The Merry Wives of Windsor - Audition Information

Chiltern Shakespeare Company operates an open audition policy for all of its productions.  We will offer the role to the best candidate for any given role.

We also actively encourage the participation of children and young people in all productions that we do.  Although they may not be main roles, we like them to be involved in crowd scenes etc.

Auditions for these parts are not held when the main part auditions are held.  Rather those juniors who wish to get involved will meet the director and production team, and will be introduced to their allotted roles later in the rehearsal run, most likely from mid April or early May.

We will be holding a read-through on Wednesday 8th Jan 2025 at 8.00pm at High March School.

Our director, Roger Saper, will outline the play and his vision for the production. After the read-through there will be an opportunity to indicate any particular parts for which you would like to audition.

Audition 1 will be on Monday 13th Jan 2025 at 8.00pm at CSK Church

Audition 2 will be on Wednesday 15th Jan 2025 at 8.00pm at High March School

We would like each actor to give us a short piece of something they like or are very comfortable to perform in front of an audience. This does not have to be Shakespeare.

We will introduce some movements for certain character auditions. i.e. the roles of Nym/Bardolph and Pistol in particular which are going to be very physical parts be they male or female actors. We will then ask the attendees to read a short part of their chosen characters.

There is parking available at both venues.

Audition Form

All auditionees will need to fill in an audition form.  Some copies will be available, however please print off a copy, fill it in at your leisure and bring it with you to your audition.

Audition Form MWOW

It is important that you provide accurate information regarding your availability over the rehearsal period and performances.  If you are awarded a part, the production team will assume that you are available for all Monday evenings and Wednesday evenings and those selected Sundays on the rehearsal schedule. (Initial Schedule to be added shortly before the read-through).

The rehearsal schedule will only call those members to a rehearsal who are needed that night, however where there is illness or unavoidable absences by those called, we would like to be able to rehearse other parts of the play.

Characters

Mistress Ford

Role (F) Playing Age 35/40+

A resident of Windsor, Mistress Ford is married to Ford and is a friend of Mistress Page. When she and Mistress Page receive a seductive letter from Falstaff, they decide to lead him on and ruin him. In the meantime, Mistress Ford hopes to prove to her husband that she is entirely faithful, so that he will get over his oppressive jealousy.

Mistress Page

Role (F) Playing Age 35/40 +

A resident of Windsor, Mistress Page is married to Page and is a friend of Mistress Ford. When she and Mistress Ford receive a seductive letter from Falstaff, they decide to lead him on and ruin him. Meanwhile, Mistress Page and her husband disagree about who should marry their daughter, Anne Page. She favours Caius, but her husband favours Slender; Anne herself likes neither. However, both must learn the lesson to listen to the romantic desires of their daughter.

Sir John Falstaff

Role (M) Playing Age 40+

Falstaff is a knight, but he is also a scoundrel and occasionally a thief. In Henry IV, Part I , he was a drinking buddy of the young Prince Henry. Falstaff is boisterous, lively, cowardly, funny, and mischievous; he is one of Shakespeare's most beloved creations, appearing in several of his plays. In The Merry Wives of Windsor, outside his element in the countryside, Falstaff thinks he can get away with seducing married women in order to gain access to their husbands' cash. Hence, he launches a plan to seduce Mistress Page and Mistress Ford. However, they are cleverer than he is and, on three separate occasions, cause him to be humiliated, beaten, or dunked in a river.

Ford

Role (M) Playing Age 35/40 +

Husband of Mistress Ford. Ford is very jealous of his wife. When he learns that Falstaff intends to try to seduce his wife, he is sure she'll fall for Falstaff and shame him. Hence he puts on a disguise, calls himself Brooke, and goes to the Garter Inn to find out about Falstaff's plans and his wife's responses. During the play, he must learn to let go of his jealousy, which he eventually manages to do.

Page

Role (M) Playing Age 35/40 +

Husband of Mistress Page. Page is not jealous of his wife, so when he hears about Falstaff's plan, he doesn't think she's likely to find Falstaff interesting. In comparison to Ford, his easy-going attitude makes him look like a wonderful husband, but he has other problems. He and his wife disagree about who should marry their daughter Anne, and neither are able to choose the suitor she likes, namely Fenton. He must learn that he should listen to his daughter's opinions.

Sir Hugh Evans

Role (M) Playing Age 50+

Sir Hugh Evans is the local clergyman. He's Welsh, so he speaks in an accent that the other English citizens find very amusing. They make fun of him constantly for it; finally he and Caius band together to humiliate the Host after he makes fools of them.

Caius 

Role (M) Playing Age 25/30+

The local doctor, Caius is Mistress Quickly’ s master. He is French, so he suffers the same humiliation as Evans because of his accent and broken English. He hopes to marry Anne Page, and Mistress Page favours him, but Page doesn't, and their conflicting schemes–combined with the fact that Anne does not like him–disrupt his marriage plans. He and Evans also make plans to get back at the Host for making fun of them.

Anne Page

Role (F) Playing Age 20/25 ish

Daughter of Page and Mistress Page, Anne is sought for marriage by an array of idiots, including Caius and Slender. Yet she chooses Fenton and tricks her parents by managing to elope with him. She defends her own choice and returns triumphant to show up her parents, who were too busy debating their own preferences to listen to her.

Fenton

Role (M) Playing Age 30 ish

A suitor for Anne Page's hand, Page denies his suit because he fears that Fenton's interest is purely financial, being high-born but poor. Fenton admits he felt this way at first, but once he got to know Anne, he fell in love with her. She likes him best, and the two marry at the end.

Slender

Role (M) Playing Age 30 ish

The third suitor for Anne Page's hand, Slender is urged on by Shallow, but he is unable to speak anything but nonsense to Anne. Page favours him as a good match for his daughter, but Anne does not, and in the end he doesn't get to marry her.

