UMass Theater AUDITIONS:
Emilie: La Marquise du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight
by Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Iris Sowlat
Audition: November 6 and 7, 6:30-10:30 pm
Callbacks: November 8 and 9, 6:30 – 10:30 pm
At the UMass Curtain Theater
Please arrive to the Green Room Prior to your Audition
Sign up at SignUp Genius
Performers: we need your help to tell the story of a fascinating, oft-overlooked historical figure for our first production in Spring 2024, and auditions are coming up soon!
Emilie: La Marquise du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight is a play by Lauren Gunderson about a woman who was an accomplished scientist but who is, these days, mostly remembered as Voltaire’s lover.
UMass seeks actors of all types for this production, which will be directed by Iris Sowlat.
Audition details:
November 6 and 7, 6:30-10:30 pm (actors will sign up for one 5-minute slot on either day)
Callbacks: November 8 and 9, 6:30 – 10:30 pm
The Curtain Theater, Bromery Center for the Arts
Production Dates:
Rehearsals beginning Nov. 15 — Dec. 8, with up to two Zoom rehearsals during Winter Break. Rehearsals resume on Feb. 1.
Tech: February 22-29
Performances: March 1-9
Synopsis:
Most people, if they know her at all, recognize Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet as Voltaire’s lover. She was also a brilliant scientist who contributed to our understanding of physics. Eighteenth-century France was even more hostile than our society to women who “want it all,” and on the eve of her death from childbirth, Emilie tracks “love vs. science” on a scoreboard to see which dominated her life more. Lauren Gunderson’s thoughtful, wistful play invites us along as this charismatic, daring intellectual investigates her life choices.
Content advisory: Death in childbirth
Audition Info:
For general auditions, please prepare a 1-2 minute classical or contemporary monologue. Heightened or poetic language is preferred, but any type of monologue is welcome!
Callbacks will involve group activities around sides from the script and the physicalization of the tableaus in the script.
Note about onstage intimacy:
The characters Emilie, Voltaire, Soubrette (both tracks) and the Gentleman (as Jean-Francois) engage in different degrees of staged intimacy. This production will have a qualified intimacy choreographer to stage those moments of intimacy.
Visit SignUp Genius for the signup sheet, character breakdown, and more.