Auditions for Antigone, Vortex Summer Youth Theatre, May 18 - 29 by appointment

VORTEX Repertory Company announces AUDITIONS for Summer Youth Theatre 2013, Antigone by Jean Anouilh. Directed by Talena Martinez, May 18-29, 2013 by application and appointment.

To receive an application by mail or to set up audition/interview time, please contact Bonnie Cullum at vortex@vortexrep.org or 512-478-5282.

VORTEX Repertory Company is seeking students ages 13-17 to participate in Summer Youth Theatre 2013 (SYT). Now in its 22nd year, the award-winning SYT program rehearses in the evenings with a few weekend day commitments in June and July and is tuition-free. SYT encourages diversity. Students of any ethnicity or heritage, students with disabilities or economic challenges, and students of all experience levels are welcome. SYT provides students with experiences in all aspects of theatre including acting, technical theatre, and publicity. The rehearsals culminate in a full production of a play presented to the public over two weekends. 

Prior to the audition/interview, students must fill out a short application and prepare a memorized, one-minute piece of dramatic text from a play. A parent or guardian is also required to attend the interview.

download an application

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Jean Anouilh's tragedy Antigone is inspired by Greek mythology and Sophocles’ Antigone (5th c. BC). The play was first performed in Paris in 1944 during the Nazi occupation. Its English debut in London in 1949 with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Originally produced under Nazi censorship, Antigone is purposefully ambiguous with regard to the rejection of authority (Antigone) and the acceptance of it (Creon). The futility and complexity of war, victors, and fallen heroes provides a strong commentary on current conflicts.


Antigone is directed by Talena Martinez. Ms. Martinez has directed productions of original musicals including Just As You Are and Shades of Grey, as well as Godspell, Alice and Wonderland, Narnia, Peter Pan, Fame, and Grease. She founded Austin Children’s Theater in 2008 and Austin Conservatory of Theater in 2011. She has designed costumes for Summer Youth Theatre and VORTEX since 2007. She has also designed costumes and makeup for diverse companies including ethos, Different Stages, Indianapolis Civic Theatre, Austin Lyric Opera, Westlake High School, Theatre at the J, St. Stephen’s High School, LASA/LBJ High, McCallum High School, and kidsActing. Ms. Martinez teaches acting, production, design, and technical theatre all around Austin.


Summer Youth Theatre funded and supported in part by VORTEX Repertory Company, a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts, and by the City of Austin through the Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office/Cultural Arts Division, believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin's future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.

Auditions for Vortex Summer Youth Production of Commedia of Errors, May 21 - 31

VORTEX Repertory Company announces AUDITIONS May 21-31 by application and appointment for Summer Youth Theatre 2012 and Commedia of Errors, adapted from Shakespeare and directed by Melissa Vogt-Patterson. At The VORTEX, 2307 Manor Road, Austin, TX 78722 (click for map). Bus route. Free Parking.

VORTEX Repertory Company is seeking students ages 13-17 to participate in Summer Youth Theatre 2012 (SYT). Now in its 21st year, the award-winning SYT program rehearses in the evenings with a few weekend day commitments in June and July and is tuition-free. SYT encourages diversity. Students of any ethnicity or heritage, students with disabilities or economic challenges, and students of all experience levels are welcome. This year’s production will also feature singers and musicians.

SYT 2012 provides students with experiences in all aspects of theatre including acting, technical theatre, and publicity. Rehearsals and workshops are Free to all participants. The rehearsals culminate in a full production of a play presented to the public over two weekends.

Prior to the audition/interview, students must fill out a short application and prepare a memorized, one-minute piece of text from a play, poem, or song. Shakespearean text is recommended but not required. A parent or guardian is also required to attend the interview.

This summer, SYT presents Commedia of Errors, a 2010 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. This clever mash-up of Commedia dell'Arte, contemporary comedy, and Shakespeare was previously performed in New York. Commedia is a classical theatre form from 16^th-century Italy and characterized by masked types who perform with a highly physical style. Students will engage in workshops in Commedia style, mask work, and clowning to explore this vibrant physical theatre form. High comedy meets classical text, providing a fresh new approach to Shakespeare.

