Audition

DUENDE DRAMA AND LITERATURE
Theater
NON-UNION

Artistic Director: Thomas F. Maguire
Playwright: Rick Foster
Artistic Associate: John C. Brown

Audition Date(s): Immediate Virtual Submissions Callback
Date(s): November 2025 (Remote or in-person)
Rehearsal dates: TBD Spring 2026
Production Dates: TBD 2026
Rate of Pay: $1000 for initial rehearsal/performances, $300 per touring performance.
Location: Sonora, CA

For 30 years, Duende Drama and Literature has been bringing plays about our rich California and American history to schools and communities across the Sierra Nevada Foothills. We are currently casting good storytellers for staged performances in 2026 and possible touring performances in schools and public venues during the 2026-2027 school year. Each show runs approximately 45 minutes and is performed by only one actor.

Self Tape Instructions

Audition sides can be found linked below.
You may self tape for more than one role. Please include a slate stating your name, location, pronouns and anything else you might like to share with us. Upload the completed self tape to your preferred file sharing platform (YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) and send the link to info@duendedrama.org.

Alexander Hamilton (“Money Man”)
30+, White, Male, Of all the “Founding Fathers” Hamilton was the only one born outside the Thirteen Colonies, the only one from the bottom rungs of society, and the only one born out of wedlock.

Nancy Kelsey (“The Betsy Ross of the Bears”)
18-40, White, female, tested but never broken, after the adventure of a lifetime to reach the west, she’s determined to establish her family in California. Role requires some simple singing.

Jeff Blake, the 49er (“Friendly Fire”)
18+, White, male, an energetic character, he’s been challenged and changed by his experiences with the Native Americans, moves well.

Storylines

“Money Man” (see video) is set in the early morning of July 11, 1804, the hour before the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. He has called friends into his office to tell them things he has kept to himself for thirty years and to try and explain to them, and himself, how it is he has come to the point where he feels he must face death in this “interview.”

“The Betsy Ross of the Bears” is a moving play that presents a complex woman surviving in a harsh world. California pioneer Nancy Kelsey was the first U.S. woman to cross the Sierra Nevada. She must deal with living in a world where woman had few rights, with a husband whose restlessness is at odds with her own needs, and with the memory of a disapproving mother.

“Friendly Fire” tells the story of miner Jeff Blake and his life with the Me-Wuk people of California’s Mother Lode during the Gold Rush. He returns home to Missouri only to leave again, finding he’s caught between two worlds. He tells his story from the wharf as he waits to board the paddle wheeler.

Download Sides

Download Full Scripts