NCShakes will hold auditions next month for the 2012 "Shakespeare To Go" tour, the company's outreach and education program that performs and educates at schools across North Carolina.

Auditions will be Sept. 20 and 22 from 4 to 6 p.m. at NCShakes' Spirit Center campus, 807 W. Ward Ave., in High Point. A final call back will be scheduled later in October.

To schedule an audition, call NCShakes at (336) 841-2273 weekday mornings.

NCShakes seeks a non-equity, multiracial touring company of six actors - three women and three men - plus an actor/company manager, who will perform a 60-minute production of "Macbeth" and a 45-minute version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in repertory. The company is looking for actors who are especially versatile, with a strong Shakespeare background. Experience in stage combat, physical comedy and teaching will be helpful.

One production will tour North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia middle and high schools with some public and university performances. The other production will be geared to elementary and middle-school audiences.

Actor contracts will run 17 weeks, from Jan. 2 through April 30, 2012. Salaries begin at $250 per week. Actors residing outside the Triad will receive housing in High Point. All actors will receive a per diem for food and hotel for overnight tour stops.

For the audition actors should prepare two one- to two-minute contrasting Shakespeare monologues. NCShakes requires an 8 by 10 black-and-white headshot and detailed resume at the time of the audition. NCShakes will also hold auditions for "Shakespeare To Go" at the SETC Fall Professional Conference Auditions on Sept. 11 in Atlanta.

NCShakes, also known as the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, was founded in High Point in 1977 as a professional theater company. Over the years, it has gained widespread recognition for the high quality of its productions, its love for Shakespeare, and its statewide service to schools through "Shakespeare To Go" and popular "10 o'clock SchoolFest" matinees.

The Shakespeare Festival has staged more than 150 major productions of plays by Shakespeare and other world-class playwrights.

Contact the NCShakes administrative office at (336) 841-2273 or visit www.nc shakes.org for more information.