AUDITION TIPS!
15 TIPS FOR AUDITIONS:
The following are recommendations only. Again, whether you can meet all these recommendations or not, WE WANT YOU TO AUDITION! NO MATTER WHAT!
1. Try to select monologues from PLAYS. Not screenplays or TV scripts. The three plays are very theatrical so we want to see THEATRE!
2. Read the play your monologue is from and the plays you are auditioning for.
3. If you have a production that interests you most, you are welcome to select a monologue from that play, or by that playwright, or in a similar genre, but it is NOT required. Callbacks will entail anything we didn’t see in the general audition.
4. Please avoid monologues that are written only as monologues, often found for free online, (e.g. monologues by Adam Szymkowicz, or a popular monologue called, “Dear Charles”). Avoid monologues taken from monologue books or online sources where you don’t know the context. Also, these are shortcuts and for that reason, EVERYONE is using them and we’ve seen them over and over, (e.g. the infamous Laughing Wild tuna fish monologue).
5. The best audition monologues reveal something about the character, or entail a discovery. Maybe the character is unprepared or surprised. Avoid monologues where the character already knows everything and is just relaying information. Avoid monologues depicting phone calls. Make us feel the character is finding the words IN THIS MOMENT and getting the impulse to speak IN THE PRESENT.
6. Direct the monologue slightly over the heads of those watching. Imagine the character(s) you are speaking to, and RESPOND to what you think that character is doing as you talk to them. Don’t look at audition panel. Don’t be offended if they take notes or review your audition form—it’s their job to be curious about you. Trust that what they are doing is in your best interest.
7. Getting cast means spending months together, so share the best of yourself. Be the cast member you yourself would want to work with. Do you want to work with someone afraid, withdrawn, unprepared, unfocused or someone eager, enthusiastic, curious, ready to go? The audition starts as soon as you walk in the room and doesn't end until you leave it.
8. Act with your whole body--not just from the neck up. That doesn't mean blocking or gesturing excessively--just that your entire body is engaged in your objective and you aren't just a talking head. How do your characters carry themselves?
9. Many ineffective audition habits include looking at the floor, slapping your hands on your thighs after each line, pacing or wandering--these nervous behaviors are signs that you aren't engaged enough in the character's action. Raise the stakes so you don't have the luxury of unmotivated behavior--imagine an obstacle strong enough that it absorbs and engages you. Sometimes the answer is to make the performance harder, not easier.
10. When you slate, keep it simple: Say, “I am YOUR NAME and this is PLAY TITLE by PLAYWRIGHT.” Take a SHORT beat to become the character and begin.
At the end, land the monologue with a beat and say, “Thank you.” Do not say “Scene.”
11. Don’t go over the time limit. SERIOUSLY. DON’T GO OVER THE TIME LIMIT! 1 minute is enough! 2 minutes is more than we need. No more than 2 minutes!
12. Expect an adjustment. Sometimes directors will ask you to apply a specific note or simply ask you to make another choice. This is often not because they disliked your audition, but to check and see how you take direction or to make sure you can do more than one thing and aren’t locked into a single way of doing the monologue. If you are given an adjustment but then you perform that moment just as you did before, the director may question your agility or the flexibility of your work.
Rehearse your monologue in multiple ways—such as different given circumstances, tactics, tones, subtext. Get an audition buddy and watch each other's auditions. Give each other adjustments--even random or bad ones, just to practice how you would adjust and keep yourself unlocked.
13. Memorize your monologue. If you can’t memorize a 1 minute monologue, it doesn’t inspire confidence in your ability to memorize a role in a play or musical. Part of the audition is showing us you can memorize. Techniques for memorization include:
a. Writing the monologue by hand.
b. Read the monologue off the page without trying to memorize. Then don’t use a script and see what you remember. Probably very little. But then read it again, word for word, on the page, without trying to memorize. Then try it again off book and you’ll remember a bit more. Keep repeating these steps and be patient building connections and remembering more each time.
c. Make a note where your character gets the impulse to speak each thought from the moment before. Ideally each thought will trigger the next one, and thus remind you of the line because you understand the thought process.
d. Ask your professors for their recommended methods.
14. If you forget your lines, stay calm. Go to the next thing you know. Show us what you would do if this is a performance. If you make a mistake, don’t apologize. Don’t stop and ask to start over. Present what you remember, get back on track as best you can, and say thank you when finished. Sometimes the only way we know you forgot a line or made a mistake is because you called attention to it. Trust us to see what you have to offer, no matter how the audition goes.
15. For callbacks, PRINT the sides ON PAPER. Don't read from phones or tablets. EVER.
Not having all of the criteria above is still not a reason to not audition. You don't need to be perfect.
Audition—no matter what! Whether you are cast or not, it’s a learning experience and it takes practice!