The Theatre Arts Department will have auditions for four productions at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the Movement Studio of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

The EIU Unified Auditions will include casting for “Almost, Maine” by John Cariani, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, “A Celebration of African-American Theatre” and “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

Jenni Passig, the theatre arts instructor, said she will be directing “Almost, Maine” and “A Celebration of African-American Theatre,” which includes the plays “Florence” by Leroi Jones, who now goes by the penname Amiri Baraka, and “Dutchman” by Alice Childress.

“Almost, Maine” is a romantic comedy that follows different individual set in the town Almost Maine.

“It’s kind of a glimpse into the lives of different individuals, how they react to the idea of love, or the absence of love, and relationships in general,” Passig said. “It’s an exploration of those ideas and processes.”

The actors in this play will be playing several different characters in each scene, and only two characters will remain consistent throughout all of the scenes.

“There is the interesting challenge to become someone new each time you are on stage,” Passig said.

The “Dutchman” is a statement on civil rights and an interpretation on those rights, Passig said.

This play follows an African-American male and a Caucasian female. The play explores the expectations of those roles and relationships.

“It has this great depiction of black versus white and what we choose to see,” Passig said.

 “Florence” follows the experiences of a middle-aged Caucasian woman and a middle-aged African-American woman.

Passig said this play focuses on the expected roles in society and how people view those relationships. She added that it focuses on what people of the time assumed about others and their different levels of expectations.

Jean Wolski, the chairwoman of the Theatre Arts Department, will direct the production of “A Christmas Carol”.

“25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is a musical that will be directed by Brian LeTraunik, an actor from Chicago.

The “25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” follows six students as they learn about winning and losing.

Wolski said the auditions are open to all students and community members, not just theatre arts majors.

She said students should prepare two monologue speeches. They should also prepare a musical piece if they wish to audition for the musical.

Wolski said newer students, who are just learning about the auditions, can bring their pieces to perform.

“If someone is intimidated about the two monologues or the 32 bars of a song, really, we would rather they come anyway, even if they have to bring something with them to perform, because we want to see them up there,” Wolski said.

Wolski said there will be callbacks on Tuesday and the cast list will be posted by Wednesday.

She said she is looking for actors that can fit into the period look and who are not afraid to explore their abilities.

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.