Auditions for actors

11 September. This week, we revised last year's warm up techniques. For example, we reminded ourselves of Pah Tah Kah, a voice warming up method. We also did intercostal diaphragmatic breathing, the best technique for holding your br"ath during performance. This week, we listened to a lot of different monologue ideas, which were read by Cara. Most people managed to  find a piece, or at least a couple of possibilities. However, I found it difficult to connect with any characters. For example, in A Street Car Named Desire, I couldn't become attached to the character. The topic was not one i could relate to, or feel a connection to. I went online and read some monologues but found this useless too as the characters did not come alive.    18 September.  This week, I did make some progress with picking pieces. There was one, about the town tart, in a play called Same Old Moon. There were 2 more monologues, both  in a play called Keeping Tom Nice. THE first was the girl Charlie talking to her disabled brother about daily life. The second was her, angry at her parents for their lack of affection to Tom.  Both plays would be classed as Kitchen Sink drama, every day hardships depicted in a storyline.  Cara sent them all to me, and I have read through, but I'm not sure what to pick yet.    25 SEPTEMBER.  This week, I read through the three pieces aloud. The piece from same old moon was good, and deffinately a good challenge, but there were so many bits of dialogue, most of which were from minor characters that the speaker was talking about. I felt so disconnected to the character, and did not feel ö could through a fantastic personality or mood in to it. I found the piece on the begrudgement and anger at her parents much more moving. There was lots of description, and not much emotion in the other piece.  I did a sight reading, and was told that for a braille reader, I was very expressive even without having learnt so.  2 October.  So far I sadly haven't met my current learning target, despite reading through  the Piece and practicing it. One good bit of feedback was to not swallow words, and to make the character's anger more real. It doesn't have to be louder, only deeper and more real.   9 October. When I went in jo the class on Thursday, I thought that I had not learnt anything, as it was not staying in my brain. However, Cara gave me one word prompts and I had learnt so much. Sadly, there was no expression but this is  okay as I had not fully learnt it, by any means. Since then, I've been reading and practicing the script and I hope by next lesson I will have improved.   7 November. Today I did my monologue about 4 times. I am finally managing to remember all the words, but there are a few areas where I need prompting, mainly in the first bit. We were looking at ways to move the piece forward. From now on, I will use a chair as a prop, to express the character's emotions. For example, I could sit on it, stand behind it, stand beside it. It can be a guide to show the variety of emotions Charlie is showing. I will practica with my chair in my room, so that I can adapt to this kind of technique.  

14 November.  This week, I kept practising my piece with no script.  I used a chair, and practised different positions of my body.  I sometimes start sitting and then stand, or sometimes I will go from standing behind the chair, to sitting, to standing in front of the chair.  I feel I can express my character very well, and put emotion into the piece.  I can understand my character and what she is going through, and I can portray her well.  I can also outline her background story.  This is good because the more familiar I am, the more natural I will be able to act.  I think now, the main target is to focus on remembering those phrases which I mix up a bit.

22 November.  This week was very much the same as last week.  We were going to do a fake audition interview, as if I was applying to RADA.  However, I was not well on Monday so I missed this.

30 November.  This week, I did actually carry out my audition interview.  I felt very confident as I am good at speaking to people.  One thing that was not right was the fact that I leant forward which I shouldn't do.  I had to redo the interview as it was accidentally deleted from the flip, and I was able to take these comments on board.  I also did my piece again, and I feel that I am almost at performance standard.

15 January: This week we spent most of the time going over our speeches.  With mine, we investigated the movements with a chair, and how I could walk in.  In this monologue, my character is frustrated and angry, so the way I move is important.  I tried moving from the door, and pretending to open and close a door but I found the gesture hard.  We also did an interview for Rada, which was useful as it helped us understand how an audition would work.  I did my piece, and this was followed up with feedback, such as try to perfect movements.

22 January: This week, we did character hotseats, where we could ask questions to each other about our characters.  I had to explain Charlie's childhood, and I also had to talk about her frustrations with her parents.  This put the role into perspective for me.  It made me understand what it felt like to be inside my character.

