REHEARSALS
Typically 20–25 hours per week until tech rehearsals begin.
This play will rehearse Monday–Friday between the hours of 6–11pm until tech week.
There may be some Friday and Saturday rehearsals.
Additional hours for tech and dress rehearsals (including weekends) will lead to performances.
First Rehearsal: January 5th, 2026
Tech Begins: February 8th
First Dress: February 12th
Opening: February 20th
Closing: February 28th
ACADEMIC CREDIT
3 units of THTR 49 and/or 149 will be given to cast members.
AUDITION PREPARATION
Any full-time UCSB student is welcome and encouraged to audition.
Please read the script carefully and prepare the following:
- Sign up for an audition slot.
- Choose and prepare a side from the character of your choice (sides are available on the callboard).
- You do not need to memorize the material, but it should be well prepared.
- A reader will be available at auditions to read with you, or you may prepare with a partner.
- It’s fine if your partner is not auditioning for the role they read in the scene.
ABOUT THE PLAY
All animals are equal!
But some animals are more equal than others.
Animal Farm is George Orwell’s classic allegory of power, corruption, and revolution—adapted by Tatty Hennessy into a fiercely theatrical and darkly comic retelling for our times.
When the animals of Manor Farm overthrow their human owner and seize control, they dream of a society built on equality and justice. But as the pigs rise to power and ideals are twisted by fear and propaganda, the promise of freedom gives way to tyranny.
Hennessy’s version is urgent, physical, and ensemble-driven. This production embraces the grotesque—a world where the animals are recognizably human and the humans are distorted, monstrous, and larger-than-life. Through humor, movement, and transformation, we confront what it means to be complicit, hopeful, and human in systems that devour their own ideals.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS
Note from the Playwright:
“The animals in the play look like us. The humans look nothing like us. Anyone can play any part.”
All roles are open to performers of any gender, race, or background.
Actors will be cast as both animals and humans in some cases; versatility, physical expressiveness, and vocal range are key.
While dialect work is not required for auditions, most characters in this production will use a British West Country accent.
THE ANIMALS
Old Major (Pig)
The visionary elder whose dream of freedom ignites the revolution.
A commanding presence—both prophet and ghost. Carries wisdom, regret, and fire.
Napoleon (Pig)
A self-confident, media-friendly politician, accustomed to being the pride of the farm. He doesn’t mind listening to good ideas, as long as they are for the good of the farm (which, of course, needs a strong leader like himself). A heavyweight politician with the muscle to back it up. He is not immune to weakness, but he’d have you believe otherwise.
Nutmeg (Pig)
Napoleon’s partner and the quiet power behind his rule. Sharp, strategic, and emotionally intelligent—the real strength beneath the regime’s surface. Balances tenderness and ruthlessness. The epitome of Animal Pride.
Snowball (Pig)
Brilliant, idealistic, charismatic, and full of restless energy. Believes in education, progress, and the power of persuasion. Will not let petty distractions like weather, time, or exhaustion get in the way of his vision.
Squealer (Pig)
The voice of the regime. Slick, ingratiating, and terrifyingly cheerful.
A performer who sells the party line with conviction, creativity, and joy.
Minimus the Pig
A poet and composer who writes for the state.
Boxer (Horse)
Massive-hearted, physically strong, and emotionally pure. Dignified, honest, and embodies devotion to labor and belief in “the cause.”
Clover (Horse)
Gentle-hearted but strong-spirited, patient, and tender. Everyone’s friend. She is practiced at shaking off unpleasant realities and needs this cause to be worthy.
Mollie (Horse)
Vain, delicate, and charming. She loves her creature comforts and her routines. Change isn’t her thing. Cares about her friends but knows herself.
Benjamin (Donkey)
Dry, intelligent, and detached. Has the wisdom of age. Knows more than he says; speaks plainly but poignantly. His sardonic skepticism might be charming—until it is heartbreaking.
Blue (Dog)
Starts as an earnest and playful pup, but through training becomes loyal, fierce, and obedient.
Minty (Sheep)
An impressionable lone lamb, happy to be part of something again. Wants to feel alive. Begrudges the old oppressions, especially from the sheepdog.
