Auditions & Casting
General Audition Notice for B8 Theatre Company 2026 Performances at The Campbell Theater in Martinez
Audition Dates: Saturday, August 16 from Noon - 5:00 pm
& Sunday, August 24 from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Please prepare 2 contrasting 1 minute monologues  and 16 bars of an a capella song if you are interested in STRANGE LADIES.
A Note on Casting: The mission of B8 Theatre Company is to provide audiences a fresh take on established plays and foster the creation and production of new works. Our season spans various time periods and places and our intention always, is to create an ensemble of actors that represents the diversity of the Bay Area and we encourage actors of all gender identities, race, age, and abilities to audition for our 2026 Season. The descriptions below give an indicator of gender identity and age scripted in the texts, however that does not limit the actors we will consider for any given role.
“Arms and the Man”
“Arms and the Man”
by George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Becky Potter
Performance Dates: MARCH 6-22 2026
Rehearsals begin in MID JANUARY 2026
During the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War, young Raina Petkoff is surprised when a Swiss mercenary, fleeing from enemy cavalry, climbs up the drainpipe to hide in her room. Cynical and pragmatic about war, the soldier begins to sow doubt in Raina’s romanticized views. In this anti-romantic comedy, George Bernard Shaw explores the hypocrisies of life, love, and war.
Character Descriptions
Raina Petkoff (female identifying, early 20s): Raina is idealistic and romantic to the extreme. She is unafraid and unwavering in her opinions, until someone changes them.
Captain Bluntschli (male identifying, mid 20s-mid 30): Pragmatic and cynical while remaining roguishly charming, he is our anti-hero. Smart, thoughtful and full of Shaw’s most biting criticisms of war.
Catherine Petkoff (female identifying, 40s-60s): Raina’s mother, nouveau riche and loud about it. Always trying to demonstrate her wealth while helping her daughter maintain the perfect romantic life.
Major Sergius Saranoff (male identifying, mid 20s-mid 30s): The braggart soldier. A hero by accident with no military skill, he is engaged to Raina but flirting with Louka
Major Paul Petkoff (male identifying, 40s-60s): Raina’s father. A lifetime military man who is easily bewildered by the secrets manifesting at home after returning from battle.
Louka (female identifying, 20s): The Petkoff’s housemaid who has no intention of staying in service. Smart, manipulative, and forward-thinking, she has other plans for her future.
Nicola (male identifying): mid 20s-mid 30s. Butler to the Petkoff’s, Nicola is happy in service but has plans to set off and start a business of his own. Engaged to Louka, their partnership seems doomed from the start. (The actor playing Nicola will most likely also cover a Russian soldier role who appears briefly in Act 1)
To Be Announced
To Be Announced
Directed by Annie Potter
Performance Dates: July 10 - 26, 2026
Rehearsals begin in late May 2026
Title to be announced as soon as the rights are approved. Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy set in New York City. This production requires 19 performers ranging in age from 20s-70s and a variety of unique skill sets.
Character Descriptions
We look forward to sharing the title and character descriptions as soon as the rights are obtained.
“Strange Ladies”
“Strange Ladies”
by Susan Sobeloff
Directed by JanLee Marshall
Music Director Becky Potter
Performance Dates: September 11-27
Rehearsals begin in late July 2026
As the U.S. enters World War I, a group of radical suffragists fight to win the right to vote. A diverse group of women struggles with managing personal and political challenges in creating social change. Period protest music weaves through the play, dramatizing the suffragists' political strategies.
Character Descriptions
Female Identifying Roles
Alice (20s-30s, white): Leader of National Woman’s Party, intelligent, strong emotionally, physically & intellectually, determined and passionate in her work for women's rights, third-generation Suffrage leader
Lucy (40s, Latina/Asian or white): Alice’s right hand, third-generation Suffrage leader, sometimes described as zealous and militant
Harriet (50s-60s white): Matriarch of the Suffrage Movement, second-generation of Suffrage leaders, tireless in her fight
Mary (40s-60s, Black): fighting for women's Suffrage and Civil Rights, second-generation Suffrage leader, even more tireless in her fight
Phyllis (late teens-early 20s, Black): Mary’s daughter, following in her mother's footsteps, fighting for Suffrage and Civil Rights
Rose (Mid-late 20s, Jewish, lesbian): Suffrage and Union organizer, third-generation Suffrage leader, grounded, & feisty
Vida (20s-30s, any ethnicity, lesbian): A new recruit, third-generation Suffrage Leader, taking up the mantle of her sister Inez
Male Identifying Roles: (40s-60s, white): these 3 roles are played by the same actor
William: Harriet’s husband, loving and supportive and often concerned
Woodrow Wilson: President of the United States, the opposition
Whittaker: Superintendent of Occoquan Workhouse Prison - by the book, old school thinker
All auditions are scheduled through SignUpGenius.
Sign up for one audition slot only.
If you need to cancel or change your time slot, please be courteous to other actors and use SignUpGenius to do so.