Shallow

Role (M) Playing Age 40 ish

Shallow is a figure of the law, but nevertheless a foolish character of misplaced authority. He urges Slender to try to seduce Ann e Page, even speaking for him at times.

Mistress Quickly

Role (F) Playing Age 45+

Caius’s servant Mistress Quickly is everyone's messenger. She goes to Falstaff at the behest of Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, and she speaks to Anne Page on behalf of all three of her suitors. Yet she prefers Fenton and supports his suit most readily. Mistress Quickly chronically misunderstands or mishears other people, hearing sexually charged conversations where there are none.

Bardolph

Role (M/F) Playing Age 20/30

One of Falstaff's men, Bardolph takes over as the bartender of the Garter Inn in order to pay for Falstaff's entourage's room and board.

Nim (Nym)

Role (M/F) Playing Age 20/30

One of Falstaff's men, Nim wants to stay honest, and he refuses to deliver Falstaff's seductive letters to Mistress Page and Mistress Ford. Instead, he and Pistol decide to let the husbands know of Falstaff's scheme.

Pistol

Role (M/F) Playing Age 20/30

One of Falstaff's men, Pistol wants to stay honest, and he refuses to deliver Falstaff's seductive letters to Mistress Page and Mistress Ford. Instead, he and Nim decide to let the husbands know of Falstaff's scheme.

Host 

Role (M/F) Playing Age 45 +

Host of the Garter Inn, the Host makes fun of Evans and Caius's broken and accented English, so they decide to get back at him by tricking him. Their ploy results in the loss of three of the Host's horses.

William Page 

Role (M) Playing Age 18-25

Page's son, he meets Evans, who gives him an impromptu Latin lesson which Mistress Quickly entirely mishears as sexual innuendo.

Simple

Role (M/F) Playing Age 35+

Slender's servant.

John/Jane Rugby

Role (M/F) Playing Age 35+

Servant of Doctor Caius

Robin

Role (M) Playing Age 20+

Falstaff’s pageboy

Servants (2) to Francis and Alice Ford

Role (M/F) Playing age 20+

Children of Windsor and Fairies

Role (M/F) Playing age 9-18

Audition Speeches

We would like each actor to give us a short piece of something they like or are very comfortable to perform in front of an audience. This does not have to be Shakespeare.

Once your individual auditions have been completed, Roger will put together groups of people to audition sections of the play to see how pairings/groupings may work.  

We will introduce some movements for certain character auditions. i.e. the roles of Nym/Bardolph and Pistol in particular which are going to be very physical parts be they male or female actors.

These group parts selected (listed below) are not suitable for individual auditions and do not need to be learnt.  You may however wish to read them in advance.  You do not need to print these pages as the copies of the scripts will be available.

A link to the script we are using is available here:  MWOW2024 Cut Script

The following pages have been selected from the script:
Group Audition Pieces
Check out the line numbers.
Act I Scene 1 Shallow, Slender and Sir Hugh Evans down to enter Falstaff etc
Lines 1-10 to 1-500 Pages 2-3
Act 1 Scene 1 Falstaff, Bardolph, Nym, Pistol (Shallow Slender and Evans) to – ‘enter Anne Page’
Lines 1-510 to 1-870 Pages 4-5
Act 1 Scene 1 ‘re enter Anne Page’- Anne Page, Slender to end of Act
Lines 1-1240 to 1-1520 Pages 6-7
Act 1 Scene 3 Falstaff, Nym, Pistol, Bardolph, Host
Lines 3-20 to 3-520 Pages 9-11
Act 1 Scene 4 Mistress Quickly, Simple, Rugby, Doctor Caius to DC – “Sir Hugh send a you? Rugby etc”
Lines 4-670 to 4-800 Page 15
Act 1 Scene 4 Mistress Quickly and Fenton
Lines 4-670 to 4-800 Page 15
Act 2 Scene 1 Ford Page to ‘they retire’
Lines 1-10 to 1-260 Pages 17-18
Act 2 Scene 1 From “they retire” Ford Pistol Nym Page “how now Meg”
Lines 1-260 to 1-450 Pages 19-20
Act 2 Scene 2 Mistress Quickly and Falstaff – to “not I assure thee setting the attractions..”- Falstaff and Ford-“love like a shadow flies when substance etc…”
Lines 2-560 to 2-740 Pages 25-26
Act 2 Scene 3 Caius/Shallow/Host/Slender/Rugby/Page to exeunt page shallow slender
Lines 3-10 to 3-530 Pages 32-34
Act 3 Scene 1 Simple/Evans/Shallow/Page/Slender/Host
Whole Scene
Act 3 Scene 2 from enter - Page /Swallow/Slender/Host/Evans/Caius/Rugby
Lines 2-210 to 2-440 Pages 36-37
Act 3 Scene 3 Falstaff/Page/Ford (to gets into the basket)
Lines 3-10 to 3-620 Pages 38-40
Act 3 Scene 4 Fenton/Anne/Shallow/Slender to exeunt page shallow slender
Lines 4-10 to 4-410 Pages 40-45
Act 3 Scene 5 Falstaff/Ford
Lines 5-320 to 5-550 Pages 48-50
Act 4 Scene 2 Evans/Ford/Shallow Page
Lines 2-540 to 2-1050 Pages 55-57
Act 4 Scene 5 Host/Simple/Falstaff
Lines 5-10 to 5-330 Pages 62-63
Act 4 Scene 6 Fenton/Host
Lines 6-10 to 6-110 Pages 65-66

Roger will most likely select the appropriate group piece depending who is available at the time of the group auidtions.

Audition and Rehearsal Venues