Dramatisation - EduqasCasting choices

One of the first and probably most important jobs for the director of a play is to choose a cast. Choices that are made will heavily depend on the look and feel that the director wants for the production of the play.

Ensemble cast

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time uses an ensemble cast. This means that the actors are on stage as a group, sometimes all at once. They might perform multiple parts or roles, for example the actor who plays Roger Shears could also be an extra on the train or the actor that plays Reverend Peters could also play a policeman. This means that actors have to quickly switch between different characters, this can be very difficult - one role might require the actor to be sensible and quiet, the other might require the actor to be suddenly loud and very energetic. Actors might also move set pieces on and off stage like a stage crew might ordinarily do.

Have a look at the following clip.

• What challenges might face an actor who has to play multiple roles?
• What does it add to the production having an ensemble cast?
• Which actors never change role? Why do you think this is?