Auditions
Bring your talent and creativity to our award-winning theatre company!
Our auditions are posted on this page when available.
We also forward this information to the Portland Area Theatre Alliance and other local media. We hold auditions for adults and children, depending on the production.
Upcoming Audition Dates:
Audition signups begins approximately 4-6 weeks prior to auditions. Signups for audition notices are posted on our website. You can sign up on our website to receive audition notices as soon as they are announced by clicking HERE.
LAKEWOOD THEATRE COMPANY
AUDITIONS FOR ACTORS AGES 8-18
FOR THE PLAY
HOW TO WRITE A PLAY IN 11 EASY STEPS
Lakewood Theatre Company will hold open auditions for the comedy HOW TO WRITE A PLAY IN 11 EASY STEPS for actors ages 8–18 on Saturday, February 28th. Parents and guardians may sign up their child for auditions online at this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0948AFAE2CAAFA7-62092658-howtowrite#/
AUDITION DATE: Saturday, February 28th, 2026 (There will be no callbacks)
The director is casting actors ages 8–18. All roles are open. All ethnicities and experience levels are encouraged to audition. There are no production or related fees to be a member of the cast.
Location: Lakewood Center for the Arts (368 S. State Street, Lake Oswego, OR 97034).
HOW TO WRITE A PLAY IN 11 EASY STEPS will be directed by Melody Knox.
To sign up for auditions online CLICK HERE. Call 503-635-3901 if you need assistance with sign-up.
Performance dates: Two performances on Saturday, May 9 and two performances on Saturday, May 16
AUDITION REQUIREMENTS
Please review the schedule and mandatory rehearsals BEFORE you secure an audition appointment online. Be sure to list ALL conflicts between March 8th and May 16th. Conflicts not listed at the time of the audition may not be honored.
Rehearsal Schedule (please note that the schedule may be subject to change, including additional rehearsals or rescheduling, if needed)
Time Frame: March 8th-April 21st:
Sundays 12pm-3pm
Tuesdays 5pm-8pm
Mandatory Rehearsals:
Sunday, April 26th (Tech) – 5pm-8pm
Monday, April 27th (Tech) – 5pm-8pm
Tuesday, April 28th (Tech) – 5pm-8pm
Saturday, May 2nd (Tech) – 2pm-6pm
Sunday, May 3rd (Tech) – 5pm-8pm
Monday, May 4th (Tech) – 5pm-8pm
Tuesday, May 5th (Tech) – 5pm-8pm
Wednesday, May 6th (Tech) – 5pm-8pm
Saturday, May 9th (Tech) – 9am-12pm
Tuesday, May 12th (Tech) – 5pm-8pm
Saturday, May 16th (Tech) – 9am-12pm
Performances:
Saturday, May 9th: 2pm & 4pm
Saturday, May 16th: 2pm & 4pm
Exceptions:
Tuesday, March 24th (Spring Break): 5pm-8pm (OPTIONAL)
Sunday, March 29th (Spring Break): 12pm-3pm (OPTIONAL)
Sunday, April 5th (Easter Sunday): NO REHEARSAL
PREPARING FOR THE AUDITION
SCENES: Throughout the audition, students will take turns playing different characters while working through scenes 1, 2, and/or 4 (depending on time). These scenes are available online at Lakewood’s website. The lines for your preferred character(s) do not need to be memorized, but you should be familiar with them and the plots of the scenes as much as possible.
AUDITION DAY: The audition will be conducted in a group format over a 2-hour block. This will give everyone an opportunity to acclimate to the setting and ensure that everyone gets a turn to perform their preferred character’s part.
- Please bring a hard copy of BOTH a resume (these will NOT be returned and should include the guardian’s contact email address and cell phone) and a headshot. School photos are fine as long as they are current and look like the actor.
- Arrive early for your audition and check in
- Dress in clothing that is comfortable to sit, stand, walk, and move in.
- Bring a water bottle and light snacks if desired.
The Story: Oh no! The night before auditions, a very dramatic high school drama club is told that the avant-garde, theatrical tour-de-force they’ve chosen has been nixed by the powers-that-be for being patently ridiculous. Desperate to salvage their season, they discover a dusty book in the school library titled “How To Write A Play (in 11 Easy Steps)!” Armed with the author’s hysterically misguided ramblings, a troupe of determined thespians pull an all-nighter to create a dramatic work of meaning, brilliance, and intense social relevance.
Breakdown of roles (in order of appearance):
HARPER: President of the Drama Club. Strong, passionate, stressed-out, “Type A” perfectionist in a sensible sweater set. A born leader, her love for all theatre is boundless.
BLAZE: Vice President of the Drama Club. Smooth-talking, well-coiffed, and self-absorbed former (local) “child star.” What he lacks in genuine talent, he more than makes up for in confidence.
WILLOW: Treasurer of the Drama Club. Well-meaning, “self-actualized” empath. Her rainbow-colored wardrobe sports countless pins, including “100% Compostable Human” and “Choose Kindness (of Else!)”
DOUG: New Kid. In a trench coat and fedora, he’s convinced he’s a hard-boiled, film noir detective named Mickey Carmichael.
CELESTIA: Celestia Von Starlight is the author of “How To Write A Play (in 11 Easy Steps).” She is a melodramatic grande dame of the theatre, a larger-than-life, self-proclaimed theatrical genius with a flair.
PRINCIPAL ZIMMERHOFF: A supportive school principal bearing terrible news.
REBEL STEELE: A real rebel, full of swagger.
PHOENIX MOON: A child of the Earth.
ROGUE FURY: Like Rebel, but Rogue-ier.
SUPER-OLD JANITOR: The ancient sweeper-of-the-halls with slippery fingers.
JACKSON: A no-nonsense cop with a secret.
RAMIREZ: Another no-nonsense cop with, perhaps, a bit more nonsense.
MR. MOON: Phoenix’s long-lost father.
MRS. MOON: Phoenix’s mother, equally long-lost.
NOODLES: A wise three-year-old with pigtails and a giant swirly lollipop.
NARRATOR: An all-knowing, omniscient presence.
SECOND NARRATOR: Well, you know.
GUNTHER: Member of the happy-go-lucky German singing troupe, “Die Stimmen-Sturmer.”
BERTA: A second member of the German singing troupe.
FRIEDA: A third German singer.
HELGA: So many Germans!
“THE BEEKEEPER”: A super-villain with a vengeful soul.
Download these scenes to be prepared for group readings
About Lakewood Theatre Company
73 Years of Live Theatre:
Founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1952, Lakewood Theatre Company is a theatre dedicated to the study and presentation of drama in all its forms; the training and development of actors; and the creation, maintenance, and operation of a theatre in which to present plays and other forms of entertainment. Lakewood Theatre Company is the oldest continually operated, not-for-profit theatre company in the Portland Metropolitan area. It annually provides more than 350 theatre artists the opportunity to learn and display their craft and attracts more than 35,000 people to its shows.
– 73rd Season –
Productions in the 2025-26 season are underwritten, in part, by
The Oregon Arts Commission
The National Endowment for the Arts
The Kinsman Foundation
The James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation
Marilyn & Ron Nutting
Don & Jessie Adams
The Jackson Foundation
The Marie Lamfrom Foundation