Milo (Pigeon)
A messenger, wanderer, and giddy gossip. Sees beyond the farm’s borders. Quick, curious, and always in motion. Loves an audience.
Clara (Hen)
Maternal and fierce—a true mama bird. Though emotionally vulnerable and insecure in her skills, her persistent dedication has almost no limit. Almost. Doesn’t do anything in half measures, and her courage matches her tenacity.
THE HUMANS
Farmer Jones
A grotesque of neglect and greed—sweating, swaggering, self-pitying.
The old order in decay: both absurd and cruel.
Farmer Pilkington
Smiling opportunism. Smooth, jovial, and corrupt.
A politician in human skin; he wins even when he loses.
Farmhands / Ensemble Animals
An ensemble of bodies—sometimes part of the grotesque machinery of power, sometimes the equally grotesque oppressed. Sometimes shadows. Sometimes fluffy chickens.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Tatty Hennessy is a British playwright and director whose work blends political urgency with inventive theatrical storytelling. Her adaptation of Animal Farm premiered at the Watermill Theatre in 2022, acclaimed for its physical ensemble style and sharp relevance. Hennessy’s other plays include A Hundred Words for Snow, All That Lives, and F**k You Pay Me. A graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, she is known for creating theatre that reimagines classic texts with wit, compassion, and bold theatricality—work that challenges power while celebrating imagination and resilience.
WINTER 2026 ONE ACT AUDITIONS
ALL UCSB Students are welcome to audition!
Location: TD-E 1101 (Studio Theatre)
Auditions: Tuesday, 01/06 -STUDIO theater (1101)
Callbacks: Wednesday, 01/07 -various locations
First Rehearsals: Thursday, January 8th (night)
PERFORMANCES: Saturday, Feb. 14th- 2pm & 7pm / Sunday, Feb. 15th- 2pm
Live links to materials:
AUDITION FORM- to be filled out BEFORE audition
Three Women and an Onion
By Ryan Bultrowicz
Director – Andrew Zhang
Fancy Words, Written on Sand
By Adam Kraar
Director – Yufei Liu
Postcards from a Dead Dog
By F.J. Hartland
Director – Olivia “Ollie” Ryan Escobedo
Bake Off
By Sheri Wilner
Director – Enuwoo Yoo
Hablando (último aliento)
By Irma Correa
Director – Vannessa Cepeda Rivera
**Hablando (último aliento) may ask actors to return for a callback TUESDAY night at the end of auditions.
INCLUSIVITY STATEMENT: We encourage any UCSB enrolled student actor who identify as/with any gender, race, age, sexual orientation, disability, religious or political belief and affiliation to audition. WELCOME!!!
COURSE CREDIT: All enrolled UCSB students are eligible to participate and receive course credit! Actors cast in the one-acts have the option to earn 3 units of THTR 49 and/or 149 credit.
IMPORTANT REHEARSAL INFORMATION: Individual directors will organize weekly rehearsals with their casts. Rehearsals are to be conducted Monday – Friday Weeks 1 – 5 between the hours of 6PM-10PM until tech week. There is also the possibility of rehearsals on Saturdays. Please note: ALL ACTORS MUST ATTEND CREW VIEW, TECH AND PERFORMANCE SCHEDULES (February 9-15) in addition to outside rehearsals scheduled by their director.
AUDITION REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION: PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AS ALL 3 STEPS ARE CRUCIAL TO A SMOOTH AUDITION!
STEP 1: PLEASE thoroughly complete the electronic audition form. It is MANDATORY that you complete this form BEFORE your audition: IMP AUDITION FORM
STEP 2: RESERVE A TIME-SLOT TO AUDITION ON TUESDAY, 1/6. The link to sign up for your audition slot here: Winter 2026 - One Acts Audition Sign-up Sheet
STEP 3: PLEASE PREPARE ONE scene OR ONE speech chosen from the audition “sides” of one play for your audition. Link is here: WINTER 2026 ONE ACTS SIDES
~Your text need not be memorized, but please be very familiar with it and thoroughly invest yourself in the language, situation, and needs of the character.
~Specific audition texts will be found under each play description – see below.
