by August Strindberg (in a translation by Caryl Churchill). Directed by Angelika Michitsch.
Performance dates and venue :
Evenings at 7.30pm: Wednesday 21 – Saturday 24 February and Tuesday 27 February – Saturday 2 March
Matinées at 3pm: Saturdays 24 February and 2 March
to be performed at the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington
Audition dates and time :
Auditions will take place at the Tower Theatre on Friday 10 and Friday 17 November from 7pm.
Possible recalls will take place the following week.
Actors should contact the Director Angelika Michitsch to find out more and register interest. Also please contact Angelika if you are unable to make the audition dates shown, would like to arrange an alternative or if you have any questions about the production.
You may find it helpful to familiarise yourself with the script (of the new Caryl Churchill version) before auditioning. There will be a copy at the theatre if you’d like to have a browse – please don’t remove the script from the theatre as someone else may like to have a look, too!
Auditions are for Tower Theatre Company Members only.
If you would like to join the Company, please click here for more information.
Please come prepared at auditions to give the Director any dates during the rehearsal period that you are unavailable. Please make it clear if you wish to audition for certain roles only and are not prepared to accept another part.
Auditions will take place as a group session, during which there will be a chance to explore Strindberg’s intended dynamic of the play, where ‘characters split, double, multiply, evaporate, condense, dissolve and merge.’
About the play
A Dream Play is one of Strindberg’s most iconic works. As the name suggests, the play is set entirely within a dream and scenes follow a meandering dream logic where characters continually change and morph into each other.
The story is told from the perspective of an invisible dreamer, whose thoughts and ideas are manifested through all the characters, with a particular emphasis on Agnes and the Writer, who represent the dreamer’s ‘self’.
All in all, there are ten core parts. Some of these are bigger (Agnes, the Solicitor, the Writer, etc.), but will also involve some ensemble work. Actors playing the smaller core parts will be required to play multiple roles, which will provide opportunity to play with archetypes and characterisation.
There is much scope to develop abstractions, incorporate movement and engage with the absurd. Performers will need to be versatile, playful and energetic, good diction, with fluidity and stage presence. Working with voice and movement will be particularly essential to distinguish the separate parts – here, some improv or similar skills would definitely be beneficial (but not a requirement).
Cast required
This play requires an ensemble of 10 actors – most of whom will play more than one part. The director has outlined ten core parts – the ones with a * next to them will also be taking on several smaller parts/ensemble roles suitable to the chosen actor.
Please note: unless otherwise stated, the role is open to any age/gender. All roles are open to people of any ethnicity/cultural background.
- Agnes (female)
- Solicitor
- Officer
- Writer*
- Stage Door Keeper*
- Glazier*
- Prompter*
- Billsticker*
- Teacher*
- Quarantine Master*
The director is looking to cast a diverse company of actors – reflective of the rich diversity of contemporary London – and is particularly keen on hearing from performers from groups that are often underrepresented in the arts.
Strindberg was a writer for the people and a staunch worker’s rights activist. Whilst his plays have predominantly been performed by white middle-class actors in the UK, theatre is and should always be for everyone, which is something the director wishes to emphasise.
Table read
We will do a full table read with the production team present on the 28 November, from 6.30pm. This will also be an opportunity for everyone to meet.
Rehearsals
Rehearsals will start from the table read on Friday 1 December, with rehearsals on Mondays (6.30 – 9pm), Tuesdays (6.30 – 9pm) and Fridays (6.30 – 9pm) ) up until the holiday season and then Mondays (6.30 – 9pm)/Tuesdays (6.30 – 9pm)/Saturdays (2 – 4.30 pm). The break over Christmas is from from 20 December to 5 January.
Initial rehearsals will focus on text exploration and creative development. There may be options of additional workshops
A full rehearsal schedule will be released after casting has been completed.
All cast members are required to assist with the get-in and set build all day on Sunday 18 February and to attend tech rehearsal on Monday 19 February and dress rehearsal from 6-10pm on Tuesday 20 February .
 This is Minjeong Kim’s first Tower Theatre production and herdebut on the stage in the UK! She has trained at the National Youth Theatre and Drama Centre(Screen Acting). She is also a writer and she is writing her first play with the aim to put it on the stage this year. |
 Matt Cranfield was last seen last year as numerous village folk in Under Milk Wood. Previously at the Tower, he’s appeared as Rockfist Slim in The Boy Who Fell Into a Book, Dad in Kensuke’s Kingdom, Turing in Breaking the Code, Henry in Love, Love, Love and Lust in Doctor Faustus. |
 A Dream Play is the third Tower production As Richards will have acted in and she is thrilled to have been cast in it. She appeared in the Tower’s 2023 production of Under Milk Wood and, most recently, in another Caryl Churchill play, Seagulls – one of the Tower’s Studio plays. Outside of the Tower, she has played Titania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and John Proctor (The Crucible) with the Park Theatre’s “Park Players” and has appeared in several Martin Murphy (Bruised Sky) productions include the award-winning Jury. |
 Having joined the Tower in November 2023, this is Ephraim Conteh‘s debut performance. Ephraim grew up in South London and is excited to be joining the cast. His recent credits include Breaking the Silence. |
 Angelika Michitsch came to theatre through performing as an ensemble singer on stages large and small, including Brink Productions’ Memorial at the Barbican. In 2018 she joined the Tower Theatre and has since been involved in over 30 productions, consolidating her artistic skills across a number of areas of theatre making. A life-long autodidact, she started off as set builder, soon moved on to set design as well as stage management, even lived through an interesting stint of acting. She created a short film about the Tower, and in 2022 she co-devised/choreographed and directed her first play, Passing the Spoon. She recently directed a rehearsed reading of The Railway King. She has a great interest in the abstract and the absurd, and believes in the importance of creating new spaces aside from standards and conventions. |
Movement director : Trinidad Prieto Asensio
Set Design : Angelika Michitsch
Lighting Design : Alexander Kampmann
Sound Design : Ruth Sullivan
Stage Manager : Laura Corkell
Sound Operator : Laurence Tuerk