Your guide through this unit

The Audition Speech

  Choosing your material – This is critical!  Your choice of material already says a lot about you.  It says whether or not you have taken the trouble to explore beyond the usual and the obvious and whether your dramatic sense has helped you choose material that is appropriate t your age and abilities.  In other words, cast yourself intelligently.  Find a role you could actually play – one that is near to your own age and that doesn’t involve your assuming an unfamiliar accent, funny walk or voice or any mannerism that might detract from your performance.

2.    Check out the length of the speech.  It may be wonderful but schools are very strict on time.  There is no point choosing something that you love but it’s going to take 5 minutes to get to the good bits.  The audition panel makes their minds up within 30 seconds on average. They will stop you if you over run and don’t dramatically under run.  If you have been given 2 mins you piece needs to be at least 1min 30 sec. 

3.    Don’t make your life difficult.  Try to avoid a speech, which forms a climax in the play.  You will not have the narrative drive to help you to this point nor will the listeners.  Generalized emotion is the last thing you want to convey at your audition.

4.    Avoid speech that includes another character speaking, unless interjections into the scene does not need a response from you.  There are the occasional speeches where cutting the other persons lines can work but this is tricky and you must be very careful.

5.    Props are best avoided.  If you need some basic things then rehearse with them and ensure they are being used with skill and do not distract from your performance.

6.    What to look for.  Look for a speech that shows off as many facets of the character as possible, one that contains plenty of thought changes and isn’t on one emotional note.  An effective audition speech has a strong emotional journey but also a sense of argument reaching some sort of resolution by the end of it.  This doesn’t mean that it has to end in decision but that it doesn’t simply trail off.  A speech that tells a story often offers excellent opportunities but makes sure that as the narrator you have a strong emotional involvement in it.  You will have to do contrasting speeches.  This does not mean just happy or sad.  Could be contrast in style, content, the characters personality and the environment and the physical requirements of the speech.

Working on the speech

‘The nitty gritty’

1. Read the play.  NOT just the bit your speech is in!  You will have questions on the play asked of you!  RESEARCH IS CRITICAL!!!!!!

2. Remember there is no such thing as a speech.  We don’t plan to speak for long periods of time; it just happens that for a number of reasons we go on talking.  One thought leads us on to another, we get carried away by our enthusiasm for developing an idea, we are trying to provoke a response from the person we are addressing and if they don’t reply we continue our verbal prodding, or we are endeavouring to resolve an argument, etc.  The important point for you as an actor is the realisation that this outburst of verbalised feeling and thoughts has not been planned.

3. Start with yourself.  You are the character.  Don’t fall into the trap of judging them in any way.  You don’t like or dislike them, they are you.  You have to see the world through their eyes.

4. Read over the speech several times before you begin working on it in detail.  Don’t make decisions too early.  If you have time to read it over several times then leave it for a day.  When you come back to it you will have digested all the initial information and you will be surprised at how much more you will discover when you approach it with fresh eyes.

5. Ask the 4 ‘W’ questions

·      What has happened before the speech begins?

·      What are you doing? – Transitive verb

·      Who are you taking to? (Remember if it is the audience you still have a relationship with them.)

·      What do you need?

6. Be careful not to impose a generalised emotional label on the speech, such as ‘he is angry’ or ‘she is upset’.  Try to deal in moments.  Our emotions change from one minute to another, play the moment.

7. Don’t make up your mind about the speech too early.  Let ideas suggest  themselves as you work on it.  Keep an open mind and the speech will give you more information.

8. Look for key words, the changes in emotion and thought, and the climatic points. Be greedy for things to play.  The more aspects of the character you find to play, the more ‘things are going on’ in the speech, the more secure you will feel and the easier it will be to play.

9. Don’t plan a lot of impressive or showy moves before you have really studied the speech.  Remember we never move without a reason.  Each move must tell us more about the character and their circumstances and can give valuable clues to the feelings underlying the speech or enforce what is being said.  Remember the panel want to see your face.

1 0. Volume is not emotion.  This is an important point as all too often actor confuse intensity of emotion with extremes of volume, and either shout or whisper under the mistaken impression that they convey deep feeling.

