CNN iReport

On Saturday, January 10, the SL Shakespeare Company announced its open audition information for several upcoming productions in 2009. The Company hopes to find actors to perform in its first open-ended run of “Twelfth Night: Act 1,” and other productions. The (voice) open audition will be held at the SL Globe Theatre on Saturday, January 24 at 1 PM SL Time.

The SL Shakespeare Company is Second Life’s premier professional theatre production troupe. According to artistic director Ina Centaur, “Since the beginning, we have been dedicated to creating and bringing serious theatre to Second Life. We hope to continue doing so by reaching out to and connecting the thespians around the world.” Of note from 2008, its inaugural year, the Company performed SL’s first historically accurate Elizabethan production of Hamlet, “In addition to aesthetics and meticulousness, our visual trademark has an emphasis on photorealism that transcends the normal drab SL avatar ‘look’ and needs just a touch of voice to bring the character to life.” Actors who make the cast would receive a complimentary SL skin created based on their RL face. The complete wardrobe from skin to hair to clothing would be designed by costume specialists.

For the open-ended run of Twelfth Night: Act 1, the Company hopes to cast no more than seven voice actors (and possible understudies), with an unlimited number of silent actors (actors with non-speaking roles), for at least one performance per week indefinitely. The date would be determined based on cast availability. Auditions for silent actors will be announced shortly. Those interested should join the SL Shakespeare Company group inworld.

Prospective voice actors are told to arrive early with their SL voice configured and also to be familiar with the first act of Twelfth Night, “Please be prepared to perform a passage (no more than 5 minutes) of your choice from ‘Twelfth Night: Act 1,’ a passage of my choice, and possibly another unrelated passage. See you at 1 PM on January 24th.”

For more information on the SL Shakespeare Company and updates on upcoming events, please check out their blog @ http://blog.SLshakespeare.com