The Play Script

The first audition tip I’d like to give is this: read the play you’re auditioning for before you audition. While this tip does not apply specifically to college performances, but to all auditions, college is a good time to start. Most if not all auditions require the actor to do a cold reading, which involves performing a small excerpt from the relevant play. The reading is considered “cold” because the readers have never performed it before. Despite this, it is expected that the actors auditioning will know about the play’s content and characters. Many of your fellow actors will have read the play and understood its subject matter, so without this information you are left in a weaker position.

While you’re reading the play for the first time, it is useful to examine the show’s characters. This examination gives you a better understanding of the play’s dialogue, but it also helps in determining which character you’ll want to portray. Knowing which character you’re auditioning for in turn helps narrow down your monologue options. You should keep in mind, however, that while deciding which character you most enjoy is important, you won’t always get the part you want. Before auditions, have a second and third option available, in case you aren't cast in your preferred role.

Plays often have deeper implications than an excerpt alone can convey. Your read-through of the story should give you an idea of the playwright’s intended message. Cold readings rely on you to provide the meanings behind the character’s words, so knowing the play’s story, as well as its moral intention, gives you a much easier job of performing the reading effectively. If you need help understanding the play’s connotations, the internet can be an invaluable tool, as long as the sources you use are knowledgeable on such matters.

The Introduction

If you're a college student with an interest in acting, you may wonder how to prepare for auditions, whether on campus or in community theatres. Those of you who search the internet for information on what to expect for auditions, will find that few sources of such information exist. Plenty of these sources exist for actors who audition for more professional performances, but college plays and musicals are left unexplored. It is my hope that this blog will serve to fill that gap, by giving college students a more thorough understanding of what directors expect during an audition, and what actors should do to meet those expectations.

Over the next few months, I’ll be discussing the various aspects of appropriate audition preparation and behavior. I’ll explain how a person should dress, what writings or songs they should memorize, and how they should act once the audition begins, along with several other topics. As a departure from other writings on this subject, I intend to talk about not only play, but musical auditions as well. I participate in musicals and plays, and believe that there should be a source of information for others with similarly varied tastes which still caters to actors who act in either type of performance. My information will also cover auditioning for community theatre performances, to a lesser degree.

I will make sure to provide additional sources, for times when I feel a topic deserves more explanation. Several different aspects of auditioning will be discussed in this blog, and I cannot hope to cover all of them completely. Rest assured, however, that I will do everything in my power to give an adequate amount of information to help my readers prepare for their auditions. When I’ve finished this blog, I hope its viewers find their understanding of auditions greatly expanded, and can easily prepare for auditions in the future.