Audition Excerpt for The CardinalThis is a featured page


AUDITION NOTES:
  • The production team will provide you with a scene partner to read with.
  • Memorizing the text is not required.
  • Mr. Hopkins is requesting you perform two pieces:
  1. The first will be of your choosing. (Our hope is that this will help warm you up and help you feel more comfortable before taking a pass at Webster's text, which can be challenging)
  2. The second will be from our script and is printed below.
  • There are additional notes to consider in the column on the right. These are here to give you more context IF you find that useful. Don't overdo it! There will be no written exam! :)

And most importantly enjoy yourself. We do not expect a "perfect" performance. We merely want a sense of who you are and what you may be able to contribute to our production. Have fun and we appreciate everyone's efforts in advance.
It will be great to meet you all face to face!
Jordan Morris: Producer



THE EXCERPT:


CARDINAL
Sit; thou art my best of wishes. Prithee, tell me:
What trick didst thou invent to come to Rome
Without thy husband?

JULIA
Why, my lord, I told him
I came to visit an old anchorite
Here for devotion.

CARDINAL
Thou art a witty false one;
I mean to him.

JULIA
You have prevail'd with me
Beyond my strongest thoughts; I would not now
Find you inconstant.

CARDINAL
Do not put thyself
To such a voluntary torture, which proceeds
Out of your own guilt.

JULIA
How, my lord!

CARDINAL
You fear
My constancy because you have approv'd
Those giddy and wild turnings in yourself.

JULIA
Did you e'er find them?

CARDINAL
Sooth, generally for women
A man might strive to make glass malleable,
Ere he should make them fixed.

JULIA
So, my lord.

CARDINAL
We had need go borrow that fantastic glass,
Invented by Galileo the Florentine,
To view another spacious world i'th' moon,
And look to find a constant woman there.

JULIA
This is very well, my lord.

CARDINAL
Why do you weep?
Are tears your justification? The self-same tears
Will fall into your husband's bosom, lady,
With a loud protestation that you love him
Above the world. Come, I'll love you wisely;
That's jealously, since I am very certain
You cannot make me cuckold.

JULIA
I'll go home
To my husband.

CARDINAL
You may thank me, lady:
I have taken you off your melancholy perch,
Bore you upon my fist, and show'd you game,
And let you fly at it. I pray thee, kiss me.
When thou wast with thy husband, thou wast watch'd
Like a tame elephant; still you are to thank me.
Thou hadst only kisses from him and high feeding;
But what delight was that? 'Twas just like one
That hath a little fing'ring on the lute,
Yet cannot tune it; still you are to thank me.

JULIA
You told me of a piteous wound i' th' heart
And a sick liver when you woo'd me first,
And spake like one in physic.

CARDINAL
Who's that?
Rest firm for my affection to thee:
Lightning moves slow to't.

END

Some context:

under construction


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Hopkins

As you study the excerpt and prepare for your audition, also consider the following questions that Mr. Hopkins may ask you:

Do you think he is in love with Julia?


Would you call The Cardinal an impulsive person?


Tell me what you think of the repeated phrase "Still you are to thank me..."


What enjoyment does he get from moving Julia around?


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JordanMorris
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