~**If you’d like to be considered for HABLANDO, please prepare one of those sides and be prepared to return for a callback at the end of Tuesday evening.
Please note: THERE will be a reader available should you be sharing a scene OR you may audition with a chosen partner (some people pair up in the waiting area - come early ;).
Please understand that you are auditioning for all five plays and directors during your general audition. Your choice of scene/monologue will not preclude you being called back and/or cast in any of the five plays.
FANCY WORDS, WRITTEN ON SAND
by Adam Kraar
Directed by Yufei Liu
Actors of all gender identities, races, ethnicities and ages are encouraged to audition for any role. Everybody is absolutely welcome!
Play Summary: Recommended by her teacher, Nerissa, a recent public high school graduate, comes to a public relations firm to apply for an internship, where she meets the employee Sam and the owner Paige. As conflicts arise—most notably the “banana” and “Acquadeco” incidents—she begins to see the tension and control beneath the firm’s polished surface. Ultimately, Nerissa realizes that the professional world is not as ideal as she imagined, but instead resembles “fancy words, written on sand.”
Character Breakdown:
NERISSA: A 17-year-old high school student. Nerissa is an idealistic individual who enters the company with high expectations. Through exposure to workplace tension and manipulation, Nerissa demonstrates moral clarity and chooses to leave rather than compromise personal values.
SAM: A 21-year-old an administrative associate. Sam is disengaged from the job and demonstrates a stark contrast in behavior toward authority, showing superficial compliance toward superiors and harsh sarcasm toward subordinates.
PAIGE: A mid-20s or older high-powered owner of a boutique public relations firm. Paige is a very hypocritical and flamboyant boss. She is good at making grand promises to her employees and has an unscrupulous mindset.
Link to audition sides: FANCY WORDS, WRITTEN ON SAND
POSTCARDS FROM A DEAD DOG
By F.J. Hartland
Directed by Olivia “Ollie” Ryan Escobedo
Actors of all gender identities, races, ethnicities and ages are encouraged to audition for any role. Everybody is absolutely welcome!
Play Summary: Clay and Nell’s relationship has been rocky Clay’s whole life. After his childhood dog passed away, his mother, Nell, began sending Clay postcards with life information regarding him and his family. As Clay thinks through his life growing up with his mother, he is forced to contemplate family relationships, love, and death.
Character Breakdown:
BARCLAY (referred to as CLAY): Male. 20s. Despite everything, he still loves his mother. Clay is an intelligent and generally understanding individual, who cares deeply for those he loves, despite not always showing it. He has grown to build a wall around himself though due to his mother’s prankster tendencies and knows how to defend himself well. Had a rebellious phase growing up, and has become very independent since leaving the house.
NELL: Female. 50s. Clay’s mom. She loves him no matter what, she just has an odd way of showing it. Due to the relationship with her father, she struggles to communicate with Clay on personal matters and through conversations. She loves to mess around with her loved ones. Throughout her life, she has been blown quite a few punches, but she has learned to accept it and move on. Postcards from a Dead Dog - Sides
THREE WOMEN AND AN ONION
By Ryan Bultrowicz
Directed by Andrew Zhang
THE PLAY: The onion keeps coming back.
CHARACTERS: Erica, Sammie, Kelli: housemates.
Link to audition sides: Onion Sides.pdf
Have fun!
BAKE OFF
By Sheri Wilner
Directed by Enuwoo Yoo
About the piece: Set at the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1997, one year after the first man won the Grand Prize, Bake-Off is a biting comedy about gender politics. We are currently living through a resurgence of patriarchal rhetoric that romanticizes family values and traditional gender roles, colliding with a cultural moment in which food dominates media as mass entertainment. This production revisits domestic spaces as a battleground for power. We are looking for actors ready to explore capitalist spectacle, the definition of merit, and gender norms.
Character breakdown:
Rita (female, age 38-48) is competent and competitive. As a seasoned home-baking veteran, she cherishes the Pillsbury Bake-Off as a sacred site for women and becomes territorial and aggressive by men intruding it.
Paul (male, age 33-40) is earnest but anxious. As a divorced father, he wishes to prove to his son entering his adolescence that being different is okay by competing in the bake-off. He is precise and organized, treating baking like a scientific experiment.
