Students paced back and forth outside Community’s Craft Theater, rehearsing their auditions for the last time and helping others prepare. One after another, students filed into the craft theater to audition for Community Ensemble Theater’s (CET) fall show.
On Monday, Sept. 8, and Tuesday, Sept. 9, new and returning members of CET auditioned for CET’s annual fall play. Students interested in trying out were required to prepare a monologue or a scene with a partner in advance. Auditions took place in front of Emily Wilson-Tobin, the director of CET, and Community junior Jessica Rothstein, the student assistant director. The play that everyone tried out for was “Fahrenheit 451.”
Written by Ray Bradbury, “Fahrenheit 451” is set in a dystopian world where the government seeks to control the type of information people have access to. Books are banned by the government, and firefighters are obligated to burn any that they find. One of the firemen, Guy Montag, begins to question the way the government controls people’s lives and restrains their freedom of thought after meeting a girl named Clarisse McClellan.
At a time when she believes the government and the media influence much of the way we think about the world, Wilson-Tobin thinks that “Fahrenheit 451” is the perfect fit for CET.
Students felt a wide range of emotions prior to their auditions.
Community senior Pluto Meisler has been a part of CET since his freshman year, and his audition for “Fahrenheit 451” was his fourth audition for a CET show. Meisler auditioned for Montag, and he performed Montag’s opening monologue in which he reflects on how proud he is to be a firefighter and to burn books. Even though he always gets nervous before each of his auditions, Meisler always looks forward to auditions.
“I always love getting the chance to show Emily all my talents and skills,” Meisler said. “That’s what an audition is all about. I want Emily to know that I’ve put a lot of thought into my audition.”
Sophomores Caroline Hutchinson and Stella Whalen auditioned together for “Fahrenheit 451.” Hutchinson and Whalen auditioned as McClellan and Montag; they performed the scene where McClellan and Montag meet each other, during which McClellan questions Montag about his job as a firefighter. This was Hutchinson’s first time auditioning for a CET show. Even though it was Hutchinson’s first audition, Hutchinson didn’t feel nervous prior to the audition because Hutchinson was performing a scene rather than a monologue.
“I auditioned with my friend, and it felt very natural to go back and forth between lines,” Hutchinson said. “If I messed up at all, I knew Stella could back me up. Also, the director and the student director are both really nice, which made me feel super comfortable while I was auditioning.”
Community senior Jay Tiedemann also auditioned as Montag. “Fahrenheit 451” will be Tiedemann’s first-ever show with CET and Tiedemann is a huge fan of “Fahrenheit 451.” When Tiedemann found out that his high school was putting on a production of one of his favorite works of literature, he knew he had to try out.
“I initially read this book with the mindset of trying to figure out what Bradbury was trying to convey about the world,” Tiedemann said. “I think there’s been a huge push in our country for defunding public education, and there’s been a growing mistrust of higher education and science. We see evidence of this in the news practically every day. I think this is the story Fahrenheit 451 is trying to tell, but on a much larger scale.”
Tiedemann felt nervous prior to his audition, but he also felt excited to show off his portrayal of Montag to others.
“Montag is a conflicted guy,” Tiedemann said. “He was hired to destroy the books, but by the end, he totally flips and goes on the lam. I’m trying to make myself seem a little crazed because he’s conflicted if lies or the truth is coming from the government.”
There are 25 roles in “Fahrenheit 451.” However, CET has no cuts; everyone who tries out for the cast will receive a part in the play. This means that Wilson-Tobin may need to add additional characters to the play.
Callbacks took place on Thursday, Sept. 11. The official cast list will be released sometime on Saturday, Sept. 13, or Sunday, Sept. 14. Following the release of the cast list, a long journey of late-night rehearsals, line memorization and stage blocking awaits all the cast members of “Fahrenheit 451.”
