Virginia Repertory Theatre
Richmond, VA
Notice: Audition Call Type: EPA
AUDITION DATE
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
1:00 PM - 10:00 PM (E)
BREAK: 5:00PM - 6:00PM
APPOINTMENTS
Audition appointments can be scheduled by filling out the Google Form found at this URL: https://forms.gle/oCiyLXsjvtZX.... (Sign in not required).
CONTRACT
Independent Theatre Contract
$605 weekly minimum
SEEKING
Equity actors for roles in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (see breakdown).
All roles will be understudied.
In casting Murder on the Orient Express, Virginia Repertory Theatre endeavors to be as inclusive as possible. We invite all performers, including gender non-conforming, genderqueer, transgender, and non-binary actors, to submit for the roles they most identify with. We will also list race/ethnicity when specific to the character but are otherwise seeking all races and ethnicities.
PREPARATION
The AUDITION will consist of reading sides individually with a reader. Sides will be shared with instructions after appointments are scheduled. Memorization is not required, but familiarity is encouraged. If you have dialect experience for the characters you read for, please use them during the audition.
LOCATION
November Theatre
114 W. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23220
PERSONNEL
EXPECTED TO ATTEND:
Rick Hammerly, Director
OTHER DATES
Callbacks on July 21, 2025
Rehearsals begin: August 11, 2025
Performance run: September 11 - October 12, 2025
OTHER
An Equity Monitor will not be provided. The producer will run all aspects of this audition.
Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to attend every audition.
Always bring your Equity Membership card to auditions.
BREAKDOWN
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS
SEEKING:
HERCULE POIROT: (Male identifying, 40s-60s) Meticulous and exacting, Poirot is a keen observer of detail and an astute judge of character. Certain that the crime was committed by someone on the train, he confidently and patiently works his way to a shocking solution. Poirot is Belgian and speaks with a Belgian/French accent.
SAMUEL RATCHETT: (Male identifying, 40s-50s) A middle-aged American businessman, Ratchett is brusque and unforgiving, with a threatening demeanor and a whiplash of a voice. He’s made plenty of enemies. (Doubles with COLONEL ARBUTHNOT).
COUNTESS ELÉNA ANDRENYI: (Female identifying, 20s-30s): Countess Eléna Andrenyi is a doctor, brilliantly beautiful, and always dressed in furs and diamonds. She seems too good to be true. Able to put on a Hungarian accent.
COLONEL ARBUTHNOT: (Male identifying, 30s-40s) A Scotsman, Arbuthnot is handsome and very matter of fact. He’s hopelessly in love with Mary. (Doubles with SAMUEL RATCHETT)
MONSIEUR BOUC: (Male Identifying, late 30s to 50s) A Belgian man of good humor, Monsieur Bouc is an old friend of Poirot’s. He appears removed from the crime, often acting as Poirot’s sounding board.
MARY DEBENHAM: (Female identifying, late 20s to 30s) An English beauty, Mary bears a certain sadness in her eyes. When she first appears, she is very anxious.
PRINCESS DRAGOMIROFF: (Female identifying, 60s-80s) The Russian princess who commands the room. Expensively dressed and handsomely bejeweled.
HEAD WAITER: (Male identifying, 20s-40s) Professional in demeanor, he is knowledgeable and a bit overconfident. (Doubles with Michel the Conductor)
HELEN HUBBARD: (Female identifying, 50’s) An outspoken American widow, well-dressed with a touch of flamboyance, Hubbard is a tough-talking broad with a rough edge and a bold sense of humor.
HECTOR MacQUEEN: (Male identifying, 30s) A nervous young American with a strained, rather beleaguered face, Hector appears to be suppressing something.
MICHEL THE CONDUCTOR: (Male identifying, late 30s-40s) A good-looking Frenchman, Michel is the train conductor and has a quiet, almost grave sense of humor. He’s seen a lot in his years on the Orient Express, and knows his way around the train.
GRETA OHLSSON: (Female identifying, 20s-40s) Plain and modest, Greta is a Swedish nurse and African missionary with a frightened, sheep-like quality about her.
Independent Theatre Contract $605 weekly minimum
AEA