The Pillsbury Doughboy (any gender, age unspecified) is a corporate mascot come to life. When in character, the Doughboy is soft, bouncy, and readily accepts pokes to the stomach with some physical comedy with a high-pitched, giggling voice. However, once the headpiece comes off, the Doughboy should instantly transition into a cynical, husky-voiced, and crude worker who is fed up.
HABLANDO (último aliento)
By Irma Correa
Director – Vannessa Cepeda Rivera
Hablando (último aliento) is an intense, intimate two person play that unfolds as a psychological confrontation between two women locked in a confined space. Through fragmented memory, existential questioning, and escalating tension, the play explores violence, survival, loneliness, and the desperate human need to assign meaning to death.
**Hablando (último aliento) may ask actors to return for a callback Tuesday night at the end of auditions.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
Note on casting: Gender is textually female. Strong Spanish language fluency required.
ella: Age Range: Late 30s–50s
Description:
Insecure, verbose, fragile, obsessive, and emotionally volatile. She fills silence with language, spirals into memory and digression, and oscillates between tenderness and cruelty. Her speech is rhythmic, fragmented, and often circular. Handles a prop weapon onstage.
ELLA: Age Range: Late 20s–50s
Description:
Restrained, lucid, resistant. Bound physically for much of the play, yet intellectually and emotionally active. Represents confrontation, refusal, and survival.
Mostly seated and restrained.
QUESTIONS? Please contact Faculty Supervisor Annie Torsiglieri
and Graduate Tech TA Mayra Gomez-Labrada
ATorsiglieri@theaterdance.ucsb.edu and mgomez-labrada@ucsb.edu
Tuesday, January 6th, 2026
5:00 pm, HSSB 1135 (Modern)
Reserve A Room Online
DANCE AND THEATER MAJORS WORKING ON CLASS CURRICULUM ONLY.
Steps for booking a room:
- Most theater/dance majors already have an account that was created for them. Just click this link to start booking: theaterdance.skedda.com
- If that does not work, click here to register an account
- Please only reserve one hour per day per project.
- If you no longer need a reservation, please delete it so it can be used by your colleagues.
- Leave your contact information in the event of an emergency.
- Don't see the room you're looking for? Scroll to the right!
Looking to book a room further out than a week or on a re-occuring basis? Email theaterdance-prodoff@ucsb.edu
Run/Wardrobe Crew
Do you know your 29D, 49 or 149 requirement? Find it HERE
POSITIONS AVAILABLE (DEPENDS ON THE PRODUCTION)
- Light Board Operator
- Sound Board Operator
- Fly Crew
- Deck/Props Crew
- Followspot Operator
- Wardrobe/Makeup Crew
HOW TO APPLY FOR RUN OR WARDROBE CREW:
- If you have any general pre-emptive questions about crew assignments, positions feel free to email either our Production Manager Rafael Gonzalez rafaelgonzalez@ucsb.edu. The dates for each of the productions can be found in the Calendars section below.
- Fill out the following google form to express your interest in specific shows/ assignments throughout the year. NOTE: Filling this out does not guarantee that position or show. 25-26' Run Crew Sign Up
- We will schedule an appointment via email to discuss/finalize position assignments and to potentially assign your add code through the Academic Advisor Sean O’Shea.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- All crew positions are first-come, first-served your spot is not secure until you have signed the crew contract after meeting with Dawnette or Andrew.
- All events listed on the calendars are required. It is not possible to partially participate in a production.
- There are no opportunities to make up for an unexcused absence or lateness.
CALENDARS:
In order to see the specific dates and times of the shows, go to the following link to view the crew calendars. Each show has its own calendar to view.
CONTACTS:
- Rafael Gonzalez, PRODUCTION MANAGER, (Run/Board Crews and Costume) rafaelgonzalez@ucsb.edu
Theater/Dance Mailing List
Email Sean at sposh@ucsb.edu with your @ucsb.edu address and the subject "Please add me to the Mailing List." The Mailing List will have the latest information regarding department events such as auditions, run/wardrobe crew, and special events.