Perfomer/ Puppeteer
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop is holding auditions for a new member for the touring ensemble for our flagship show, Famous Puppet Death Scenes, which, as the title suggests, is a collection of short scenes of puppets dying.
We have heard the calls for needed change from our equity-seeking siblings in the arts community.
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop is committed to ensuring that the artists and performers in our shows are more reflective of all communities, with a specific focus on increasing the representation of female and gender diverse individuals and IBPOC and racialized artists.
We ask those artists from more privileged groups to support us in this pursuit by limiting those who submit auditions to individuals who self-identify as members of the communities bolded above.
The artist selected will be engaged for a truly mighty slate of upcoming touring (subject to change):
Rehearsals: Calgary, April 4 – May 1, 2022
Four Weeks: Rehearsal + performances
Location: Old Trout Workshop + performance venue TBA
Tour Leg #1: Avignon, France, July 4 – 30, 2022
Four Weeks: 21 performances
Location: Avignon OFF Festival, Theatre Girasol
Tour Leg #2: Edinburgh, UK, July 31 – Aug 31, 2022
Four and a Half Weeks: 21 performances
Location: Edinburgh Fringe Fest, Venue TBA
Additional touring is being planned for 2023 to 2024.
We’re looking for a performer as much as a puppeteer.
In Famous Puppet Death Scenes, the puppeteers are frequently visible—we get to know them as characters, and the relationship they have to each other or even their puppets is sometimes an important part of a scene. To that end we would like to be able to see both you and your puppet in your audition.
How to Audition
Present a puppet death scene via video.
Prepare a two to three-minute scene where you as the puppeteer enter into the space. The camera angle should be wide enough so that we can see as much of your body as possible. Show yourself interacting with the puppet in some manner that demonstrates a relationship to/with the puppet. Show the puppet as a living entity that then dies in some manner.
A Note about the Puppet
It may be that you don’t have a puppet. Do not dismay. You can use any manner of object or tool to stand in as your puppet—as long as it is animated, articulate and has a good death. Even a fork might work. We do not want you to shirk the audition simply because you don’t have something in hand that readily defines puppet.
Setting the scene to music of your choosing would be great, but is not necessary by any means.
How to Apply
Send us these three things via email to mail@theoldtrouts.org:
- Audition video (in YouTube or Vimeo link format)
- Resume
- Short cover letter
Use the subject line Your Next, Best Puppet Death Scene.
Deadline for submission is Sunday, October 31, 2021, 11:59pm MT.
Artists do not need to be an Equity member to audition. However, the Old Trout Puppet Workshop is a member of PACT and will contract with artists under the Canadian Theatre Agreement. Both Equity and Non-Equity artists can be engaged under this agreement.
If you have questions, or need further information, please email Peter Balkwill at pete@theoldtrouts.org.
Acknowledgement of the land is a traditional custom of Indigenous people of Great Turtle Island and foundational protocol for reconciliation to begin to occur. It honours the authentic history of these lands and its original people. It is in that spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, that we honour and acknowledge the territory and oral practices of the indigenous people of Treaty 7 which includes the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. and is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3.
