Now Scheduling Auditions for William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”
Bainbridge Performing Arts is holding auditions for our Summer 2026 production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Directed by Elizabeth Allum and performed at Bloedel Reserve.
DETAILS
Audition slots available by appointment Monday, March 16th 6:30-9:30pm or Wednesday, March 18th 6:30-9:30pm, at Bainbridge Performing Arts (200 Madison Ave. N, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110)
Callbacks will be held in person by invitation on Sunday, March 22nd 10:00am-1:00pm at Bainbridge Performing Arts.
REHEARSALS
Rehearsals will be June 22nd- August 7th and will be four days a week (Mon, Tues & Thurs evenings, and Sat days). A more complete rehearsal schedule will be provided at callbacks. All rehearsals and performances will take place on Bainbridge Island.
Performances will be August 8th - 23rd outdoors at the beautiful Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island. (7571 NE Dolphin Dr, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110)
Roles available for actors ages 12* and up. Please see the character list below for details. All gender identities will be considered for all roles. *Please note that we do not have any specific roles for youth but are open to casting young actors in Ensemble roles where possible.
ABOUT BPA
Bainbridge Performing Arts is located on Bainbridge Island, a short walk from the ferry terminal. The 35-minute ferry leaves from Coleman dock on the Seattle waterfront and walk-on ferry passes will be provided for our Seattle-area cast members for rehearsals and performances. Mileage reimbursements will be provided to our non-ferry riding cast members.
Starting from the 25-26 season, Bainbridge Performing Arts is pleased to offer a $400 stipend to all performers cast in our Mainstage productions, in recognition of the time and energy required to participate. While this stipend is intended to help offset the cost of participation, it is not a wage or salary and does not constitute employment. Participation remains a volunteer engagement, and the stipend is provided as a token of appreciation for your contribution to the artistic life of our community.
BPA is committed to access, opportunity, and representation in all its projects, and we greatly look forward to performers of any and all genders, races, and body types at auditions.
REQUIREMENTS
Please see synopsis and character list below.
Fill out the audition form below, including your headshot and resume.
For your audition, please prepare a 1-2 minute Shakespeare monologue.
Optional: If you have musical skills (singing or playing an instrument) or other unique performance abilities (such as puppetry, juggling, martial arts, physical comedy, etc.), you’re warmly invited to share them! You may prepare a brief demonstration to include during your in-person audition, or submit a link to a short video with your application to showcase these talents.
If you have questions, please contact Deirdre Hadlock dhadlock@bainbridgeperformingarts.org
SYNOPSIS
After surviving a shipwreck, twins Viola and Sebastian are separated, each believing the other lost. Alone in the unfamiliar world of Illyria, Viola makes a bold choice: she disguises herself as a young man, Cesario, and enters the service of Duke Orsino. What begins as self-protection quickly becomes a complicated experiment in identity. Orsino confides in Cesario with an intimacy he offers no one else, while Viola, living between genders, finds herself falling deeply in love with him.
Orsino sends Cesario to relay his affections to Olivia, a woman committed to mourning and resistant to conventional romance. Instead of responding to Orsino’s grand declarations of love, Olivia is drawn to the disguised Viola. Viola, trapped inside a role she can neither fully inhabit nor abandon, becomes one third of a love triangle built on sincerity and misunderstanding in equal measure.
Meanwhile, Olivia’s household spirals into its own chaos. Sir Toby Belch, delighting in excess and disruption, conspires with others to humiliate Malvolio, Olivia’s steward, whose secret affection for her fuels both his ambition and his downfall. Their cruel prank exposes not just Malvolio’s vanity, but the dangers of enforcing moral order without compassion.
Sebastian, rescued by the devoted Antonio, arrives in Illyria carrying his own unspoken tensions and loyalties, their relationship marked by a closeness that resists easy definition. A cascade of mistaken identities follows, revealing how fragile perception can be. When the twins are finally reunited, the illusions collapse, and truth emerges.
CHARACTERS
Viola - a lady of Messaline shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria (later disguised as Cesario)
Olivia - an Illyrian countess
Olivia's Ladies-in-Mourning - a small chorus who accompany Olivia wherever she goes, underscoring her state of perpetual grief
Maria - Olivia’s waiting-gentlewoman
Sir Toby Belch - Olivia’s kinsman
Sir Andrew Aguecheek - Sir Toby’s companion
Malvolio - steward in Olivia’s household
Feste - Jester of Olivia's household
Fabian - a gentleman in Olivia’s household
Orsino - duke (or count) of Illyria
Valentine - an attendant to Duke Orsino
Curio - an attendant to Duke Orsino
Sebastian - Viola’s brother
Antonio - friend to Sebastian
Ensemble - roles using music and movement to conjure the world of Illyria, and to populate it with attendants, bystanders, musicians, and ever-shifting inhabitants.
