Auditions: The Arsonists
Midtown Players is pleased to announce auditions for The Arsonists, a darkly comic and unsettling satire that examines fear, denial, and the quiet ways ordinary people enable catastrophe. Click the button below to fill out the audition form.
About the Show
The Arsonists is a dark comedy that follows a respectable, well-meaning businessman who prides himself on civility, generosity, and being seen as “a good person.” When a wave of arson attacks grips his town, he is determined to prove that politeness and good intentions are enough to keep danger at bay—even as warning signs pile up around him.
By turns funny, absurd, and disturbing, the play explores themes of denial, moral cowardice, civic responsibility, and the cost of choosing comfort over truth.
Production Details
Producing Organization: Midtown Players
Performance Dates: April 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, of 2026
Venue: Mood Room (intimate gallery-style space). 3121 N 3rd Ave STE 100, Phoenix, AZ 85013
Compensation: Unpaid
Rehearsals
Rehearsals Begin: Late January 2026
Schedule: Approximately 3 evening rehearsals per week
Attendance: Consistent attendance is important, especially as performances approach
Auditions
Audition Dates: TBD – coming soon
Audition Format: Short monologue (1–2 minutes), and cold reads from the script
Callbacks: Likely, approximately three days after initial auditions, as needed
Actors of all experience levels are encouraged to audition.
Character Breakdown
Gottfried Biedermann
A prosperous, image-conscious businessman who believes politeness can solve any problem. Well-meaning, conflict-averse, and deeply invested in being seen as respectable, he refuses to acknowledge danger even as it enters his own home.
Babette Biedermann
Biedermann’s wife. Anxious and perceptive. She senses the growing threat around them, but is torn between loyalty to her husband and her own instincts for survival.
Schmitz
A former wrestler and drifter. Physically imposing but oddly childlike. His menace lies not in secrecy, but in how openly he reveals his intentions. People want him on their side, because the alternative is frightening.
Eisenring
An intellectual full of charm and theatricality. Clever, ironic, and disturbingly articulate. Manipulative in the most pleasant way. He treats destruction as an idea experiment and delights in exposing moral hypocrisy.
Anna
The Biedermanns’ maid. Practical, observant, and often more grounded in reality than her employers. A quiet and tragic witness to the unfolding disaster.
Widow Knechtling
A grief-stricken woman left ruined by Biedermann’s business dealings. Her brief appearance cuts through the comedy with moral weight. She makes the audience uncomfortable for laughing.
Doctor of Philosophy
Appears in brief but pivotal moments. A pompous academic who inserts himself into the action, spouting intellectual justifications. He’s a satirical figure: verbose, self-important, and ultimately complicit because of his endless talk instead of action.
The Chorus of Firemen
A Greek-style chorus that comments on the action with warnings and ironic detachment. They function as both conscience and bystanders, offering actors opportunities for bold, ensemble storytelling.