Open Auditions for Steampunk'd Romeo and Juliet

KAYLEE SMITH

BACK ALLEY PRODUCTIONS INC.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Auditions for Steampunk’d Shakespeare set for The Colonnade Performing Arts Center

William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” is coming to Ringgold, but not in a way you’ve ever seen before.

Back Alley Productions Inc. invites you to audition for “Romeo and Juliet” on June 24 and 25 at 6 p.m. at the The Colonnade Center at 264 Catoosa Cir, Ringgold, Ga. But be sure to bring your imagination.

“We’re doing the production in an art style called steampunk,” Director Kaylee Smith said of the show’s setting. “It’s a genre of storytelling that blends elements from the industrial revolution, when steam-powered machines were prominent, and places that industry in different time periods. We’re hoping to recruit a cast who will love the world we’re creating as much as the production team does.” The dialogue will be true to the original writing.

Smith said the reason the steampunk theme works well for “Romeo and Juliet” is because Shakespeare’s dramas are timeless, and can be done without being set in any time period.

“Because the story is timeless, Shakespeare allows theater companies to have a lot of fun with his plays. The steampunk art form is also never set in a specific time period and blends old style with new. So the two things — Shakespeare and steampunk — fit very well together.”

Smith said people can expect to see a large analog clock, guns and swords and steampunk costumes, as part of the production. Anyone planning to audition should be prepared to read a 1-minute monologue. Some might be asked to remain after their audition to run additional lines. Actors should be fifteen and older.

For more information or a list of roles, call or text (706) 621-2870 or visit backalleyproductions.org under productions, or visit http://www.colonnadecenter.org/ and look under the June Newsletter. You can get role information at Back Alley’s facebook page by searching “Back Alley Productions.”