WINTER MAIN STAGE AUDITIONS + ASSISTANTSHIPS

ABOUT THE SHOW

MAINSTAGE | JULIUS CAESAR
by William Shakespeare
directed by Michael Rau

Stanford TAPS is mounting a production of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. This production will be produced in collaboration with the COLLEGE program, and presented in Memorial Auditorium. The play opens up many lenses to our contemporary life, and it asks timeless questions of power, politics and betrayal.

This production will not be a historically accurate production — we are looking to find intersections between a story from 44 BC to today. The production will be cast as identity-conscious, an intentional approach to casting that actively acknowledges race, gender, and ability as part of the casting process and the rehearsal/audience process. Actors are encouraged to highlight what makes them unique as humans and as storytellers both in the auditions and in the subsequent production process. Please take some time ahead of the audition to read the script and consider your own personal connection to the themes of this story.

Content Notice: This play deals with subject matters related to violence (murder), self-harm, and suicide.

In addition to its scheduled performances, this production may be live-streamed or recorded for public viewing.

Stanford TAPS seeks to build a diverse cast for this production and encourages members of any race, gender identity, and ability to audition. If any accessibility accommodations are needed please email tapsinformation@stanford.edu for assistance.

ABOUT THE REHEARSAL PROCESS

A TAPS Mainstage production is a significant time commitment that comes with course credit (TAPS 122P), and requires rehearsals 5-6 times per week. Rehearsals will be held Monday-Thursday 7-10PM and occasionally on Saturdays, 2-6PM. Not all students will be called for every rehearsal, but participants will be expected to be available for each rehearsal unless they have listed it as a conflict. You can view the Rehearsal and Tech schedules in the right hand column under “Resources.”

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Michael Rau is a live performance director specializing in new plays, opera, and digital media projects. He has worked internationally in Germany, Brazil, the UK, Ireland, Canada, and the Czech Republic. He has created work in New York City at Lincoln Center, The Public Theater, PS122, HERE Arts Center, Ars Nova, The Bushwick Starr, The Brick, 59E59, 3LD, and Dixon Place. Regionally, his work has been seen at Humana Festival of New Plays at Actor’s Theater of Louisville, the Ingenuity Festival in Cleveland OH, and the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA. He has developed new plays at the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Playwrights Realm, the Lark and the Kennedy Center. His production of temping was selected by the Telegraph as one of the best shows to see in 2022 International and Edinburgh Fringe. Michael Rau is a recipient of fellowships from the Likhachev Foundation, the Kennedy Center, and the National New Play Network. As a creative technologist, he is recipient of Google’s “Artist and Machine Intelligence” research awards, and works on pose detection, computer vision and biofeedback. He has been a resident artist at the Orchard Project, E|MERGE, and the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. He has been an associate director for Anne Bogart, Les Waters, Robert Woodruff, and Ivo Van Hove. He is a New York Theater Workshop Usual Suspect and an assistant professor of directing and devising at Stanford University.

ABOUT AUDITIONS

STEP #1 | SIGN UP FOR A TIME SLOT

SIGN UP FOR A TIME SLOT

Be advised that you should arrive at least five minutes prior to your scheduled time to fill out necessary paperwork. If you cannot make these audition dates but would like to audition, email TAPSinformation@stanford.edu. 

STEP #2 | WHAT TO PREPARE

Auditions will be 10-minute individual calls. Students are encouraged to prepare one classical monologue, 2-4 minutes long, fully memorized. 

If you are unable to prepare a monologue, Antony’s speech from 3.2 “Friends, Romans Countrymen” will be provided that students can read aloud (p.64 of script).

ASSISTANT POSITIONS