There are many types of audition you may be asked to carry out as a prospective performer.
At a TV or film audition you may be asked to recite a monologue, potentially sing, and reenact a scene from the script. At drama school, you may need to recite a classical monologue, particularly a Shakespeare, sing, dance and take part in a modern monologue or script reading. You would also need to carry out some drama improvisations or games.
For musical theatre shows, you may need to sing, study and then sight read a text, dance, and perhaps take part in an improvisation.
Not all theatre audition pieces, however, are suitable for all types of theatre. If you were doing a classic Shakespeare tv programme, it would be unlikely that you would need to sing, dance or learn contemporary monologues.
If you were doing a 1950s musical, you would probably need to sing, dance and recite part of a script, but you would not need Shakespeare or a very modernised monologue.
This year, I have experienced many different auditions and observed what is required for them. I went to UWTSD in Swansea, where I applied for a university degree in Applied Drama. There, I took part in a very informal interview. Due to the fact that the course is entirely Drama based,we took part in a number of team games, drama workshop exercises, and group activities including creating a small physical theatre piece.
This varied hugely to the the University of Chichester, which took on a slightly wider Spectrum of theatre. We had to memorise two audition monologues, take part in a storytelling project, and worked on some interpretations of contemporary scripts. We also took part in some drama games and had to devise some small scenes based on stimuli.
Finally, I went to Theatre Brycheiniog with my class where we took part in a very different workshop, where we had to recite our monologues, create physical theatre images, take part in drama games, and most of all work on longer improvised pieces like the therapy circle and the scenes based on short character descriptions. The feedback that was given was very professional as it geared us up towards a drama school type audition.
I have had the vocational opportunity of carrying out my audition pieces for this course, but I have also been fortunate enough to have had the opportunities to take part in proper auditions, with professionals who could advise and support my improvements. There are many different vocal and physical stances you can apply to an audition piece. In my modern monologue which I recited at the theatre the University of Chichester, and in front of a crowd, was an angry role. While playing her, I leaned forward confrontationally as the character was angry with her parents. When she was remembering her childhood, she sighed, and made her voice more emotional and quiet, and her body more defeated and vulnerable. The Shakespeare piece also included a very angry, almost chiding stance, leaning forward as if to confront someone. Her voice was firm and full of stress and irritation based on her personal situation. At Brycheiniog I played an ex prisoner who seemed a bit vague in voice, and closed n stance, and who backed away when she was close to being caught. During the Therapy Circle, I sat calmly and openly, with neatly crossed legs and a mild approachable expression on my face. My voice was quiet but clear, and had a gently authoritative touch so that I could lead the therapy session. When selecting my monologue, I did attempt a different role, that of a young girl who was very flirtatious, and for that I leant forward, as if facing someone, ready to gossip. I inserted a cheeky quality to my voice so that it was clear that she was bold and flirtatious.
My final contemporary piece, from Keeping Tom Nice by Lucy Gannon was a success. I entered the stage by marching down the stairs angrily. I then stood near to the audience to make them feel uncomfortable, and to stress the confrontational stance of my character. My posture was very stiff and angry, and I used slightly mocking hand gestures for phrases like “You smooth the bed” and used a mocking high pitched tone for “Soapy flannels”. I also used a very angry tone, and made sure it was emotional, as my character had been badly upset by her parents, and seemed to be venting her opinions after a long time. I knew the script very well as I had to recite it at my interviews and at the theatre workshop day, so I could easily act the part without the need to hesitate, or go off track.
I found the lists, and the older language of Taming Of The Shrew a very difficult challenge. In Katherine’s last monologue she uses a lot of words to define the importance of the husband, and the qualities a wife should have. Due to this, when recording my monologue, I needed prompts and to cut the monologue short so that I could remember it. Despite finding a synopsis and a literal translation for this monologue, it was the complex language and phrasing of the words that hindered me from perfecting this speech. For this piece also, I stood in a confrontational stance, and almost seemed to scold other young girls for not trying to be equals with her husband. I made the tone slightly disapproving, forceful and also spoke in a way as if I was educating the audience. I did need to be prompted, and I did not have many gestures, apart from on the first line where I firmly stepped forward and started to scold the audience.
Overall, I feel I have used a variety of vocal, facial, and bodily expressions to embellish my audition roles. I am disappointed that I struggled with the classical piece, as I had a full understanding of the meaning and mood of the monologue, but was let down by the words. However, I feel that I did take on each role, and used my body, and particularly my voice, to add emotion and mood to my audition
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