29 January: This week we kept practising our monologues, and we also did an improv based on our characters.  We were in a library and at the horse races, and my character, being very modern and quite young for her age, was very eager and asked a lot of characters, as she wants to see the world as the playwrite indicates.  as the only modern day character, this was very interesting.

14 February: On 30 January, we were about to go to a theatre in Brecon, where we had a tour of the workspaces, the theatre, and were told a lot about the way it works there.  In the afternoon, we were able to do our monologues.  I was not nervous, but I deffinately wanted to do my best.  I think it went well, and despite the fact that I was in a new space, I navigated very well and as able to manage movement without letting it hinder the power of my words.  It was very helpful hearing from Martin, the CEO of the theatre, and seeing his reaction to our pieces.  He said mine was emotional and was very well done.  I feel that since my first year of the course, my insight into a character, and understanding of the components of a piece have really improved.

 https://youtu.be/62hkxs34bUI

This was the monologue that I performed  at the theatre.

5 March.  This week, Cara read us some Shakespeare pieces for us to consider.  We are now moving on to our ney section of the unit, a to work on a Shakespeare piece as opposed to a contempary.  I was very interested in this as I do like Shakespeare and find him interesting.  Cara read me a script fAdrianna from Comedy of Errors, which was about Adrianna's husband's long lost twin showing up with another woman, and the speech was Adrianna, fuming, about her "husband" cheating on her.  I liked the speech, but it is quite a surreal situation so I did not really connect entirely with the character, and did not feel I could play the part well.  Cara also showed me Tamora, from Titus Andromicus.  She was an evil character, who, at the end, was furious with the people around her for her fate of death.  I did not feel I could play this character because she was evil and I would rather play a character with more complex behaviour to consider in a monologue.  In my own time I read monologues by Lady Anne in Richard Iii.  However, she was a slightly seductive character, and I did not always feel like I could understand her characteristics very well.

Finally, I examined Kate from the Taming of the Shrew.  This character was a very interesting one.  She, in fact, was the shrew herself, a very fist-happy girl, who everyone thought was too boysterous and violent to marry.  She had a very narrow perspective, and did not always see things from others' point of view.  At the end, marriage matured Kate, and she began to understand things in other people's views, and she also matured and realised that she could have power and control in a partnership with another person.  She is a very rich, diverse and interesting character, often portrayed by othes characters instead of by the audience.  Therefore, I would be very happy to play this part and practice Kate's final monologue. Here is a link to my monologue. It is the third of Kate's monologues, the first line being Fie Fie. http://www.shakespeare-monologues.org/women/plays/7       12 March. This week we looked at our Shakespeare pieces and recited them for the first time, as our starting points. Although it was difficult to get my tongue around a couple of the words, I understood the meaning of the speech as I study language and find it easy to interpret words. I think it will be difficult to learn the piece, but it will be an interesting challenge. Since this first run through, I have looked at the speech in my own time and have practised saying it. Cara also asked us to find out about our characters, which i had already done. She asked me questions about my character and I found it interesting to understand her. Next time we study this I hope to have improved again, and to add even more expression in my voice.  19 March. This week I practiced my speech, and everyone said that I sounded very confident and Remedy to know my character, and the meaning very well. We discussed literal translations, but, I feel that I completely understand Kate's speech without seeing a translation. I will continue to try and learn it.   26 March. I tried to learn my speech this week, but I did not manage to learn to my target. I looked at the piece, a lot, but couldn't seem to learn it despite my efforts. We looked at certain lines, and discussed how they could be said. Despite suggestions, I felt that through my own research, and through connecting myself/putting myself in Kate's shoes, I felt that I know how Kate would say the speech and her deeper meanings. I will try and learn down to the word amiable. 


Here is my final monologue.

 https://youtu.be/7Lj2RCMuy0Y

Here is my final taming of the shrew monologue:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNdiP3_6gkg&feature=youtu.be

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
 pieces. Here is a final copy of my finished performance.