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 play/write/sing music

We do all our music live and unplugged.  The American Shakespeare Center looks for classically-trained actors who also are strong singers and musicians.  Our actors play and sing music before and during all ASC shows.

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 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.

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