DESCRIPTION
South Dakota Shakespeare Festival announces
auditions for the 2026 production!
Production: “Much Ado About Nothing”, by William Shakespeare
Directed by: Morgan Ford
Rehearsals: May 25th – June 17th (Wrap up June 22 & 23) Vermillion, SD: Warren M.
Lee Center for Fine Arts & Prentis Park (Plus 1-2 days wrap-up)
Performances: June 18-21, 2025, Vermillion, SD
The South Dakota Shakespeare Festival (SDSF) seeks a diverse company of performers
for their long-standing offering of free Shakespeare in the Park in Vermillion, SD. The
Festival seeks professional actors and teaching artists (all artists do some teaching/
outreach) from the Great Plains region and nationally to form an ensemble-based
Shakespeare company.
This year SDSF is looking to fill 3 Professional contracts (500 per week) and 2 apprentice contracts - early career professionals ($375 per week) for contract. We will also be hiring 3 Professional actors/ teaching artists for our 6-week contract focusing in the Juvenile Justice system and performing in Much Ado About
Nothing. (600 per week for 6 week contract; additional hours for teaching required).
Actors coming from out of town will be eligible for local housing and a small travel stipend.
*All artists must be available for the duration of the rehearsal and run.
Auditions will begin with video submissions. Callbacks will be held in person or over Teams.
Deadline for Video Submissions is January 26th by midnight
For more information about the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival visit:
https://www.sdshakespearefesti...
Please prepare two contrasting Shakespeare monologues. If you have any music skills
you can share please include up to two minutes of additional music.
Many of these characters will double as other characters during the show. (Actors of all
ages, ethnicities, gender identities and abilities are encouraged to submit. In reference
to the characters, most characters we encounter in Shakespeare are on the binary.
However the descriptions, we invite all actors to submit for the roles they most identify
with in the character list. We will also list race/ethnicity when specific to the character
but are otherwise seeking all races, religions, and ethnicities. We hope that this
process facilitates a space where we all can come together to share a story filled with
meaning, entertainment, and compassion. Please let us know if you have any
questions, concerns, or if there are any accommodations we can provide. ***Language
based on Kevin Kantor and Emily Tarquin from the Actors Theatre of Louisville).
DURATION
May 25, 2026 -
Jun 23, 2026
SALARY
$1,500.00 – $3,600.00 per gig
