Theater & Music Theater

Try on Theater

Try On Theater Days offer a welcoming introduction to theater making in the Princeton theater and music theater program at the Lewis Center for the Arts (LCA). At scheduled times throughout the year, the program holds community evenings and workshops to encourage students (and other campus community members) to participate in our student-driven season in many capacities. This process replaces traditional solo auditions with group workshops and serves as an opportunity for students to get involved in other aspects of theater, such as stage management, design, sound engineering, production, and more.

Recent Princeton graduates who minored in Theater & Music Theater discuss Try on Theater Days.

Video Transcript

Wasif Sami ’25 [Anthropology major, Theater & Music Theater minor]

As a theater director who has cast numerous actors through Try On Theater, I appreciate the challenge to like re-think an audition method that has like persisted for so long. So Try On Theater is the Program in Theater’s re-imagination of a traditional audition process. It’s thought of as a matchmaking process.

Wasif Sami

Not really like people who are leading shows choose who they want. It goes both ways in expressing a preference on which shows that the participants want to be a part of.

Avi Chesler ’25 [Religion major, Theater & Music Theater minor]

They say no experience necessary and they also like really live it.

Oriana Nelson ’25 [Spanish major, Theater & Music Theater minor]

You can just come in, feel comfortable, and it’s all about that collaboration process where I feel like a lot of casting processes don’t have. So it’s really like a low stakes situation that allow you to be creative without feeling a lot of intense pressure, which is really nice. And I think that’s one thing I really appreciated from the Try On Theater experience.

Wasif Sami

They’re also co-led by a faculty member. They have a way to try to get you outta your shell. When I was younger, I would go to these Try On Theater events and I would just have so much fun with these prompts. I was like, how crazy can I be? Like how expressive can I be?

Avi Chesler

So Try On Theater will always have a design room, that’s usually a different room where you can talk to the stage management team and the design team. And I just remember I’d walk in and be like, I have no idea how to call a show. I don’t know what lighting is. I don’t know how to stage manage. And they would have like at least five different like stations in the room where you could be like, here’s how you practice calling a show. Here’s what a stage manager’s timeline looks like. You could truly know nothing and just be like, “I’m interested.” And they would help you figure it out.

Wasif Sami

I have fond memories of Try On Theater. I’m gonna miss it.

Try on Theater Days was highlighted as a feature story and included among 2022’s 10 Most Popular Posts in American Theatre, the national magazine for the American professional not-for-profit theater industry.

Try on Theater Day: December 10, 2025

Come learn, play, and move! Try-on some theater making and be cast in a show or sign on to participate backstage. No experience needed. Open to all Princeton students, staff and faculty; priority for casting is given to Princeton undergraduate students.

Casting for Theater & Music Theater Program Shows

December 10 from 2-3:30 PM and 4-5:30 PM
Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex

Sign Up for Casting

Come and join us for a collaborative workshop if you are interested in performing. No preparation is needed, and no participant will be required to perform alone.

Casting for the following spring productions:

  • Liminality by Matthew Cooperberg. This new play experiments with how quantum mechanics and gender exist beyond empirical determination.
  • Untitled new work by Tiffany Rawlston. An intergenerational story using spoken word, poetry, rap, instrumentation and hip hop beats, with stylistic approaches from sitcoms, fireside chats, and sketch comedy.
  • God Remembers Setsi by Nadine Allache. A non-linear narrative gives voice to the erased oral histories of Amazigh women, the indigenous people of North Africa, reviving silenced stories of cultural memory and identity in dialogue with the contemporary experiences of undocumented immigrants.
  • Untitled new play by Grace Wang about the explosive relationship between two artistic partners who occupy parallel sides of a love trapezoid.
  • A reading of the play Show All History, translated by Larissa Kyzer and directed by Neil Blackadder.
  • View the Theater & Music Theater Season Page for more info on project dates and review one-pagers for project descriptions and roles being cast

Fill out the preference form to be considered for roles (must be completed by 8 PM on Dec. 10)

Read Scripts

Some scripts may be available to read in advance, and you can find them on the Theater Student Resources page (scroll down to Try on Theater Day section). Princeton netID is required for access.

 

Design & Production Workshops

No design & production workshops will be held on December 10 but look for more opportunities in April!

 

Additional Try on Theater Dates

  • January 28: Casting for spring 2026 productions including Kristen Tan’s new project
  • April 27: Casting for Fall 2026 productions

 

Questions?

For questions about TOT Days, please contact Carmelita Becnel at cbecnel@princeton.edu or Jane Cox at janecox@princeton.edu.

 

Photos from Try on Theater Days

A large group of people stands in a circle around the perimeter of a theater space.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

One person smiles and speaks into a mic while others smile and watch.

Jane Cox addresses students as they participate in the Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

A group of people mingle, some linking arms with others in front of them in a group activity.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

A crowd of people stand and look and reach upwards above their heads.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

One person speaks with a mic while another sits playing the piano.

Solon Snider and Shariffa Ali participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

A large group of people sit on the ground in a circle around the perimeter of a theater space.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 3, 2024, in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Niru Vijaya Krishnan

Two students smile and interact in front of others standing in the background during Try on Theater Community Day.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 5, 2023 in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Allison Ha

A large group of people raising their hands in a dark room with colorful lighting. A woman on the left holds a microphone and a book.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 5, 2023 in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Allison Ha

A large group of students mingle, talk and laugh in the Drapkin Studio during the community portion of Try on Theater Days.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 5, 2023 in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Allison Ha

Two students smile and interact in part of a larger group at Try on Theater Days.

Students participate in Try on Theater Days community event on Sept. 5, 2023 in the Wallace Theater. Photo by Allison Ha