estate agent Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania, unleashing a narcissistic Count Dracula on modern-minded Lucy Westfeldt, her sister Mina, insect-obsessed Renfield, and vampire hunter Jean Van Helsing in a whirlwind of quick changes and broad physical comedy. The piece satirizes Gothic horror while centering capable female protagonists and queer-coded humor, ending with Lucy and Van Helsing driving the story’s moral and emotional resolution.
Content Advisory
ASP will hire an Intimacy Director for all instances of sexually/emotionally charged intimacy.
Available Roles
(playwright’s note: all characters can be played by actors of any gender, ethnicity, age or type)
TRACK 1: HARKER / CAVENDISH / WORTHINGTON / HAVEMERCY / BOSUN / GRAVEDIGGER
➳ Jonathan Harker – Prim and proper and obsessive-compulsive real estate agent, frightened of his own shadow. Once bitten he loosens up…a lot… and becomes a Tom Jones-style rock star in leather pants. RP British dialect.
➳ Lord Cavendish – Lucy’s suitor; a Scottish dolt.
➳ Lord Worthington – Lucy’s suitor; posh, British and petulant.
➳ Lord Havemercy – Lucy’s arrogant suitor from Memphis. Texas Accent.
➳ Bosun – A scurvy seaman who goes down with the ship in a storm. Irish dialect.
➳ Gravedigger – A drunk gravedigger with a secret.
TRACK 2: DR. WESTFELDT / RENFIELD / CAPTAIN / MAN-EATING WOLF
➳ Dr. Wallace Westfeldt – Lucy and Mina’s father, a blowhard; self-important misogynist given to proclamations and posturing with his pipe. RP British dialect.
➳ Renfield – Insane patient of Dr. Westfeldt who lives to serve and loves to eat bugs. In a word, the dude is nuts. Cockney dialect and salivary issues.
➳ Captain – The salty captain of a doomed ship caught in a raging storm.
TRACK 3: LUCY / KITTY / DRIVER / MAN-EATING WOLF
➳ Lucy Wesfeldt – Brilliant, plucky earth scientist daughter of Dr. Westfeldt, she is full of energy and the spirit of adventure and often underestimated because of her beauty. RP British dialect.
➳ Kitty Rutherford – A dotty kleptomaniac patient of Dr. Westfeldt, she serves as a maid in his house. Cockney dialect.
➳ Driver – Transylvanian driver of the carriage carrying Jonathan to Dracula’s castle. Eastern European or Russian dialect.
TRACK 4: MINA / VAN HELSING / MAN EATING WOLF
➳ Mina Wesfeldt – The less attractive, less intelligent Westfeldt daughter, she lives in her sister Lucy’s shadow and is desperate for attention. RP British dialect.
➳ Dr. Van Helsing – Brilliant and sturdy German vampire-hunting doctor from the University of Schmutz. Strong, shmart, unt bold, she is a woman of action. German dialect a la Mel Brooks.
TRACK 5: DRACULA
Count Dracula – Hugely sexy, magnetically handsome, rock star presence with a killer body, he is a narcissist whose greatest love is himself – and his leather pants. Commanding European dialect.
by Jessica Bedford, Kathryn MacMillan, Charlotte Northeast, and Meghan Winch
Directed by Regine Vital
First Rehearsal: Wednesday, November 11th, 2026
Opening: Thursday, December 3rd, 2026
Closing: Sunday, Sunday December 27th, 2026
Synopsis
The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged is an 80–90 minute, three-actor “romp” in which two die-hard Janeites and a bewildered understudy crash through all six major Austen novels, switching roles at high speed while sending up Regency romance, class satire, and fan culture itself. The show blends affectionate parody, direct address, and sketch-like sequences to compress the Austen canon into a single, big-hearted evening that welcomes both devotees and newcomers.
