We are seeking diverse actors for a production of
The Dutch Courtesan
by John Marston
Produced by Poculi Ludique Societas and Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Toronto
Non-Union, Paid Honorarium
Performance Dates:
March 22-24 (preview March 19)
Rehearsals:
Through January, February, March, mostly evenings and weekends
Audition dates/times (by appointment only):
- Thursday, January 10 4:30 pm – 8:00 pm
- Friday, January 11 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm
- Saturday, January 12 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location:
The CDTPS Rehearsal Room (320), Koffler Centre, 214 College St. (Enter
from St George St and take the elevator or stairs to the 3rd floor)
To book an audition:
Please e-mail with subject line ‘Dutch Courtesan Audition’ to director@plspls.ca. Please come prepared with a classical monologue.
About the play:
The Dutch Courtesan (c. 1604) is being presented in conjunction with an academic conference, so there will be some audience talk-backs and workshops as well as the performance.
The urban landscape of the play presents London as a city that simultaneously applauds itself for being a multicultural cosmopolitan metropolis and feels deeply anxious about the place of ‘strangers’ within its urban landscape. The main plot deals with the treatment of a foreign sex worker whose otherness is partly established through her accent; the sub-plot follows two members of a distrusted religious minority as they are tricked and abused.
Marston’s play is a reflection of the London his audience inhabited, a cynical, often vicious portrayal of a ‘here-and-now’. Our production aims to evoke that audience-actor dynamic, and so we are looking to approximate some original conditions, but with a largely modern aesthetic. The aim is to use performance choices, costumes, accents, and casting that link Marston’s London to our Toronto.
About PLS:
Our mission is to rediscover the theatrical traditions of the Middle Ages and Renaissance through textual research and dramatic experimentation, and to bring those traditions to life for contemporary audiences of all ages. See plspls.ca for more information.
