Audition Notice: King Henry Five

Driftwood Theatre Group invites submissions from performers for King Henry Five by William Shakespeare.

The Bard’s Bus Tour is an annual summer Ontario tradition, touring to outdoor venues across the province for over 25 years.

Rehearsals for King Henry Five will begin in June 2022 in Picton, Ontario, with public performances planned between July 19 – August 14, 2022 (with a possible extension to August 21). During the tour, Toronto will serve as the point of origin. The Bard’s Bus Tour contracts equity artists under the ITA as a ‘G’ House.

Driftwood Theatre welcomes applicants from all backgrounds who reflect the many communities that make up the province of Ontario. In particular, we will prioritize and consider first applications from artists who identify as BIPOC and/or 2SLGBTQ+. Driftwood is also committed to providing an accessible and barrier-free environment for its staff and artists. If you have questions or concerns about the accessibility of this application process, or the production itself, please feel free to reach out to Producer, Ella Kohlmann at ekohlmann@driftwoodtheatre.com for accommodations. 

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN: Three (3) Actors

  • Hal/Henry V: A young and sometimes reluctant member of royalty, Hal struggles to reconcile their friendship with Falstaff against their responsibilities as a future king. Hall is quick witted and a natural leader. Masculine, male-presenting, he/him pronours. Age range 20-30.
  •  Quickly: The plain-speaking owner of the Boar’s Head Tavern, Quickly is quick to laughter and has a special kind of love/hate relationship with Falstaff. Any gender. Age range 40-50. Other roles include King Henry IV.
  • Poins: A lifelong rogue and friend to Hal and Falstaff, Poins is in love with Quickly. Any gender. Age range 30-40. Other roles include Hotspur.

King Henry Five. Driftwood approaches Shakespeare’s history plays for the first time as we adapt three of Shakespeare’s scripts (Henry IV pts 1 & 2, Henry V) into a single narrative using only five actors to tell the story of King Henry Five. Set in a contemporary Canadian patio bar, King Henry Five focuses on prince Hal’s questionable friendship with Falstaff as it comes up against Hal’s priorities as a leader and future king. This is a powerful story about community, the families we inherit and those we choose, and the legacies we leave behind.

How to submit:

Please click here to submit your application using Google Forms. You will be asked to provide the following as a single PDF (File name format: FULL_NAME_HENRY_AUDITONS.pdf):

  • A brief, one-page cover letter indicating the role you’d like to be seen for, tell us what interests you about the project and working with Driftwood, and tells us about your relationship to music, what instruments you play and your vocal range if applicable
  • Headshot
  • Acting CV

Candidates selected for an audition will be expected to prepare two contrasting Shakespeare monologues and a song of their choice.  All auditions will take place using the ZOOM virtual-meetings platform.

Both CAEA members and non-CAEA members will be considered. All performers cast will be engaged under an Equity form of contract. Electronic submissions only. All applicants will be contacted upon receipt of their submission, and again by early April regarding the status of their application.

 The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 25, 2022 at 5pm.