General Audition Notice
In-person auditions: January 29 – February 1, 2025
Location: BMO Theatre Centre, Vancouver, BC
Deadline to submit: January 6, 2025
Bard on the Beach is now accepting submissions for our 2025 General Auditions. These auditions are primarily to introduce our artistic team to artists for consideration for the 2026 Season and beyond.
In-person auditions will be held at the BMO Theatre Centre in Vancouver on January 29–February 1, 2025.
Bard on the Beach welcomes and encourages submissions from artists of diverse backgrounds, particularly those who self-identify as belonging to underrepresented communities. We receive a large number of submissions each year, and as such we are unable to offer audition times to all who apply. We are especially interested in meeting new artists and so preference will be given to those who have not had an audition with us in the past two years. Equity members will be given priority for time slots.
Artists selected for a General audition will be contacted to set up an audition slot and will need to prepare:
1. A Shakespearean monologue of your choosing (maximum one minute and a half)
2. A short verse (30 sec. max) of a melodic song to showcase your vocal range, either unaccompanied or self-accompanied. There will be a piano in the room.
3. *Optional: up to 1 minute of additional material that best expresses who you are as a performer and allows you to shine. Some suggestions:
• A classical or contemporary monologue (that contrasts with your Shakespearean monologue choice)
• A short piece on an instrument or instruments
• A short dance or movement piece
• A demonstration of any special skills (martial arts, juggling, etc.)
Access and inclusion are very important to us. Our audition venue and rehearsal spaces are physically accessible. Our performance venue is generally accessible, but the backstage areas may pose some physical barriers for some performers. We are willing to work with all those working at Bard to ensure accessibility to all our spaces. If there are any potential barriers preventing you from applying to audition, please let us know and we will work with you to overcome them. We will also have limited number of relaxed audition slots for those who would benefit form a quieter and less stimulating experience, with longer slots and less people in the space. Please indicate when you submit if one of these slots would be of interest to you.
TO SUBMIT
Please submit a resume and headshot for consideration through our form found below:
Please be sure to include any formal training or Shakespeare experience and any musical abilities (vocal or instrumental) on your resume.
Submission deadline: 5pm PST on January 6, 2025
Only those artists who are invited to audition will be contacted to set up an audition time.
Please direct any questions to Susan Miyagishima, Artistic Company Manager, at [email protected].
ETHNOCULTURAL MANDATE OR CASTING STATEMENT
Bard is committed to the values of equality, diversity and inclusion. It is our deeply-held belief that all three must be embedded in everything we do. We are a Shakespeare Festival whose performance venue is located on Vanier Park/Sen̓ áḵw, the site of a vibrant Coast Salish village which was the home of Indigenous nations for thousands of years. We take our responsibility as occupants of this space seriously.
At Bard we welcome people of all races, religions, countries of origin, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities and disabilities. In our office and work spaces, gathering places, stage, rehearsal halls and backstages, we are working towards addressing and combatting racism (including but not limited to anti-Indigeneity, anti-Blackness, and antiAsianess), religious discrimination, xenophobia, homophobia and transphobia, sexism and misogyny, and ableism. The responsibility to create and maintain this inclusive, accessible and anti-oppressive environment is shared by all Bard company members, regardless of seniority, job title or relationship to the company.
ABOUT BARD ON THE BEACH
Bard on the Beach is Western Canada’s largest not-for-profit, professional Shakespeare Festival. Presented in a magnificent setting on the waterfront in Vancouver’s Sen̓ákw/Vanier Park, the Festival offers Shakespeare plays, related dramas, and several special events in two performance tents from June through September.
Bard on the Beach Theatre Society operates on the ancestral lands of the xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam), Sḵwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.