Casting Call
10am - 2nd, 3rd April - Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Macduff, Banquo, Malcom
10am - 30th April, 1st May - Other characters + Callbacks.
Raye Freedman Arts Centre, Silver Road, Epsom
Production week: 27th July - 6th August 2011.
Director - Sigourney Taylor Assistant Director - Leah Nielsen
We are setting Macbeth in a dystopic, punked out universe, wherein the Kingdom
is effectively a Gang.
There is a distinct hierarchy to the gang, with Duncan (and of course, later Macbeth) the leader of the gang (think Mafia Kingpin) and the Thanes in charge of a
different area of crime e.g. weaponry, gambling, racketeering, drugs, prostitution,
protection. The murderers are the lowest form of thug, and the witches, despite
being below even the murderers in status, almost exist outside the hierarchy, being drug packers.
Said hierarchy allows for every actor, no matter how few their lines, to develop a
character that can exist within the world of the play, and be onstage often to help
create this world.
Macbeth
Sex- Male
Role in the Crime Ring- First, as Thane of protection of the Gang and it’s assets,
then later, of course, as Kingpin.
We encourage you to bring YOUR interpretation of this character. Macbeth to
us is essentially a strong character who makes bad decisions, is thrust out of his
depth, and was never meant to be king. However, he is not merely Lady Macbeth’s Puppet, he is his own man, and his flaws are his own.
Remember he is a strong Military leader (or thug)! Strength of character and
will are crucial!
I am thane of Cawdor:
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings:
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not.
AND (yep, two pieces, please learn them both!)
We have scotch’d the snake, not kill’d it:
She’ll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice
Remains in danger of her former tooth.
But let the frame of things disjoint, both the
worlds suffer,
Ere we will eat our meal in fear and sleep
In the affliction of these terrible dreams
That shake us nightly: better be with the dead,
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie
In restless ecstasy.
Lady Macbeth
Sex- Female
Role in the Crime Ring- wife to Macbeth.
Sexual tension and power are key attributes to Lady Macbeth. Her control over
her husband is essentially a sexual one, and boy can she handle herself! Again,
Lady Macbeth will very much be a character for the actor to work with us on.
O, never
Shall sun that morrow see!
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under’t. He that’s coming
Must be provided for: and you shall put
This night’s great business into my dispatch;
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.
AND (yes again, two pieces please)
What beast was’t, then,
That made you break this enterprise to me?
When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And, to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man.
Banquo
Sex- Male
Role in the Crime Ring- Thane of Prostitution
In a strange twist, we are making the noblest character in charge of the most
debasing area of the gang. He uses his own child, Fleance, to generate income.
He is essentially a pimp who juxtaposes his goodness with the crime world in
which he lives.
Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised, and, I fear,
Thou play’dst most foully for’t: yet it was said
It should not stand in thy posterity,
But that myself should be the root and father
Of many kings. If there come truth from them-As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine-Why, by the verities on thee made good,
May they not be my oracles as well,
And set me up in hope? But hush! no more.
Macduff
Sex- Male
Role in the Crime Ring- Thane of Intimidation, debt collection and Protection
Rackteering
Macduff is a bit of a pigheaded male really. He’s stubborn, vengeful, loyal and
rather wily. However, he cares deeply for his country and his family, and this
motivates him.
O nation miserable,
With an untitled tyrant bloody-scepter’d,
When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again,
Since that the truest issue of thy throne
By his own interdiction stands accursed,
And does blaspheme his breed?
Fare thee well!
These evils thou repeat’st upon thyself
Have banish’d me from Scotland. O my breast,
Thy hope ends here!
Duncan
Sex- Male
Role in the crime ring- Kingpin that is usurped.
Duncan is the ultimate sleazy, lustful, gross king who is nevertheless always
aware of how his kingdom is operating. He never misses a beat, but appears
outwardly lazy. He is utterly ruthless. I think of him as a fat spider on his web,
drawing his prey inwards and always aware of everything that is happening on
his web.
There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.
Enter MACBETH, BANQUO, ROSS, and ANGUS
O worthiest cousin!
