I don't have a problem with it.

What I do have a problem with is directors who have pre-
cast a role, but think it's somehow 'kinder' to let others audition
for the role anyway. That is really tacky, as far as I'm concerned.

But, I dont have a problem with precasting per-se - as long as
the director is upfront at the auditions that x-role is already cast.

We don't permit pre-casting except in extraordinary cases - I can't remember the last time we did it.  If a director pre-cast a part without approval and announcing it and we found out about it, we would not use them again. 

The big theater in our area has a similar policy but pre-casting happens quite often.  It is usually couched in ambigous terms and not announced.  A good friend of mine was recently sent a script with a note asking him to play a specific part - nothing about auditioning.  Precasting happens.

Still - if someone at a different theater offered to pre-cast me I would jump at the opportunity.  It is not my job as the actor to insure that the policies of the theater were being followed.

My experience is that directors who do lots of pre-casting will find themselves having to do more and more of it as people will stop auditioning for them.

My group does have a policy about no pre-casting. 

I think that as a general rule, while most directors think such-and-such would be perfect for the role and pre-cast them, they miss out on seeing a variety of other talent who tend to be so much better.

One of the companies I'm involved with (there's around ten separate theatre companies in our district) has a history of having pre-cast certain roles based on status - the school captain of the elite boy's private school in the city would be almost sure to be playing the lead in Footloose (as happened several months earlier). Or, say the head of a local law firm - who couldn't act or sing - would find themselves as Captain Von Trapp in the Sound of Music.

While this does happen - certain directors have a habit of doing this , which I suppose - as long as the person could act (the school captain had an awesome voice) I feel that it's okay. The crusty old director in Noises Off, for example, is being played by the Artistic Director (President) of our company. There are certain people who always seem to be precast to play similar roles in each play (e.g. an old nosy lady who always seems to play those sort of old nosy roles) - it comes down to typecasting as well, I suppose.

I suppose it comes down to the situation. If I knew myself that there was someone else who could play the role better than me and who was auditioning, I'm not sure whether I would accept a precast. I possibly would out of my own "want" for the role, but if it was a play I wasn't interested in, I would probably pass. Hmm.

If you choose to on to professional theatre or even TV and flim you will run into precasting all the time, better get used to it. If you feel uncomfortable with it or don't think you can play the role than go to the audtions and see what happens. You won't get offered to many free passes in life though so you might as well take what few come your way.!