ABOUT THE SHOW

WINTER 2025 MAIN STAGE | WITCH
by Jen Silverman
Directed by Michael Rau

A charming devil arrives in the quiet village of Edmonton—a semi-rural small town lost in the country—to bargain for the souls of its residents in exchange for their darkest wishes. Elizabeth should be his easiest target, having been labeled a “witch” and cast out by the town, but her soul is not so readily bought. An inventive retelling of a Jacobean drama, this sharp, subversive fable debates how much our souls are worth when hope is hard to come by.

This production of Witch will take place “then-ish,” but equally of our moment—no faux-period accents, please.

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.

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

ABOUT THE REHEARSAL PROCESS

It’s going to be a fun process! Our rehearsal is going to be an ensemble based, and exploration of the play, as well as the original Jacobean play. We’ll employ both a fight director and an intimacy coordinator for the process, as well as a choreographer. And there’s no experience necessary—if you’re new to acting, we’ll teach you everything you need to know, and if you’re experienced, then you’ll have a great time diving into this script! 

Witch comes with course credit (TAPS 122P) and requires rehearsals five to six times per week. 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 production’s Rehearsal/Tech schedule in the right-hand column under “Important Resources.”

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Michael Rau (TAPS Assistant Professor) is a live performance director specializing in new plays, opera, and digital media projects. He has directed projects internationally in Germany, the UK, Brazil, Ireland, Denmark, Mexico, Canada, Australia, 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 the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA, the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, and the Humana Festival at Actors Theater of Louisville. His work with composer Kate Soper has been performed at the Seattle Symphony, Smith College, and The New York Festival of Song at the Dimenna Center. He has developed new plays at the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Playwrights Realm and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. His production of temping was selected by the Guardian and the Telegraph as one of the best productions of the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the piece was featured twice in New York Times. He is a recipient of a 2021 Artists + Machine Intelligence Research Award from Google, as well as fellowships from the Likhachev Foundation, the Kennedy Center, and the National New Play Network. He has been a resident artist at the Orchard Project, E|MERGE, and the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. His experimental opera, developed in collaboration with MeowWolf narrative director Joanna Garner was a finalist for the Finnish National Opera’s Opera Beyond competition. Rau is a Forward/Story fellow and a speaker at Books in Browsers, Performing Robots, and StoryCode. He is a fellow of the Akademie für Theater und Digitalität and a resident of Stochaistic Labs. He has been an assistant director for Francesca Zambello, John Turturro, Robert Woodruff and associate director for Anne Bogart, Les Waters, and Ivo Van Hove. He is a New York Theater Workshop Usual Suspect and a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and received his MFA in Theater Directing from Columbia University. At Stanford, he is an affiliate faculty member with the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.

ABOUT AUDITIONS

Auditions will be held as 15-minute individual timeslots. If you are unable to attend auditions in person, please email tapsinformation@stanford.edu to explore alternatives.

WHAT TO PREPARE

Please prepare one of the selected sides from the show. Sides are available in the right-hand column under “Important Resources.” Also, you may be asked to cold read others during your audition.

CASTING BREAKDOWN & DESCRIPTIONS

The director is looking to cast all roles mentioned in the script. Roles are open to people of all backgrounds.  As per the author’s note: “These characters can be played by actors of any ethnicity. Sir Arthur and his son Cuddy do not have to be played by actors of the same ethnicity.”

• Elizabeth Sawyer: (female, older) An outcast.
• Scratch: (male, twenties) the devil.
• Sir Arthur Banks: (male, older): A wealthy and powerful man.
• Cuddy Banks: (Male, twenties) : Sir Arthur’s son. painfully shy, a Morris dancer. He is secretly in love with Frank (and also in hate). The actor cast in this role should feel comfortable dancing.
• Frank Thorney: (Male twenties): A confident and successful young man, charming and ruthless. His ambition knows no bounds.
• Winnifred: (female, twenties): Sir Arthur’s servant, resigned and pragmatic, secretly married to Frank.

ASSISTANT POSITIONS