I have been cast in “The Bacchae”!
My heart was racing as I walked into the Theater Arts building. As I headed toward the cast list, a woman (who wound up getting cast as Curly’s Wife in “Of Mice and Men” ) spoils the suspense by telling me, “Oh, Incubus, you got the part.” rather casually. I was really happy, and I dashed over to the cast list to see what part I got.
I didn’t get the Herdsman 
That was actually really disappointing. I know that I was trying to be realistic about the whole thing; getting any part would be awesome considering that I’m not even a Theater Major and this was the first time I even auditioned for a play. But at the same time I had been hoping that the Director would cast me as the Herdsman, because it definitely seemed more important than just a ‘bit’ part, yet not so weighty as some of the leading roles in the play. Even the Messenger would have been fun to do, because he gets a similar bit (pretty much he describes a bunch of events in a storytelling fashion). I wound up being cast as Guard #2. 
A classmate of mine in Theater History, who really helped my self-esteem by being positive about how I did in the audition, also did not get the part she wanted. She was hoping to be Agaue, and wound up getting cast as Autonoue. This, too, was rather surprising, because I thought she would definitely get it. The woman that did get the part gave porno-quality dialogue and inflection (take that as you will ). I understand that the Director has a particular vision about how the characters should look, move and sound. Arguments like “He was better/she was worse”, so-and-so deserves this part, or “I tried harder than anyone else” don’t really matter when it is the Director’s final say that determines who gets to play what. Thus, while I am disappointed I didn’t get to be the Herdsman, I am still elated that I get to be in the play, get to rehearse with everybody and get to party with the rest of the cast…and I sure look forward to partying with the Bacchants (chorus girls)! 
The other Guard is played by a very talented and very funny guy in the Theater Department. He played a dog in ‘As you like it’, and its hard not to like the performance of someone whose part in the Shakespearean play involved running around on all fours and shouting, “woof! woof!” I suppose going from playing a dog to playing a guard is sort of a step up for him, so I shouldn’t be ungrateful. I just hope the guy doesn’t make me laugh because he’s just so damn funny! As you can see, the casting seemed kind of wierd, but I’m not complaining either! In fact, the translation of “The Bacchae” that I have doesn’t even have Autonoue or a second Guard in the cast, so if the Director was going by the same translation I was, neither my classmate nor I would have gotten cast. :eek: