The Clouds Casting call out!
We’ve chosen our play for @kingsgreekplay 2026, now we need a cast!
If you would like to be part of bringing @giulialbalsamo ‘s brilliant vision of The Clouds to life, we are looking for KCL students to fill the following roles:
STREPSIADES (40s): A social climber, obsessed with hiding his shameful roots and gaining the people’s respect.
PHAEDIPPIDIS (19): A fiery, naive revolutionary fleeing marriage and chasing ideals she doesn’t fully understand.
XANTHIAS (Mid-20s): A sarcastic immigrant haunted by trauma, using wit to mask deep vulnerability.
PLATO / AKA SOCRATES (40s): A self-righteous philosopher impersonating greatness, blinded by his ego as much as his collapsing ideals.
REAL SOCRATES (70s): A defeated intellectual who retreats from the world he no longer believes he can change. (Possible double with Plato)
AMYNIAS (Early 30s): A slick manipulator hiding behind wealth he didn’t earn, always betting on the strongest hand.
PASIAS (Mid-30s): A mute follower, bound to the brother who both controls and protects him. (Mute physical comedy role)
CELAENO: A perfectionist Cloud who sees herself as divine. She is as elegant as she is manipulative.
OCYPETE: A sharp-tongued Cloud whose contempt for humanity drives her biting sarcasm. AELLO: A feral, rage-filled Cloud who revels in chaos and bloodshed.
THE CLOUDS (Chorus): Seductive and sinister agents of chaos. (All cast participate in this chorus role)
If you are interested in any of the above roles, please email laura@actorsofdionysus.com by 20th October 2025.
Audition date tbc.
Below is further information about individual characters.
THE CLOUDS – Character Descriptions
STREPSIADES (40s): A man who’s ashamed of his farming origins and married into wealth. He hoped for a tranquil life in the countryside, but his inferiority complex propels him to accumulate wealth and status, often at his family’s expense. He joins the Thinkery to learn how to gain political favour, but will he succeed in winning the election?
PHAEDIPPIDIS (19): She is an idealist who thinks she can do the revolution by herself, even if she hasn’t spent much, if any, time with the people. She joins the Thinkery partly to escape her arranged marriage, but also out of a burning, if naïve, conviction that she can change Athens. She doesn’t know how to read a room, or when to stop speaking, sometimes she lets her rage take over with no clear purpose. She has big ideas, but how will they impact with the harshness of reality?
XANTHIAS (Mid-20s): A Lycian immigrant in Athens, he works at the Thinkery, a place in which he hoped to find refuge after a life of running from his past. He has suffered greatly in his life, and deep down he’s still just a scared little kid, hiding his own insecurities and feelings behind sarcasm and witty lines. He is used to fighting for his place in the world, but how much fighting can a human take?
PLATO/AKA SOCRATES (40s): He leads the Thinkery, having taken Socrates’ place, impersonating him. He lets his own pride and aggrandised sense of self blind him to the realities of Athens’ collapsing democracy. He believes philosophers to have to moral duty to guide society at any cost, even if that includes undermining the principles of the very thing he seeks to protect.
REAL SOCRATES (70s): Wise but tired, Socrates willingly hides himself in the Thinkery’s dungeon, leaving Plato in charge. He maintains that Athens cannot be saved by reason, and prefers a life of reclusion and defeat rather than one of impacting with consistent failure. (N.B. There is a possibility to double with Plato, they never interact and are scenes apart – the similarity might even be written into the comedy)
AMYNIAS (early 30s): One of Strepsiades’ creditors, he is promised Phaedippidis’ hand in marriage. Sly and manipulative, Amynias wouldn’t be able to survive with his brother Pasias’ money, and he is very aware of it. He controls his brother like a string puppet, managing their affairs and pledging allegiance to whomever holds the greater power.
PASIAS (mid 30s): Pasias has been rendered mute by his brother, when they were children. He entirely depends on him, and he is aware that Amynias is paradoxically the only person who still cares about him. He follows his lead because it is easier to do so, never letting him entirely off the hook, pulling faces and stumbling about life. (N.B. Mute role. Needs to be comfortable with body comedy)
CELAENO: Member of the Clouds, she is classy and strives for absolute perfection, thinking herself a goddess. She wouldn’t bow down to Zeus himself.
OCYPETE: Member of the Clouds. Spiteful and sarcastic, she acts partially out of necessity, partially out of disdain for humanity.
AELLO: Member of the Clouds. Prone to anger, tearing her enemies apart like a bloodthirsty hound.
THE CLOUDS: They are the chorus, partially guiding the character’s hand, sometimes distorting the reality around them, but always eerily lurking, ready to take control when the situation calls for it. They enjoy watching how humanity can so easily be convinced to tear itself apart. (This is a doubled role, all cast should expect to have a part in it)