Commedia of Errors is directed by Matthew Patterson, an actor, director, drummer and long-time VORTEX company member. As an actor, he has received several B. Iden Payne and Austin Critics’ Award nominations for VORTEX shows such as King Lear and Norm L, and a B. Iden Payne Award for his work in The Baltimore Waltz. He appeared as an adult guest artist in SYT's productions of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, Conference of the Birds, and Machinal, and directed the SYT productions Animal Farm and The Good Woman of Szechuan. Mr. Patterson is a member of Actors’ Equity and holds an MFA from the University of North Carolina's Professional Actor Training Program. After graduation, he moved to New York, where he performed the dual roles of Antipholus of Syracuse/Antipholus of Ephesus in the world premiere of A Commedia of Errors. He is proud to be back in Austin working with the fine actors of VORTEX’s Summer Youth Theatre.

Summer Youth Theatre is funded and supported in part by VORTEX Repertory Company, by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.

To download an application, please visit www.vortexrep.org. To receive an application by mail or to set up audition/interview time, please contact Bonnie Cullum at vortex@vortexrep.org or 512-478-5282.

Upcoming: The Physicists by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Vortex Summer Youth Production, July 22 - 30

Found on-line:

VORTEX Repertory Company Summer Youth Theatre presents

The Physicists

by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

directed by Rudy Ramirez

Vortex Repertory, 2307 Manor Road (click for map)

July 22 - 30, Thursdays - Sundays, 8 p.m.

Sliding scale, $15 - $30; tickets available on-line at the Vortex website

This summer VORTEX’s 20th annual Summer Youth Theatre presents The Physicists, a dark comedy written in 1961 by Swiss playwright, Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Three mad scientists--Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Johann Wilhelm Möbius--hold court in an insane asylum atop the Swiss Alps. As nurses begin turning up dead, a police inspector and a venerated psychiatrist join forces to find the cause. Is it the ghost of King Solomon? Is it Möbius's revolutionary theory, the Principle of Universal Discovery? Or is it the simple truth that what has been thought can never be unthought? Written under the threat of nuclear war and now produced in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, The Physicists provides an opportunity for the students of SYT to tackle science, politics, and ethics while telling a story that will make audiences laugh out loud before it chills them to the bone.

The Physicists is directed by Rudy Ramirez, VORTEX director, actor, and performance artist. Mr. Ramirez recently directed VORTEX’s production of Lear. He has directed numerous other projects including Wheels of Wonderland for the Austin Bike Zoo and Trey Deason’s play Cardigan. His one-man shows and writing have received accolades around town. He recently received his MA from the University of Texas in Performance as Public Practice and additionally holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Scenic Design by Ann Marie Gordon. Costume Design by Talena Martinez. Lighting Design by Patrick Anthony. Sound Design by Sergio R. Samayoa.

The Physicists features an outstanding young cast including VORTEX SYT veterans Xander Slay-Tamkin , Anissa McVea, Cassidy Timms, Josh Braun, Hannah Lyllith Newcomer, Rio Esquivel, Felipe Ramirez, and Martin Ramirez. Introducing Hunter Archield-Cupit, Molly Bentley, Emma Blaw, Taylor Cruse, Lois Durant, Sean Eure, O’tavian Fitzgerald, Maria Leuzinger, Nikaela Valentina Roe Sainz, Harley Jacob Schmalz, and Eric Spears.

The Vortex Summer Youth Theatre has mentored hundreds of Central Texas students, teaming them with adult professionals to create many award-winning productions of great world literature including You Can’t Take It With You, R.U.R., Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, The Visit, Vitriol and Violets: Tales from the Algonquin Round Table, Machinal, The Frogs, and Moby Dick.

SYT 2010 provides students with experiences in all aspects of theatre including acting, technical theatre, and publicity. Rehearsals and workshops are free to all participants. Summer Youth Theatre is funded in part by VORTEX Repertory Company, the City of Austin under the auspices of the Austin Arts Commission, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.