Casting two of Shakespeare’s most iconic characters – Casting and Production Assistant’s Blog

26 July 2013

Since starting here as the Casting and Production Assistant six months ago, I’ve helped to cast several different shows, starting with the two-hander Laurel & Hardy, the rather more epic cast of fourteen for The Witches of Eastwick, and our Christmas production of Pinocchio, which falls somewhere in the middle with a healthy cast of six. As you can see by the fact that it’s July and we’re already sorted for Christmas (in fact it’s been done for a good month!), we try to get casting completed as early as possible, in case there are any hiccups along the way.

The show I’ve most recently finished casting is our autumn touring production of Romeo + Juliet, which will play at The Watermill but also visit many local secondary schools. It’s an adaptation of the Shakespeare classic, with just two actors playing the titular roles, along with many of the supporting parts as well. Casting these two iconic characters can be tough enough as it is, but because of the nature of our production we really needed them to have a lot of range and adaptability to shift into the other parts seamlessly. A tricky search was ahead of us!

Add to this the fact that it’s a touring production, meaning the actors need to be up for helping out transporting the set (and themselves) to each venue, setting it up and taking it down before and after every performance. This meant they needed to be able to drive one of our very own Watermill vans, which requires them to have had a license for at least three years as well. Oh, and one last thing, Romeo and Juliet are teenagers, about fourteen or fifteen, and as this is a production aimed at secondary school pupils, it was vital they felt youthful enough to relate to the kids they’re trying to engage with.

So to summarise – two actors, who can pass for fourteen/fifteen, but passed their driving test at least three years ago, who can play a madly in love, hormonal teenager, but also a wise old nurse, and don’t mind mucking in and shifting all the set and props every day themselves. The phrase ‘needle in a haystack’ comes to mind. Luckily, we managed to find a few of these diamonds in the rough and met them for auditions. The feedback from our Director, Clive was that they were all fantastic, but of course, being a two-hander, it was vital the pair had enough chemistry and charisma together to play the most famous couple of all time.

Figuring out the final pairing was tricky, requiring a second round of auditions with the actors partnered up to read together, and finally a lot of juggling schedules to make sure that the right Romeo ended up with his perfect Juliet. In the end we got there though, and we’re proud to announce that we have a great cast of two, Sophie Steer and Edward Hancock, for what should be a spectacular production of the Bard’s most famous work. Now, just to get that script adaptation finished!

Matthew Ray
Casting and Production Assistant