Theater Casting Call for "Shakespeare in Love" Play
ONLY LOCAL TALENT WILL BE ACCEPTED. Seeking performers for production of "Shakespeare in Love". See the details below. About the play: This stage adaptation of the 1998 film brings Shakespeare’s dialogue to the forefront and highlights its theatrical origins. Much of the dialogue is taken from Shakespeare’s cannon (with Romeo and Juliet featured heavily throughout) and many of the plot devices employ tactics commonly found in plays of the Elizabethan age: cross-dressing disguises, mistaken identities, suspicions of adultery, sword fighting, a comedic nurse, and even visions of ghosts are all present, as is the enduring “play-within-a-play” convention that Shakespeare fondly adopted for many of his works. Overall, Shakespeare in Love delivers a delightfully crowd-pleasing, deeply romantic, and highly adventurous tale of love and drama in Renaissance-era England. Rate: Non-equity, non-paying. Additional information: Callbacks: Sunday, October 26 starting at 6:00pm Location: North York. Show Dates: April 24 - May 3, 2026 Toronto. If you're interested, please apply.
31 roles
Male-presenting. Poet and playwright. Quick on his feet, friend to and playful competitor of Kit Marlowe. A passionate love-interest character who kisses Viola on stage.
Male-presenting. Shakespeare’s contemporary. A more successful playwright, smooth and charming, perpetually good-humoured and encouraging.
The De Lesseps House. Female-presenting, plays both genders. Shakespeare’s muse. A noblewoman who fiercely dreams of becoming an actor. Since it was illegal in Shakespearian times for women to perform on stage, at great personal risk, she disguises herself as Thomas Kent in order to perform in Romeo and Juliet. Betrothed to Lord Wessex. A passionate love-interest character who kisses Shakespeare on stage.
The De Lesseps House. Female-presenting. Comic character. Viola’s devoted servantn and confidant. Helps her lady to dress as an actor and avoid Lord Wessex.
The De Lesseps House. Male-presenting. Viola’s father, who insists that Viola marry Wessex against her will.
The De Lesseps House. Male-presenting. A cash-poor nobleman betrothed to Viola.
The De Lesseps House. Male-presenting. A guard at De Lesseps Hall.
The De Lesseps House. Male-presenting. They patrol De Lesseps Hall.
The Rose Theatre. Male-presenting. The owner and manager of the Rose Theatre, which will host Shakespeare’s newest comedy.
The Rose Theatre. Male-presenting. Producer of plays — aka The Money. A ruthless loan shark with no sense of humour.
The Rose Theatre. Male-presenting. Fennyman’s flunkies who help him collect debts owed to him — aka The Muscle.
The Rose Theatre. Male-presenting. Bartender with actorly ambitions. (Plays Juliet’s Nurse and Petruchio, a member of Tybalt’s gang with only one line, in Romeo & Juliet).
The Rose Theatre. Male-presenting. An amateur actor. (Plays Benvolio, Lord Montague’s nephew and Romeo’s cousin, and Sampson, a Capulet servant).
The Rose Theatre. Male-presenting. A novice actor. (Plays Lady Capulet. Can also play Abraham, one of Montague’s servants).
The Rose Theatre. Male-presenting. A novice actor. (Plays Gregory, a Capulet servant, and the Servingman).
The Rose Theatre. Male-presenting, young teenage. Street urchin and troublemaker who aspires to be an actor, and possesses an unsettling fondness for plays featuring pain and gore.
The Rose Theatre. Male-presenting. Henslowe’s tailor. An aspiring actor with a stammer. He delivers the prologue to Romeo and Juliet.
The Admiral’s Men. Male-presenting. Larger than life lead actor of the Admiral’s Men. Plays Mercutio, Romeo’s kinsman and close friend.
The Admiral’s Men. Male-presenting. Sweet teenage actor who plays Juliet, and causes panic in Shakespeare’s company when his voice changes on the day of Romeo and Juliet’s first performance).
The Admiral’s Men. Male-presenting. A novice actor who plays Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin.
The Chamberlain’s Men. Male-presenting. The lead actor of the Chamberlain’s Men, a rival troupe to the Admiral’s Men, and the owner of the Curtain Theatre.
The Chamberlain’s Men. Male-presenting. Includes two who play Valentine and Proteus in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
The Chamberlain’s Men. Male-presenting. Burbage’s dirty work for him.
The Chamberlain’s Men. Actor in “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”. A calm, obedient dog, comfortable with people and large crowds
The Palace. Female-presenting. Wardrobe Mistress at Whitehall Palace.
The Palace. Male-presenting. The Lord Chamberlain, and obsequious courtier to Queen Elizabeth. As manager of court entertainment, he is responsible for censorship of drama in England.
The Palace. Female-presenting. The Queen of England — aka The Boss. Last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. Loves theatre but demands comedies that incorpporate dogs.
The Tavern. Male-presenting. A chatty aspiring playwright.
The Tavern.
The Tavern.
The Tavern. Female-presenting. Tavern whores who flirt with Will and other patrons.
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