AUDITIONS

Audition Notice: STOOL SAMPLES

A New Original Play

Auditions in Aurora, IL – Actors Chicago & Suburbs Encouraged to Audition  CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

The Bit Theater is seeking actors for Stool Samples, a deeply human, funny, and heartbreaking new original play set inside a working-class neighborhood bar on its final day of operation.

This is an ensemble-driven piece built from overlapping monologues and scenes, where humor and pain sit side by side, and every character believes this bar might be the only place they’re fully seen.

📅 AUDITION DATES

Monday, February 9 – 7:00 PM–9:00 PM

Wednesday, February 11 – 7:00 PM–9:00 PM

• 10-minute audition slots

• Auditioners must arrive at least 10 minutes early to complete paperwork and review sides

📍 Location: The Bit Theater – Aurora, Illinois

(Convenient for actors in Aurora, Naperville, Oswego, and the greater Chicago suburbs)

🎭 AUDITION FORMAT

Auditions will include:

• Cold readings from the script with other auditioners and/or staff

• One prepared joke or monologue

  • Jokes do not need to be original

  • We are looking for strong delivery of memorized material, timing, and presence

This is not a stand-up audition — it’s about truth, rhythm, and character.

These roles are unpaid. -- This production is a passion project and an opportunity to be part of an original, locally rooted new work.

Can't make the audition dates, but are interested?  Send a link to a monologue video to Patrick at patrickstinson@bit.theater and if we are interested we will send you sides to also record for us.

📖 ABOUT THE SHOW

SHOW DATES: APRIL 11, 12, 18, & 19

Stool Samples takes place entirely inside a bar called The Little Inn on the day it closes forever.

There is no traditional set — just a circle of stools.

Each stool belongs to a regular.

Each regular carries a story they’ve been telling themselves for years.

As the day unfolds, characters come and go:

union guys, drunks, dreamers, liars, caretakers, ghosts of the past — all orbiting the bartender who has quietly held this place together.

The play blends:

• Dark comedy

• Working-class realism

• Confessional monologues

• Ensemble storytelling

Think small lives with big emotional stakes.

🎭 CHARACTERS (SEEKING)

Actors of all backgrounds are encouraged to audition. Ages are flexible unless otherwise noted.

• Actors may be cast in multiple roles. Ages are flexible unless noted.

• CORE BAR STAFF & FAMILY

  • Pat – The bartender and emotional anchor of the play. Observant, dry, compassionate, and quietly overwhelmed. He listens more than he speaks — until he doesn’t.

  • Tom – Pat’s older brother. Charismatic, cutting, confident, and deeply flawed. The kind of guy everyone likes… except the people closest to him.

THE REGULARS

• • Russell – A family man and struggling musician. Gentle, ashamed, and sincere. Often underscored by his guitar. Carries the ache of knowing he should be somewhere else.

  • Mr. Pierce – An elderly prankster and long-con artist. Big personality, vaudeville timing, and surprising emotional depth beneath the jokes.

  • Butts – President of the local laborers union. Commands the room effortlessly. Makes deals, grants favors, and understands power better than anyone else.

  • Bernie – A fast-talking hustler always chasing the next opportunity. Charming, desperate, and endlessly optimistic.

  • Ed the Electrician – Blue-collar, blunt, exhausted. Dry humor and no patience for nonsense.

  • Jack Mullenhouse – Nervous, jittery, self-medicating. On the edge of collapse but still showing up.

  • Tommy Doornbos – A harmless drunk and local legend. Believes luck protects him. Wears his chaos like a badge of honor.

  • Marty – A loud karaoke fixture who believes he’s a star. Loves attention, tradition, and being the closer.

  • Paul – A leather-jacketed motorcycle regular. Smooth, self-mythologizing, and emotionally unavailable.

THE WOMEN OF THE BAR

• • Ashley – A former one-night stand of the bartender. Sharp, self-aware, guarded. Knows exactly what this place can and cannot give her.

  • Jessica – A long-term presence at the bar. Comfortable, familiar, and deeply rooted in this space.

  • Lauren – Recently engaged. Torn between the future she’s planning and the past she hasn’t let go of.

  • Claire – A cocktail-in-hand observer. Reads the room well. Keeps her armor polished.

  • Denise – Often arriving or leaving. Carries the weight of outside life into the bar with her.

LEGENDS, GHOSTS & PASSING THROUGH

• • Shirley – A longtime bartender from the bar’s past. Tough, uncompromising, and deeply missed.

  • The Quiet Man – Terminally ill. Speaks little, but when he does, the room stops. One of the most emotionally impactful roles in the play.

  • Various Bar Patrons / Ensemble – Union members, morning drinkers, memory figures, and echoes of the bar’s history.

CASTING NOTES

• Strong emphasis on storytelling, listening, and grounded realism

• Many roles involve direct address within scenes, not traditional fourth-wall monologues

• Actors should be comfortable with stillness, silence, and emotional specificity

• Musical ability is a plus for Russell but not required for all roles

🎬 WHY THIS SHOW

• Original script

• Actor-focused storytelling

• Minimalist staging

• Deep character work

• Strong ensemble collaboration

If you’re an actor in Chicago, the western suburbs, Aurora, Naperville, or Oswego looking for meaningful material and grounded performances — this show is for you.

🔔 HOW TO SIGN UP

Audition slots are limited.

 CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

We look forward to seeing you in the room.