The sin of my ingratitude even now
Was heavy on me: thou art so far before
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow
To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserved,
That the proportion both of thanks and payment
Might have been mine! only I have left to say,
More is thy due than more than all can pay.
Lady Macduff
Sex- Female
Role in the Crime Ring- Wife to Macduff
This is one of our favourite characters in Macbeth. She has such a tragic story.
She is a nurturing mother, an outspoken wife and a courageous woman.
Whither should I fly?
I have done no harm. But I remember now
I am in this earthly world; where to do harm
Is often laudable, to do good sometime
Accounted dangerous folly: why then, alas,
Do I put up that womanly defence,
To say I have done no harm?
Ross/Lennox
Sex- Male or Female
Role in the Crime Ring- Ross will be Thane of gambling, so will chair the Poker
game (aka the banquet). Lennox will most likely be a crooked cop, and would
be in charge of weaponry.
These two crucial characters are central to set things in motion throughout the
play. They will be often onstage, to help create the sense of a busy crime ring
that centres on the house.
Think a vicious, ruthless, thuggish killer, a sleazy conman, a lethal assassin,
whatever you please!
But cruel are the times, when we are traitors
And do not know ourselves, when we hold rumour
From what we fear, yet know not what we fear,
But float upon a wild and violent sea
Each way and move. I take my leave of you:
Shall not be long but I’ll be here again:
Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward
To what they were before.
The Witches
Sex- Male or Female
Role in the Crime Ring- Drug Packers and makers.
The witches will be more or less constantly onstage, or on the periphery. We
want to create the sense that although they are the lowest in the hierarchy,
everyone relies on them to obtain drugs, and they have incredible power over
the other characters and the action.
Think incredibly sly, mysterious, dangerous, wily, and unpredictable sirens.
Whether they are drug-addicted themselves is each actor’s choice.
Ay, sir, all this is so: but why
Stands Macbeth thus amazedly?
Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprites,
And show the best of our delights:
I’ll charm the air to give a sound,
While you perform your antic round:
That this great king may kindly say,
Our duties did his welcome pay.
Malcom
Sex- Male
Role in the Crime Ring- Duncan’s child, so rightful heir.
Malcolm begins out as a bit of a wuss, always at daddy’s coat tails, never having
to get his hands dirty. However, he finds his strength in the latter part of the
play and we can watch him mature into the leader he rightfully is.
God above
Deal between thee and me! for even now
I put myself to thy direction, and
Unspeak mine own detraction, here abjure
The taints and blames I laid upon myself,
For strangers to my nature. I am yet
Unknown to woman, never was forsworn,
Scarcely have coveted what was mine own,
At no time broke my faith, would not betray
The devil to his fellow and delight
No less in truth than life: my first false speaking
Was this upon myself: what I am truly,
Is thine and my poor country’s to command:
Hecate
Sex- Male or Female
Role in the Crime Ring- Thane of Drug sales.
Hecate will have incredible power, as the alternate universe relies on drugs
more than our current society (you would hope), so is not only the financial
crutch, but also the physiological crutch of the Gang, who everyone depends
on.
This is a role very open to interpretation; from flamboyant, arrogant drug fiend
to a conservative, quiet businessman/woman, the choice is yours.
Have I not reason, beldams as you are,
Saucy and overbold? How did you dare
To trade and traffic with Macbeth
In riddles and affairs of death;
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The close contriver of all harms,
Was never call’d to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?
Other characters
If you wish to play another character, choose one of the above audition pieces and
put your own spin on it!
Fleance
Seyton
Muderers
Macduff’s Child
Many roles, such as the Gentlewoman, the murderers, servants, the Doctor and the
Thanes with smaller speaking parts will be doubled up.
In addition, most of the ‘male’ roles in Macbeth are not necessarily only for male actors, we are very keen to have women change the roles into female characters. Even
the roles we have said are for male actors may change if a female seems better for
the part.
You will audition in front of a panel of three/four - it shouldn’t take longer than 10
minutes. We will have extra audition excerpts on hand should we require a second
reading.
See you onstage,
Love and Theatricality,
Sigi and Leah
For further information...
Oliver Rosser
Producer
Breaking Legs Theatre Company
021 034 1023
[email protected]
www.breakinglegs.co.nz