Auditions for The Virgin Trial

Posted on January 29, 2025 in General News

AUDITION INFORMATION FOR THE VIRGIN TRIAL

We are excited to announce that we will be holding auditions for our final Mainstage production of the 2024/2025 season: the Virgin Trial by Kate Hennig. This is also our entry into the TheatreBC Okanagan Zone Festival.

Director Elizabeth Ann Skelhorne invites all those interested in a role to join us for auditions at Shuswap Theatre. Everyone is invited to audition, no previous acting experience required. There will be two scheduled audition days and pre-registration is highly recommended.

Please read all the following information carefully and make an informed decision before auditioning.

AUDITION INFO

Audition Dates
Sunday, February 2nd @ 1:00 – 3:00pm
Friday, February 7th @ 7:00 – 9:00pm

Additional sessions may be scheduled as needed, please let us know if you absolutely cannot make one of the above times. If you wish to audition, but are unable to make any of the dates, or have further questions, please send an email to Ann.

How to prepare

• Sign up using the Audition Sign-Up Form
• Read and review Audition Notice and Character Breakdown document
• Please prepare a 2-3 minute monologue of your choosing (optional – points for being a keener)
• There will be a physical group warm up & scene readings from the script (we value your time and endeavour to maximize auditions for all participants, please be prepared to wait)
• Please wear studio clothes for easy movement and soft soled indoor shoes.
• Please let us know on your audition form and at time of audition if you are working with any specific injuries or other physical, or other, limitations or accessibility needs.
• If you are under 18 and auditioning you must have informed permission from a parent or legal guardian. Please bring a completed and signed audition sheet with you to the audition. You will not be cast in the show without a valid signature!
• A copy of the script can be made available in advance by request

Checklist for Audition Day
– read, fill out and print Audition Disclosure Form.
– fill out and print Audition Form.
(If you are unable to print, we will have copies available. )
– know your availability and any conflicts during the rehearsal period (work, school, scheduled holidays, other commitments)
– come prepared in studio clothes and shoes
– we will be taking your head shot or bring your own if you prefer
– recommended to bring a water bottle

SHOW INFORMATION

Rehearsals will run from February 24 through April 25, including a mandatory tech weekend. They will be apx 4 days a week, dependent on everyone’s schedules.

Performance dates

Shuswap Theatre: Salmon Arm, April 25 – May 11, 2025
(see production calendar for full details)

Ozone Festival: Salmon Arm, Week of May 19 – 24, 2025

Theatre BC Mainstage: Fort St. John, Week of July 01 – 07, 2025
(if show selected – must be available for travel)

ROLES

CONTENT WARNINGS
Please note that this production contains content of mature subject matter including profanity, sexuality, sexual violence, violence, touch, torture, death, abortion, and partial nudity. 

Please review the Audition Disclosure Form and the Casting Breakdown  for more information on what is required of each role and check-in with your own boundaries before auditioning.

We are committed to supporting safe practices in a consent based culture. All rehearsals involving Choreography for intimacy, nudity, or violence will be scheduled with advance notice and will take place in a closed rehearsal with both the Director (Choreographer) and Stage Manager present along with only those performers necessary to the choreography of the scene unless otherwise consented to in advance.

Bad Behaviour will not be tolerated! If anyone on the cast or crew crosses boundaries, there is a formal protocol in place for reporting and resolution. If a person continues to cross boundaries, they may be removed from the production and formally written up to the Board of Directors or, in some situations formal legal charges may be necessary.

DESCRIPTION OF PLAY

Fifteen-year-old Bess has no idea when she heads to London to see her uncle Ted that she is about to find herself at the heart of a scandal involving sexual impropriety; her stepfather, Thom; and an attempted overthrow of the government. What does all this have to do with her? How adroitly can Bess manoeuvre through a series of interviews to avoid being swept up in the peril that might ensue? And will she be able to spin the facts to create a myth based on her own innocence?

An edge-of-your-seat thriller that cleverly explores victim shaming, sexual consent, and the extraordinary ability of girls becoming women. A scandalous and little-known story of Elizabeth Tudor before she was Queen.