# CASTING NOTICE: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT SCREAM

Production: A Midsummer Night Scream

Theater/Company: Otherworld Theatre

Director: Tiffany Keane Schaefer

Venue/Location: The Up Main at The Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

Contract/Type: Non-Equity / Paid ($25 per show, 25-show run), Stipend $626

Casting Director/Contact: Tiffany (Tiffany@otherworldtheatre.org)

Note: All rehearsals and performances will take place on-site in the Up Main space at The Greenhouse Theater Center.

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## 1. PRODUCTION OVERVIEW & SYNOPSIS

“The course of true love never did run smooth. Out here, it doesn’t get to run at all.”

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An '80s Folk-Horror Slasher Inspired by Shakespeare’s Classic

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Five college graduates arrive at an isolated cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, looking for one last wild summer weekend together. Instead, they stumble into a neon-soaked, synth-driven nightmare. When a local moonshine unearths buried secrets and a sudden act of violence spills blood onto the ancient forest floor, they inadvertently awaken a vengeful pagan deity trapped in the brush. Plunged into a world where the laws of nature bend and a monstrous entity begins a brutal hunt, these friends must drop their curated masks to survive the night.

Equal parts gory 1980s slasher and eerie Appalachian folk-horror, A Midsummer Night Scream is a terrifying, hallucinatory reimagining of Shakespeare’s classic comedy.

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• Run Time: 1 Hour and 45 Minutes (with one 15-minute intermission).

• Performance Schedule: 25 shows total, Tech September 14th - September 16th, Previews September 14th, Opening September 25th

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## 2. AUDITION DATES & REQUIREMENTS

### Audition Schedule

• Saturday, July 25th: 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM (5-minute individual slots)

• Sunday, July 26th: 1 PM – 6:00 PM (5-minute individual slots)

 

### What to Prepare & Bring

• One Contemporary Monologue: 1–2 minutes in length. We are looking for high-stakes dramatic intensity, psychological vulnerability, or sharp, frantic dark comedy. Think gritty indie dramas, psychological thrillers, or elevated horror.

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• Physical Materials: Please bring one copy of your headshot and resume, stapled together back-to-back.

  Sides will be emailed in advance and provided at auditions. You may be asked to read one of the sides in addition to your monologue.

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## 3. CONTENT ADVISORIES & TRIGGER WARNINGS

Please review carefully before submitting. Otherworld Theatre is committed to safe, transparent theatrical practices. Complete script disclosures will be available prior to casting.

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• Physical & Slasher Horror: Graphic depictions of blood, visceral slasher-style violence, physical assault, and intense body horror (including a mask becoming permanently fused to a character's flesh).

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• Psychological & Relational: Depictions of the non-consensual outing of a character's closeted sexuality, heavy themes of psychological repression, family trauma, and loss of physical/mental autonomy via supernatural possession.

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• Technical Triggers: The production will heavily feature highly immersive and disorienting technical elements, including sudden loud noises, some strobe, heavy radio static, high-frequency audio distortion, atmospheric jump scares, and intense lighting.

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## 4. CHARACTER BREAKDOWN

• SAM (Male/Masculine leaning, 20s): The emotional center. Vulnerable, carrying deep parental grief and an unresolved longing for last summer. He simply wants one final weekend at the family lake house before Dimitri leaves for the Ivy League and forgets he exists. Must project profound sincerity under terrifying, supernatural circumstances.

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• DIMITRI (Male/Masculine, 20s): The hyper-masculine "golden boy" bound for the Ivy League. Deeply closeted, he completely denies a romantic encounter by the water last summer. He projects an aggressive, tight-wound armor that fractures violently when he becomes the vessel for an ancient, predatory entity. Requires strong physical acting and choreography.

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• MIA (Female/Feminine, 20s): Sharp, strategic, and trapped in a hollow, transactional engagement to Dimitri. She finds herself drawn back to Xander, the rebellious outsider who has always been her true North. A fierce, intelligent, modern take on the classic "Final Girl."

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• XANDER (Male/Masculine, 20s): The cynical, rebellious outsider. An acoustic guitar-playing observer with a deep, hidden passion for Mia. He represents an unsettling truth that threatens the group's curated social structure.

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• NICK/NIKKI (Any Gender, 20s): A frantic, aspiring playwright who stalks the dark corridors of the estate with a handheld microcassette recorder, determined to capture the raw sound of their friends' unraveling. High-energy metatheatrical comic relief that transitions into absolute cosmic dread. 

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• PUCK / ROBIN GOODFELLOW (Any Gender, 20s–30s): The chaotic, meta-theatrical shock jockey of W-VOID 85.5 and camp groundskeeper. Breaks the fourth wall, shifting effortlessly between a retro media persona and an eerie entity of the woods. Needs extreme physical dynamism and an unsettling, playful charisma.

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• OBERON / THE STAG-KING (Male/Masculine, 30s–50s: The ancient, sovereign terror of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A primordial force of cold fury, vengeance, and unyielding natural law. He is the architect of the night's cosmic reckoning, manipulating the mortal characters like pieces on a board. He eventually uses Dimitri's body as a physical vessel to execute his judgments. Requires an actor with a commanding voice, menacing presence, and exceptional physical control.

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• TITANIA / THE HOLLOW QUEEN (Female/Feminine, 30s–50s): The untamed, chaotic heart of the forest. Where Oberon is rigid law, she is wild, predatory instinct. She rules over the parasitic flora and the dark, hallucinatory reality-bending elements of the woods. Her power is hypnotic, seductive, and deeply unsettling, masking a brutal violence beneath an ethereal beauty. Requires immense vocal range, physical fluidity, and the ability to project an otherworldly, ancient gravity.

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## 5. HOW TO SUBMIT

To schedule an audition slot, please email your headshot and resume to Tiffany@otherworldtheatre.org.

• Subject Line Format: Audition Request: [Show Title] - [Your Name] -

• In your email body: Please attach to the body of your email a headshot and resume. Those considered will be emailed back a Sign-Up Genius link. 

Otherworld Theatre is committed to diverse, inclusive casting. Actors of all ethnicities, gender identities, physicalities, and backgrounds are strongly encouraged to submit.

*Poster art by Ethan Roberts