Passing an audition?
 

Now this came out of left field...

My newly minted teenager just came home and informed me that he wants to try out for the school play, a mid summers night dream.

Anyone have any hints on how to nail an shakespeare audition? What's the process like, what might he be asked to do, how much do I need to pay and to whom?

As you can see drama was never really my thing, so I'm a bit clueless here...

WOW! Cool! Theater changed my life.

Ummm, study hard, feel comfortable with the language, try to related to the character, know your lines, know the details of the character, the motivations and the raison d'etra. Then GO FOR IT!

It's important to be just a bit larger than life- but not too much. Speak a bit louder than normal, but don't yell. Movements and mannerisms should be a little more pronounced, mainly because stage productions are harder to hear and see than taped ones. GC and Gn2 are the experts here, so hopefully they'll weigh in on this one.

I remember one thing I learned in drama with regards to Shakespeare: know what the hell your character is saying and why. Shakespearean dialogue can be daunting for many practiced, classically trained actors- it really helps to have as thorough an understanding of the character and what they are saying as possible so that if you fluff a line you can bs your way through. There are a lot of fun characters in AMND, so I hope your kiddo gets in on the production!:snap:

Oh and ENUNCIATE!

Yeah - he should remember that Shakespeare isn't some mythical foreign language - it's English. The comedies in particular aren't supposed to be inaccessible mumbo-jumbo - they're jolly good bawdy fun. So yeah, he should know what the character's saying - not just memorize the words in order.

And yay! Midsummer has many great male parts.

So anyhow - he'll likely have to read lines for the audition. Does he know what parts interest him? Also, it's fun even if you don't have a major role. As a parent, particularly a male parent, there's a chance they'll try to rope you into constructing things.

Oh, and encourage him tons.

Ohhh...this brings back wierd memories for me. Our HS drama dept went to a large Shakespeare festival at SUSC in Cedar City every year. The weird thing happened my Sr year. We were doing our 15-20 min scene from Merry Wives. We were schedualed to preform at the end of a verrrry long day. There were 17-19 teams in front of us. 16 (!) of them did the Wall scene from AMND. I ended up memorizing the entire thing by the end of the day. When we sat on the edge of the stage for our critique from the judges, one of them asked our Fallstaff, "Weren't you just in the last scene we saw?" I got to pop off that, "No the guy you are thinking of played Fallstaff last year." We also got to watch Elizabeth Savage telling the other judges that she needed to shave her legs, just what I wanted to hear fomr a C-list actress

It was a very odd trip and we ended up with 3rd. The year before we did a scene from Henry IV and took 2nd.

One of my undergrad degrees was in theatre, with a focus in Shakespeare! I think it's safe to say that theatre changed my life too. I worked teaching Midsummer to teens at The Shakespeare Theatre of Washington DC (the Folger's original company) and I think it's a great way to involve young students in Shakespeare early on! Kudos to his teacher.

The process usually depends on the director. When I was doing it, we'd ask for prospective actors to prepare a monologue, and for callbacks we'd provide "sides," or printed papers with a few scenes on them. The high-school theatre director is probably prone to just having an open call with "sides" printed. It might be a private audition (it was in college) or it might be a public audition (it was in high school, for me.) If he's going to get the audition sides beforehand, make sure he studies them pretty hard and is comfortable with every character.

If he doesn't get anything in advance, he needs to make best friends with a copy of the play. If he doesn't have one, buy him one now. There are some very nice youth-oriented editions that have clear notes (for instance, some have facing pages, one with play text and another with youth-oriented notes.) Introduce him to sparknotes.com, a helpful source for character explanations in plays. (Make him read the play first, though-- the site is a smarter version of Cliff Notes.) You might consider renting a DVD of a production. The Kevin Kline/Michelle Pfeiffer/Ally McBeal production isn't great but he'd get an understanding of the playfulness of the piece.

Tell him that no matter what happens in the audition, don't start over again and again. Don't apologize afterward, just smile and thank the director for their time.

For a student play, beyond a basic comfort with the language, a director is probably looking for someone who is having fun!

And wish him the best of... broken legs... from me!

When I helped cast plays, here's what I look for:

1. People that would be fun to work with and have around for a rehearsal process and play run. If they look like they'd be a blast, it'll help the process run smooth.

2. Potential. I someone's audition is not great, but they take direction well and have a spark, I'll cast them and work to get the right stuff out of them. This can be a risk, but when it works, it works well.

3. Talent. I sometimes will push for casting someone who has just got the part down from the get go. It makes the director's job easy as possible. Which is also a good question for the person auditioning to ask the director: 'How do you envision this character?' Your take on a part may be completely different from what he/she wants...

4. Smile. Auditions are fun. If you look like you're not having fun, they'll think you're not interested 100%.

5. Project.

6. Annunciate.

7. Drink water beforehand because your spit can disappear quick during an audition.

Now for Shakespeare...

1. When you're auditioning with a Shakespeare piece, know what it is you are saying. Get familiar with the text and the meaning.

2. Tell the director that you are willing to do any part in the show. It's a great show and can be lots of fun. It's the experience of it all that's the best part.


Encourage him to do lots and lots of theatre. It's a blast.

If I think of more, I'll post it...

:)

I know nothing about passing an audition, but I know lots about passing gas...

“The rankest compound of villainous smell that ever offended nostril.”
~ The Bard



(Ya gotta love Google...)
:D