Auditions
ACORN Players wants you to audition. Whether you have been acting for years, have taken a long hiatus, or have never acted at all you are welcome. Our productions have incorporated people with no experience, experienced veterans with degrees in theater, and everyone in between. Our directors often leave non-traditional casting aside and strive not to be constrained by typical role casting whenever a script can accommodate.
Audition Information
You only need to attend one audition session, but please arrive by 6 pm and be prepared to stay for the entire session.
Cast Needs
Teens & Adults
Auditions are March 5 and 6, 6 PM-8:30 PM at First Church, 1700 Mitch Daniels Blvd, West Lafayette.
Acorn Players would like to announce auditions for their second production of 2025, Paul Zindel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds”
One of Off-Broadway's greatest successes, this powerful and moving Pulitzer Prize winning study of an embittered, vindictive widow and her two young daughters has been hailed as one of the most significant and affecting plays of the 20th century.
Tillie
The main protagonist of the play. A quiet and introverted character who is teased at school. She copes with her life by immersing herself in science, hoping to reach a philosophical epiphany. Her untiring quest for her individuality stands in open defiance of her mother's wish for total control over the family. Consequently, she receives the brunt of the abuse. Tillie also owns a rabbit named Peter, given to her by her science teacher, Mr. Goodman.
We are looking to cast a female presenting actor in her mid-teens/early 20’s.
Ruth
Tillie's older sister. A brash but confused adolescent, she looks to others for advice, but often gains this insight from Beatrice, who she favors in several ways. On many occasions, she paints Tillie as the crazy one and suffers from epilepsy and night terrors. She also takes a liking to Tillie's pet rabbit, to the point where she blackmails Tillie for possession of the rabbit by threatening to tell their mother what the adults at the school call her—"Betty the Loon."
We are looking to cast a female presenting actor with disabilities in her midteens-early 20’s.
Beatrice
Tillie's and Ruth's mother. A single mother whose life has gone awry, she copes with it through self-loathing, cynicism, and drug abuse, and by verbally (and at times physically) abusing her two daughters, which is not shown in the film. As the play's main antagonist, Beatrice is mainly narcissistic, domineering, and lethally short-tempered, which is only worsened by the drugs. However, her plight is sympathetic, as her past reveals a life spiraling steadily downward from serendipitous circumstances, leading her to self-destruction.
We are looking to cast a female presenting actor in her 30’s-50’s.
Nanny
An elderly boarder in the Hunsdorfer household. Silent throughout, she does not contribute much beyond being yet another burden to the already stressed-out Beatrice who verbally abuses her as she does her daughters.
Please note that Nanny is a non-speaking role. We are looking for an actor of any-experience level, aged 50 or older. Ever wanted to be in a play but have never been before? Worried about memorizing lines? This might be the perfect part for you! We are looking to cast an actress with disabilities for this role.
Janice Vickery
Tillie's rival at the science fair. Her experiment involved boiling the skin off a dead cat so she may use its skeleton. She plans to use a dog in her next science fair project.
Please note, Janice is only in one scene and performs a single monologue. Looking for a female-presenting actor in her late teens-early 20’s. Have time restraints but want to take part in an Acorn production? This might be the perfect role for you!
Everyone who auditions is required to familiarize themselves with one of the selected monologues, even those who are choosing to audition for Nanny and Janice Vickery. If you are interested in Nanny, look at the Beatrice monologue, and for potential Janice actors, look at the Ruth selection. They do not have to be memorized, but please be prepared to read them for the audition team. Auditions will also consist of scene work with other auditioners. We are looking to build a believable family unit, so there will potentially be multiple reads with different combinations of actors.
6th thru 12th Graders
SUMMER CAMP
Our Summer Camp is an immersive experience running Monday through Friday 12 to 5 during the month of June. Be sure to keep an eye out for registrations. Spots fill up quickly!
Adults of All Ages Needed
Late August 2025
Due to the two main leads needing to portray young teens, those under 18 may be able to audition at the director's discretion.
Oskar is a bullied, lonely teenage boy living with his mother on a housing estate at the edge of town when a spate of sinister killings rock the neighborhood. Eli is the young girl who has just moved in next door. She doesn’t go to school and never leaves the flat by day. Sensing in each other a kindred spirit, the two become devoted friends. What Oskar doesn’t know is that Eli has been a teenager for a very long time.
An enchanting, brutal vampire myth and coming-of-age love story adapted from the bestselling novel and award-winning film.
Teens & Adults
Late September 2025
Peter and the Starcatcher is a prequel to Peter Pan based on the children’s book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson and freely adapted for the stage by Rick Elice, with co-directors Alex Timbers and Roger Rees. For two-and-a-half hours, twelve actors make theatrical magic by playing dozens of characters: sailors, pirates, British naval officers, Mollusk natives and orphans in addition to eighteen major roles. The original Broadway production was a deliberately low-budget spectacle: an extravaganza of staging that relied on suggestion and storytelling rather than expensive set pieces like the chandelier in Phantom of the Opera or the helicopter in Miss Saigon. Elice’s script, jam-packed with poetry, fart jokes, gentle lyricism, and numerous nods to pop culture, is a coming-of-age adventure story about how a nameless orphan -- inspired by a remarkable and ambitious girl -- became the strange and celebrated hero that is the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up.
