Arbery EdFringe Casting Calls
Auditions for Casanova Dreaming and Volpone
Arbery Productions has issued open casting calls to Edinburgh-based actors for its two Edinburgh Fringe 2018 productions, the revival of Volpone and a new production: Casanova Dreaming.
Both productions will run through the whole festival and there is a guaranteed minimal payment for all cast. The company is looking for male and female actors over the age of 18.
Auditions for Volpone will be on Sat 3/Sun 4 March with callbacks on Sat 10 March. Rehearsals will be in the evenings during July.
Auditions for Casanova Dreaming will be on Sat 17/Sun 18 March with callbacks on Wed 21. Rehearsals will be during the day in July.
Martin Foreman’s adaptation of Ben Jonson’s rollicking satire Volpone maintains all the elements of Jonson’s plot while shortening the script to two hours and updating the language and setting to the nineteenth century.
The greatest change comes in transforming two leading characters to women. One is Corbaccia, the old lady who disinherits her son to get Volpone’s riches. The other is Volpone’s servant, Mosca, whose quick thinking saves herself and her master from potential discovery and offers them even greater rewards.
The show was first presented in a one-week run at EdFringe 2017 (Æ review: “★★★★☆ Ruthless“). The production is being enhanced and reprised for a three-week run in the early evening in Paradise Sanctuary (Venue 152) on George IV Bridge.
Casanova Dreaming
In Casanova Dreaming, the 18-year old Giacomo Casanova is asleep in bed with his first true love when he is visited by an old man who shows him his future – but is what he sees a promise or a warning?
Foreman reveals the life of the famous libertine – a life more complex and varied than legend relates, he says – and continues his exploration of themes of love, loss and death that focus on the city of Venice.
Casanova Dreaming will run in the early afternoon in the intimate theatre of theSpace on Niddry Street (Venue 9). Although it does not contain nudity, auditionees should be aware that it will contain sexual language and intimate scenes between the performers.
Anyone wishing to audition for any role in either production can contact Arbery Productions through its website where they can also download audition sides. The company will also accept those who turn up on the day, but can not guarantee they will be seen immediately.
Character Breakdowns
Volpone
A cast of 13 actors will play 20 characters. Volpone and Mosca have been cast; the outstanding parts are:
Male:
Corvino. A merchant, 35+
Sir Politick Would Be (eccentric Englishman) and Court Notary. Both 40+
Peregrine, young Englishman and Bonario, young snob. Both 18-25
Female:
Corbaccia. A miser, 50+
Lady Would-Be, overbearing Englishwoman, 40+
Celia, a beautiful pious wife and maidservant, disrespectful, 18 – 30
Either gender:
Voltore, lawyer, 40+
Four actors playing various Judges, jesters and officers of the law, 20s – 70s
The jesters and officer are stock characters. The judges have distinct characteristics (formal, bored, confused). All four actors will appear in several scenes, as the above and as members of the crowd.
Casanova Dreaming
A cast of 7 (3m, 4f) will portray more than a dozen characters.
Male:
Giacomo Casanova: playing age 19
Chevalier de Seingalt: playing age 73
An actor with playing age 30 – 50 to portray: Bragadin (slightly effeminate aristocrat, ca 50); Lorenzo (jailer, 30+); Cesare da Orsara (barber, 30+); Sir Wellbore Agar (English aristocrat, 30s) and Branicki (Polish aristocrat, 40s). Costumes will help to distinguish the characters but the actor must be capable of significant differences in style and accent.
Female:
Mrs Cornelys (superior brothelkeeper, 40s) and Marquise d’Urfe (French aristocrat, 40s) – different styles and accents
Anna Maria (married, 29) and Cecilia (shy woman, 18) – similar appearance and style
Bellino (16 year old castrato) and Charpillon (courtesan, 18) – very different appearances and style; must be capable of portraying a teenage boy and singing (very briefly) in falsetto
Henriette (married, 20s) and Nun (20s) – strong confident women, but very different styles and appearance
Listings and links
Auditions for Volpone are on
Saturday 3 March 2018: 12noon to 4pm. Royal Oak Bar, 1 Infirmary Street, EH1 1LT
And Sunday 4 March 2018, 12noon to 4pm. Three Sisters Bar, 189 Cowgate, EH1 1JS
Callback
Saturday 10 March 2018: 12noon to 4pm. Royal Oak Bar
Auditions for Casanova Dreaming:
Saturday 17 March: 12noon to 4pm, Royal Oak Bar.
Sunday 18 March, 12noon to 4pm, Three Sisters Bar
Callback:
Wednesday 21 March: 7 – 10pm, Royal Oak Bar.
Arbery Productions website: www.arberyproductions.co.uk/
Auditions details: www.arberyproductions.co.uk/auditions.htm.
Facebook: @ArberyProductions
Twitter: @ArberyProdctns.
ENDS
