This summer, RCP will present The Merry Wives of Windsor at The Highland Bowl, directed by Jonathan Lowery. Tech week and performances will run from July 1 – 29, 2023. Auditions will be held on the following days:
Auditions
Sunday, May 7, 3:00pm – 6:00pm
Monday, May 8, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Friday, May 12, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Sunday, May 14 BY RESERVATION ONLY Click here to reserve a spot.
Location
Aquinas Institute
1127 Dewey Ave
Rochester, NY 14613
If you cannot attend either of the audition dates, you may submit a video of your monologue by Friday evening, May 12, using the form at the bottom of the page.
Roles
The genders and approximate ages listed are for the characters, not the actors, and may be changed by the director. Actors of all ages and genders will be considered for all roles.
Please prepare a short (approximately 2-minute) Shakespearean monologue for the audition.
FORD: Male, 40+
Middle age, upper middle class. Proud and mildly paranoid, particularly around matters of relationships and social status.
MISTRESS FORD: Female, late 30s – 40s
FORD’s wife. Outgoing and confident, confrontational but ultimately caring towards her husband.
PAGE: Male, 40+
A well-to-do businessman. Successful and perhaps overconfident in his place and relationships. Believes he knows the best course for everyone and does not like being taken advantage of.
MISTRESS PAGE: Female, 30s – 40s
PAGE’s wife and a dependable ally to her friends and loved ones. Not primarily a leader, she will still go her own way if she feels that decisions are being poorly made.
ANNE PAGE: Female, late teens or 20s
The Pages’ young, eligible daughter. Has her mother’s willfulness and her father’s ambition. This has put her at odds with both parents concerning her personal relationships and future.
DR CAIUS: Male, 50+
An old French doctor of indeterminate skill set, possibly a deliberate persona to prevent deeper questions. He is more than a bit of a caricature of a Frenchman and overly concerned with his honor and used to getting his way. He is MISTRESS PAGE’s pick to marry ANNE PAGE.
SIR HUGH: Male, 50+
A Welsh parson who comes to town with SHALLOW and SLENDER, probably to vouch for SLENDER’s attempt to marry ANNE PAGE. He is comically Welsh and speaks with horribly garbled, Welsh-accented English. He and DR CAIUS do not get along.
MISTRESS QUICKLY: 20-25
DR CAIUS’s housekeeper. Younger, but older than ANNE PAGE. Well-meaning, but a little slow at thinking through things. She has no problem acting quickly, whether or not she has chosen the best course of action.
HOST: Male, 35-50
Owner & bartender at the Garter Inn. He loves to say words, especially grand ones, and counts it a success if his listeners are entertained (and better if they pay their tabs). In classic bartender tradition, the HOST is a friend of everyone, but deeply involved with no one. He has a soft spot for the irreverent.
SIR JOHN FALSTAFF: Male, 45+
A knight – he lives off the investments of his youth, but has a habit of spending more than he makes and draining his accounts to keep his lifestyle rolling. As a younger man, he may have believed in virtuous behavior, but experience has jaded him and nowadays he makes the choice to only live for the moment in front of him. He enjoys thinking of himself as a leader and likes to keep a ‘crew’ around him, but doesn’t particularly care for his companions – just their attention.
PISTOL/JOHN: Male, 30+
PISTOL: Everyone else would describe him as a poor man’s FALSTAFF. An old war buddy who hangs around FALSTAFF so he can keep the good times rolling on someone else’s tab. His wit can quickly turn to bitterness, as if he may have lost more than others in his circle.
JOHN: A simple servant of the Page family.
JOHN RUGBY/ROBIN: Male, late teens or early 20s
JOHN RUGBY: DR CAIUS’s manservant. A simple man, but reliable and literal to a fault.
ROBIN: FALSTAFF’s page. Young and sort of caught up in events, but with enough alertness to know when there’s the potential for trouble coming his way.
NYM/ROBERT: Male, 30s
A tag-along from FALSTAFF’s past military service. He doesn’t have a great deal of ambition, so he’s found it easier and more fun to just follow FALSTAFF around.
FENTON: Male, late teens or early 20s
A young man who has made some mistakes in his inexperienced attempts to get ahead in life. He has been put in his place, but there is already a lot of damage done. Particularly, he has damaged his relationships with the elder Page couple. Although he initially only wanted to marry into a rich family, as soon as he lost his chance with ANNE PAGE, he honestly fell in love with her.
SHALLOW: Male, 50+
A respected judge who is now elderly and concerned with making sure his immediate family secures the power and prestige. He is practical and shrewd in most matters, unless they involve his honor or FALSTAFF, then all bets are off.
SLENDER: Male, early 20s
SHALLOW’s nephew and a suitor to ANNE PAGE. He is self-centered and a bit clueless. Not particularly interested in ANNE, and not really women/ romance at all.
Synopsis
Sir John Falstaff tries to solve his financial woes by seducing the wives of two wealthy merchants. But when the wives discover that he’s sent them identical letters, they work with their husbands and friends to take comic revenge on the knight.