Auditions for "Staged Reading: A Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds"

Sunday, Februay 10th, 7-10 p.m.
Monday, February 11th, from 7-10 p.m.
Temple Beth Hillel
 
Actors Ensemble of Berkeley announces auditions for our staged reading of A Dybbuk or Between Two Worlds, an expressionistic drama based on the mystical concept from Ḥasidic Jewish folklore of the dybbuk, a disembodied human spirit that, because of former sins, wanders restlessly until it finds a haven in the body of a living person.

Auditions are Sunday/Monday, February 10 &11 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at Temple Beth Hillel in Richmond.  All races, ethnicities and genders are welcome.  Please bring paper copies of your headshot and resume.  Please be prepared to read from sides. We will schedule folks in 15 minute blocks. If you wish to audition together we encourage you to sign up together.

Please write This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for an appointment. We encourage both theatre veterans and newcomers to audition - if this is your first time - write us and we will help you through the process.  We recognize these dates may not work for everyone - if this is true for you we may be able to make alternate arrangements - write us and find out.

Non AEA/no pay. We do not discriminate against anyone on account of race, gender, or sexual orientation.  We do cast cross-gender and cross-type on occasion.

Rehearsals will be Tuesday/Thursday, February 19th and 21st from 7 to 10 p.m. at Temple Beth Hillel.

The performance will be Sunday, February 24th at 2 p.m. ($10 Suggested donation), also at Temple Beth Hillel.

Roles, A Dybbuk or Between Two Worlds
 
We are seeking an ensemble of 14 actors to play 37 roles including:
 
Chonen-a former yeshiva student, now a rabbi (25-40)
Batlonim-or idlers who hang out at the synagogue (20-80+)
*The Messenger (30-80+)
Mayer-the Shammes (beadle)(40-80+)
Old Woman-named Chana-Esther (60-80+)
Henech-a yeshiva student (18-40)
*Fradde-Leah’s old nurse ((55-80+)
*Leah/The Dybbuk- the bride and the dybbuk (18-36)
Gitl-Leah’s friend (18-36)
Yeshiva Students (18-40)
*Sender-a wealthy man and father of the bride (40-60)
Bessye-Leah’s friend
Nachman-father of the bridegroom (40-60)
Rabbi Mendal-teacher of the bridegroom (50-80+)
Menashe-the bridegroom (20-40)
Rabbi Azriel-a great rabbi (60-80+)
Rabbi Shimshin-Chief Rabbi of Miropol (40-80+)
Townspeople, guests, beggars, relatives, etc.
 
*Principal parts

From 1912 until 1914, From S. Ansky (1863-1920), one of the most famous writers of Yiddish literature, conducted an ethnographic study of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe.  Ansky recorded stories, songs, rituals and superstitions, which later provided material for his own writing.  Like other Yiddish  writers Ansky wrote in both realistic and supernatural veins; the latter style a simplified version of Jewish mysticism, or Kabbalah.  Ansky had easy access to the basis of Kabbalistic literature, because the Jewish Chasidic movement of the late nineteenth century had already changed the incredibly complex stories of the Kabbalah to make them available to an uneducatedpublic.

Tony Kushner's adaptation of Ansky's A Dybbuk explores the themes of lust and desire, of worship and holiness, and corruption and sin.  A Dybbuk is a story of a shtetl romance, in which a young student, Chonen, falls in love with the daughter of the richest man in town, Leah.  Sender, Leah's father, will never accept the impoverished Chonen as a husband for his daughter.

Actors Ensemble is the longest-running theatre organization in Berkeley, founded in 1957. We aim to produce quality theatre emphasizing the ensemble, with a community flavor.

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Actors Ensemble
P.O. Box 663
Berkeley, CA 94701
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(510) 649-5999
http://www.aeofbrerkeley.org