Story Theater Company’s 2019 teen show is a comedy by William Shakespeare, directed by Vivan Cook and Mat Wymore.
When Viola and Sebastian are shipwrecked on the island of Illyria, Viola finds herself alone without her brother or the life that she knew. She decides she must disguise herself as a man in order to gain employment with Orsino, Duke of Illyria. The Duke is madly in love with Olivia, who wants nothing to do with him. When Orsino tasks Viola with delivering his messages of love to Olivia, Shakespeare’s brilliant comedy truly begins. Disguises, clowns, tricksters, and mistaken identities intertwine in a romantic comedy that, of course, concludes in the most unexpected manner for the characters, and in the most delightful for the audience.
SPONSORED BY
Brad Dell
PERFORMANCES
March 1, 2, 3 and 8, 9, 10
Location: STC’s Black Box Theater – 615 S. Dayton Ave. suite 133 in Ames
This program is funded in part by local option tax funds provided by the City of Ames through the Commission on the Arts (COTA).
AUDITION DETAILS
Auditions will be held on Tuesday, November 27th, 6:00 pm-9:00 pm at STC’s Black Box Theater: 615 S. Dayton Ave., suite 133 in Ames. Callbacks will be held Thursday, November 29th, 6:00 pm-9:00pm.
Story Theater Company’s annual teen show is an intensive experience wherein the participants form a theater company to create a production. With the guidance of adult directors, a technical director, and a design mentor, the teens not only act in the show, but are also responsible for all sets, costumes, props, lights, dramaturgy, music, and stage management.
The participation fee is $135, and need-based partial scholarships are available.
Audition Instructions
- Open to ages 13-18. Please sign up for a 30-minute audition slot. During this time, you will perform a one-minute Shakespeare monologue and then work with small groups on scenes chosen by the directors. Sign up for an audition time slot here .
- We have provided links below to the play in its entirety as well as to a synopsis. Look at these, and then prepare a one-minute monologue from any Shakespeare play, including Twelfth Night, to perform memorized during your audition. You do not need to adhere to the designated gender of Shakespeare’s characters when selecting your monologue. We have provided some monologue examples from Twelfth Night below, which you are free to use.
- The scenes that we will be using in auditions are also provided below. These will be performed as cold-reads (so there is no need to memorize), but it will be helpful to become familiar with them.
- Please arrive 10-15 minutes early for your audition time.
- Bring with you all the conflicts you will have with the posted rehearsal schedule. All tech rehearsals and performances are mandatory. Callbacks will be held Thursday, November 29, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. In general, rehearsals will be Mondays, Tuesday, and Thursdays 6-9 pm and Saturday mornings. A Preliminary Rehearsal Schedule can be found here.
- Email Vivian at vmcook@iastate.edu and Mat at mlwymore@gmail.com with any questions about the show or auditions.
Stage Manager and Production Team Leaders Instructions:
- Open to ages 13-18. All members of the cast will serve on one of six production teams: costumes, props, set, music, lights, or dramaturgy.
- A Team Leader for each of the six areas will be selected in addition to a Stage Manager. The SM and Lighting Designer will not be able to also be cast members, but it is possible that the other five production team leaders can be cast as actors in addition to their design roles.
- Team leaders and the Stage Manager will be selected through an interview process. If you are interested, please sign up HERE for an interview time between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. on November 27th or 29th. Prepare to speak about your experience (although no experience is required!) in the area(s) of your choice, as well as why you would like to be a team leader.
Full synopsis: https://www.playshakespeare.com/twelfth-night/synopsis.
You may read the play in its entirety here: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/twelfth_night/full.html
There are also many different versions that you can access online or in a library, including ones with
footnotes! Do not be concerned if you cannot understand everything that you read. You can find
Shakespeare lexicons online to help you out before the auditions, but Shakespearean language is a
challenge that we are so excited to tackle together!
CHARACTERS:
- Viola: A young woman who becomes shipwrecked on the island of Illyria and must disguise herself as Cesario in order to gain employment. While working for Orsino, she falls in love with him.
- Orsino: The Duke of Illyria. Madly in love with Olivia.
- Valentine: Orsino’s attendant.
- Curio: Orsino’s attendant.
- Olivia: A countess who is mourning the deaths of her brother and father and who falls in love with Cesario.
- Feste: Olivia’s fool/jester, the wisest of them all.
- Maria: Olivia’s waiting-gentlewoman who partners with Toby, Andrew, Fabian, and Feste in their schemes.
- Sir Toby Belch: Olivia’s uncle, who partners with Maria, Andrew, Fabian, and Feste in their schemes.
- Sir Andrew Aguecheek: Sir Toby’s friend, who partners with Toby, Maria, Fabian, and Feste in their schemes.
- Fabian: Belongs to Olivia’s household and partners with Toby, Maria, Andrew, and Feste in their schemes.
- Malvolio: Olivia’s steward, who does not get along with Toby’s crew.
- Sebastian: Viola’s twin brother, who was shipwrecked as well, but was rescued by Antonio and has been traveling the country with him.
- Antonio: Sebastian’s rescuer and a loyal friend. Past events on the island of Illyria make it very dangerous for Antonio to be there.
- Captain: The captain of the ship that wrecked on Illyria.
- Priest: Charged with performing marriages, the Priest naturally becomes embroiled in the confusion of mistaken identities and all the rest.
Click here for a PDF of Sample Monologues from Twelfth Night.
Click here for a PDF of Twelfth Night Scenes for Cold Readings.