What We're Looking For
- Two
troupes of 10-15 male and female actors
One touring troupe and one resident troupe. Women will almost always be cast to play male characters. Sometimes
men will be cast to play female characters.
- Creative,
versatile performers
We need more than just actors. We need true performers and entertainers
who feel at home in front of any audience, anywhere, anytime
(on tour: 10 am high school shows, midnight performances at
colleges, afternoon workshops for Shakespeare scholars, and,
on a rare occasion, all of the above in one day).
- Actors who can FIGHT
We need Certified Actor Combatants.
- Actors
who can BUILD PROPS
- Teachers
We conduct a variety of workshops for all ages and experience
levels - from high school students to Shakespeare scholars.
We need actors who enjoy sharing their knowledge, their craft,
and their experience with our style of Shakespeare.
- Flexibility
We need actors with the ability to maximize parts of their past training and the willingness to throw some of it out the window.
- Ego
management
We need actors with the ability to maximize the benefits of confidence and strong actor ego in conjunction with the ability to harness that ego for the promotion of ensemble.
- Endurance
It's a very tough job; even dedicated company members with great
attitudes will experience burnout. We need people who can handle
the ebb and flow of a long performance job-- people capable
of challenging themselves to keep their performances, work ethic,
and attitudes fresh after dozens of shows (and hundreds of miles
on the road). Most work weeks include six days of performance
and/or rehearsal and one day off; some work days will be incredibly
short, some incredibly long. The rehearsal process is usually
3 to 3.5 weeks per play.
- Strong
work ethics
- Actors
who can play/write/sing music
We do all our music live and unplugged.
- Actors
who can SEW
We need actors who can replace a button and stitch up loose
seam.
- DRIVERS
and actors who can MAP TRAVEL ROUTES for our touring troupe
We travel in touring vehicles (cargo vans, mini-vans, passenger
cars) so everybody needs to drive, shotgun, pump gas, and check
oil. We need people who have valid licenses and driving records
that will allow us to put them on our group insurance policy.
- Ensemble
(the French word for "together")
We are around each other ALL THE TIME.
- In
our Touring Troupe:
We travel together, warm up together, perform together,
load out together, socialize together, eat together, sleep
together, get up and hit the road again together.
- In our Blackfriars Resident Troupe:
We live in a small town and devote the bulk of our time,
energy, and expertise to the art of performing, rehearsing,
conducting workshops, and leading show-tours of the theatre.
- For both troupes:
We are looking for parts of a whole, people who can function
well as a team.
- Commitment
We need actors committed to our mission of using Renaissance
staging conditions in performance and in the classroom. A season
with ASC must begin with an attitude akin to joining the Peace
Corps or an Outward Bound Project: the pay ain't high, the work
load is heavy and multi-faceted, but the experience takes you
to many strange, wonderful places; you make a difference in
the way people think and feel; you touch lives.