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Botticelli in the Fireby Jordan Tannahill
Direction by Jason J. Flannery
Open Auditions: Saturday, February 8 and Sunday, February 9, Noon-3pm (must be checked in by 2pm)
If these dates/times do not work for your schedule, please contact us at [email protected]
Location: 2nd floor of the Spectrum Theater at 160 Fountain NE
Performance Dates: May 1-3, 8-10 at 7:30pm; May 4 at 3pm
Rehearsals: Rehearsals will begin in March
Audition Requirements: A perusal script and list of sides are available at https://atgr.org/get-involved/auditions/botticelli-in-the-fire/ . Sides do not need to be memorized but you should familiarize yourself with the characters and their journeys. No headshots or resumés required, but encouraged. Please be prepared to list any potential schedule conflicts throughout the rehearsal process.
Characters:
All roles are open to individuals of all races and ethnicities (except where explicitly prescribed by the playwright), genders, abilities, body sizes, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic statuses. Trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer actors highly encouraged to audition.
Character notes regarding intimacy and implied nudity are taken from the script and will be staged using consent-based practices with our intimacy coordinator to ensure the comfort and safety of the cast.
Sandro Botticelli - Male identifying. 30's. Any race and ethnicity. Art star. Roguish. Exudes bi/pansexual confidence and charisma. Artistic genius. Charming. Magnetic. Disarms with Humor. Used to things being easy. Comfortable in his fame. Indulges in luxuries and pleasures, possibly to drown his own thoughts.
Needs to perform in male/male and male/female intimacy scenes. Needs to perform stage combat and "play squash”. Gets a bowl of water thrown on him and is sponge-bathed onstage. Disrobes to underwear or implied nudity multiple times onstage.
Clarice Orsini - Female identifying. 30's - Early 40's. Any race and ethnicity, though ideally shares a look with Venus in The Birth of Venus. Wealthy, but dissatisfied. Has more to offer than her trophy-wife position allows. Sexual. Assertive. Manipulative. Intelligent. Perceptive. Needs to perform in a male/female intimacy scene. Disrobes to a sheet/towel or implied nudity onstage. Sings as part of Chorus. May have some dance choreography.
Lorenzo de' Medici - Male identifying. 40's. Any race and ethnicity. Powerful. Always in the spotlight/under a microscope/aware of optics. Jovial, political, affable, benevolent… with an overstressed, undersexed core deep beneath. Stands above all (except maybe the pope). Gets his way. Poor listener. Excellent squash player.
Needs to perform stage combat and “play squash”. Sings as part of Chorus. May have some dance choreography.
Poggio di Chullu - Male identifying. 30's-40's. Any race and ethnicity. “Bon vivant”. Joyful. Helpful. Playful. Well-connected. Well-informed. Empathetic. Realistic. Exudes light because he has seen the darkness. Allows himself the best-friend/sidekick role socially, but is quick to step up and fiercely defend those in need. Performs brief stage combat sequence. Sings as part of Chorus. May have some dance choreography.
Girolamo Savonarola - Male identifying. 60's. Any race and ethnicity. Charismatic. Sharp. Diplomatic. Persuasive. Pragmatic. Inscrutable. NOT an archetypal villain… rather: a flawed hero of the people. Understands the fragility and volatility of the moment.
Sings as part of Chorus.
Madre Maria - Female identifying. 50's-60's. Any race and ethnicity.
Relaxed. Worldly. People-focused. Nostalgic. Storyteller. Resigned. Her wounds have healed. Lapsed zealot. Sage in a crisis. Sees the uncomplicated truth beneath the havoc.
Sings as part of Chorus.
Leonardo da Vinci - Male identifying. Mid-to-Late 20's. Any race and ethnicity. Athletic. “You can cut an apple with his jaw.” Playful. Young. Idealistic. Unspoiled. Uncynical. Former country boy in the city. Unaware of his innate talent.
Needs to perform male/male intimacy scenes. Possibility to get wet onstage. Disrobes onstage to underwear or implied nudity.
Synopsis:
A hot-blooded contemporary queering of Renaissance Italy which questions how much of ourselves we are willing to sacrifice when society comes off the rails. Playboy Sandro Botticelli has it all: talent, fame, good looks. He also has the ear - and the wife - of Lorenzo de Medici, as well as Florence's hottest young apprentice, Leonardo. But while he is at work on his breakthrough commission, The Birth of Venus, Botticelli's devotion to pleasure and beauty is put to the ultimate test. As plague sweeps through the city, the charismatic friar Girolamo Savonarola starts to stoke the fires of dissent against the liberal elite. Botticelli finds the life he knows breaking apart, forcing him to choose between love and survival.
About the Director:
Jason J. Flannery is a Grand Rapids artist and educator; teaching courses in theatre (acting, directing, intro, and improvisation) and directing collegiate productions at Grand Rapids Community College (Wilderness (2019), Eurydice (2022), A Doll's House, Part 2 (2022), Grand Concourse (2023), boom (2025)), at Grand Valley State University (Defy the Stars (2018), Bard to Go: Bardic Inspiration (2022)), and Aquinas College (The Foreigner (2019)). He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing from Lindenwood University (2017), where he studied directing, acting, script adaptation, and scenic art. At Actors’ Theatre, he serves as a member of the Play Selection Committee, and as a Social Media Coordinator, Scenic Artist, and as a performer; appearing in productions of The Whale (2018), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2018), At the Table (2018), Sweat (2019), Petty Crimes (2023), and Witch (2023). This is his second appearance as a director for Actors' Theatre, following his directorial debut of last season's Paradise Lost.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
160 Fountain St NE, Grand Rapids, MI, United States, Michigan 49503