Available roles
If the three characters were a symphony…
Track 1: is the lilting high notes
Track 2: is the steady, driving alto
Track 3: is the dependable baritone – except when the excitable tenor
by William Shakespeare
Directed by David R. Gammons
First Rehearsal: Wednesday, January 6th, 2027
Opening: Thursday, January 28th, 2027
Closing: Sunday, February 21st, 2026
Synopsis
Hamlet follows Prince Hamlet of Denmark as he confronts the ghostly revelation that his uncle Claudius has murdered his father, forcing him into a spiral of grief, moral doubt, feigned (or real) madness, and political paralysis that ultimately destroys the royal family and state. The play interrogates corruption in power, surveillance, mental health, and the difficulty of acting ethically within a broken system, themes that remain powerfully resonant in 2026.
Content Advisory
- This production will feature scenes with nudity. ASP will hire an Intimacy Director for all instances of nudity, simulated sexual interaction, and sexually/emotionally charged instances of intimacy as well as all states of partial undress.
- This production will feature scenes of violence. ASP will hire a Fight Director for all instances of physical violence.
Available roles
(note: roles featuring nudity are indicated)
Track 1: Hamlet, and ensemble – Prince of Denmark, son to Gertrude and Hamlet, nephew to Claudius (role will feature nudity)
Track 2: Gertrude, and ensemble – Queen of Denmark, wife to King Claudius, widow to King Hamlet
Track 3: Claudius, and ensemble – King of Denmark, husband to Gertrude, brother to King Hamlet
Track 4: Ophelia, and ensemble – daughter to Polonius, sister to Laertes, possible lover to Hamlet
Track 5: Laertes, and ensemble – son to Polonius, brother to Ophelia, peer to Hamlet
Track 6: Polonius, and ensemble – counselor to Claudius, father to Laertes and Ophelia
Track 7: Horatio, and ensemble – friend and confidant to Hamlet
Track 8: Ghost / Gravedigger / Player, and ensemble – ghost of King Hamlet / digger of graves
by August Wilson
Directed by Christopher V. Edwards
First Rehearsal: Wednesday, March 10th, 2027
Opening: Thursday, April 8th, 2027
Closing: Sunday, May 9th, 2027
Synopsis
August Wilson’s Jitney, set in a worn-down 1970s jitney cab station in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, chronicles a group of unlicensed cab drivers, their dispatcher Becker, and his estranged son Booster as they confront imminent building demolition, generational conflict, racism, economic precarity, and the possibility of community self-determination. Over a few weeks, the men’s intersecting struggles—Youngblood’s attempt to buy a house for his family, Turnbo’s gossip-driven conflicts, Becker and Booster’s tragic rift—build toward both personal loss and a collective decision to fight for their space.
Content Advisory
ASP will hire an Intimacy Director for all instances of sexually/emotionally charged intimacy.
Available roles
(note: seeking actors of African descent)
BECKER – well-respected, runs jitney station (60s)
BOOSTER – Becker’s son, recently released from prison (early 40s)
TURNBO – jitney driver, always interested in the business of others
YOUNGBLOOD – jitney driver and Vietnam War veteran (mid-to-late 20s)
RENA – Youngblood’s girlfriend and mother of their young son
FIELDING – jitney driver and former tailor, has a dependency on alcohol
DOUB – longtime jitney driver and Korean War veteran
SHEALY – numbers taker who often uses the jitney station as his base
PHILMORE – local hotel doorman, a reoccurring jitney passenger
ASP’s Anti-Racism Statement
Actors’ Shakespeare Project (ASP) is committed to actively examining and combating the multifaceted nature of racism in our company, our community, the theater industry and the United States. Racism is dehumanizing to everyone it touches and creates an environment that is not conducive to creative expression. Actors’ Shakespeare Project seeks to dismantle organizational systems, processes, structures, and cultures that discourage any person from engaging with us. We pledge to foster diversity, inclusivity, and equity across all of our Board, staff, artists, productions, educational programming, and business operations. The stories of all people will be reflected in all the work that we do.