Production Notes
A Midsummer Night's Western
Characters
(5 females/11 males/8 neutral/extras/doubling)
SPIDER KING
COYOTE SPIDER QUEEN SQUIRREL RABBIT RACCOON RAVEN PORCUPINE BEAR THEODORE POLLY ANGUS PARSON DOUGLAS PHYLLIS LESTER HENRIETTA HELEN EXTRAS PETE SNUG NICK FRANK TOM ROBIN Time Place |
A trickster in pursuit of an orphaned baby boy
His steward; also a trickster The Spider King's mate and rival; also claims the baby Her servant Another Another Another Another The wisest and mightiest of the forest creatures The mayor of a Colorado cow town His bride-to-be A blustering, bombastic banker. A holy man, but a bit partial to the communion wine A young man stricken with jealous green eyes A housekeeper and theatre connoisseur Douglas's brother Lester's sweetheart Douglas's determined admirer and nemesis Rustlers and wedding guests The local theatre régisseur The actor who plays the bear; a bit wet behind the ears A cocky actor who plays Julio; later a skunk A hot-headed actor who plays Romiette A wise-cracking actor who plays the parson and the fence The actor who plays the nurse and the moon Somewhere between Tom Mix & Roy Rogers Cattle Country in Colorado |
Alternative CastingThis play can easily be cast with more females than males as long as all eight of the gender-neutral roles are played by females. Additionally, several of the incidental male roles can be doubled and/or played by females. Though casting a female in a role such as Coyote or Bear can be done with great success, casting a female in a role such as Frank (a reluctant cross-dresser) could easily compromise comic effect. In the tradition of the original play, Theodore and Polly can double as the Spider King and Queen.
Acting in Verse |