11.  Observe punctuation.  It is the playwright’s means of giving you clues as to the character’s thought and emotional changes.  A ‘full stop’ needs air, time to really play the change in gear, find the extension of the thought or the new idea.  Commas, semi colons and colons are also changes but on a smaller scale – these can be a subtle difference in the level of emotional energy, a moment’s hesitation in the flow of thought or slight change of direction in the line of argument.  Ask yourself why they are there and use them to help you find out more about the character and the author’s intentions.

12.  Beginnings and endings.  Remember that on the whole your speech will not be from the beginning or the end of a play therefore you can’t play the speech that way.  Previous and forthcoming events are going to have a say in how you start and end your speech.

13.  When working on the speech it is a good idea to work in a few moments of thought to lead you into the actual text.  This way your first line will be in response to some stimulus rather that a statement arising from thin air.  Make sure you clearly establish your state of mind and your relationship to the recipient of your speech before you start.  Similarly with endings, the character, unless they’ve drawing their last breath, goes on living and thinking after the end of the speech.  Work out what they will be thinking after they finish speaking, then play that thought at the end of the speech before you revert back to yourself.  Don’t impose a false ending

  

Presenting the speech

1. Remember you are communicating the playwright’s ideas.  You are the instrument through which their talents are communicated to an audience.

2. Your physical position when you deliver the speech is important.  Gauge the right distance.   Too near is intimidating for you and them.  Too far is giving you and them unnecessary difficulties as far as audibility and subtlety of playing.  Assess the playing area.

3. Remember you are being judged the moment you walk into the room.  If you are nervous, announcing yourself and giving the titles of your speeches in a clear and composed way can be more difficult than it sounds.  Rehearse this.

4. Don’t lumber yourself with unnecessary bags and coats.

5. Don’t give copies of your speech to the panel.  They will not prompt you.

6. Take time to focus before you start each speech.  Establish the space and atmosphere and who you are talking to you.

7. Don’t be thrown if you are stopped half way through to give you notes.  This is usually a good sign.

8. When you have finished your speeches, smile at the panel, say ‘Thank you’ and leave.

9. Drying can be traumatic.  You try not to.  If you do never apologise, come out of character.  `remain in character, look down, lower your eyes and breath out.  This 9 times out of ten refocuses you.  If you do completely loose the text then you have to come out of role, apologise, and ask the panel permission to start again.  Take time to get back into character
10. The most important thing of all is to ENJOY.  Enjoy working on them

      rehearsing them and performing them.  They are chance to do what you love!

The interview

The actors interview is an integral part of the process.  It’s about selling yourself.

1.    Answering questions intelligently is crucial.

2.    Also showing your personality is as critical.  Remember they want to know if they can spent 3 years with you. Can they build a relationship with you?  Can you be you?

3.    What is your attitude?  This is the nearest thing to ‘the magic formular’ needed to be successful in an interview.  If you ask any interviewer if they need to choose between 2 actors they will always opt for the one who has the air of relaxed, quiet confidence.  A respect for yourself and your talent inspires reciprocal feelings in others.

The purpose of the interview

1.    The director / interviewer will be able to assess whether an actor is open and responsive to direction

2.    The interviewer will be able to judge how compatible you and they are and whether their feelings about you and your ideas about the schools / course / your portrayal generally coincide.

3.    By talking to you face to face it will be easier to decide whether their personality is suitable for the course.

4.    In an interview situation an actor will become more relaxed and, consequently, give a better account of themselves.  However there are some people who interview who might try to intimidate, others who will be very supportive.  What ever you face be professional, smile and as long as you know your stuff then you will survive.

How to cope with the interviewer.

1.    Remember they are human.  It is easy to lose sight of the fact that the person sitting opposite you waving all the apparent power is just another human being.  They are only human and suffering from the same fears and doubts that we all do.  If they temporarily appear to have forgotten their human fallibility and they are being unbearably grand you can always resort to the old trick of imagining them stark naked in embarrassing circumstances.  One asset of being an actor is having a vivid imagination.

2.    Don’t be a victim.  Instead of approaching the interview as if you were a lamb to the slaughter, vaguely hoping that interviewer will take pity on you and decide to be friendly, go in as if you are genuinely looking forward to meeting those present.  Use your actor antennae to sense their mood, their style and try to tune in to it.  Respond to them as if you were a guest in their house.  Notice if their greeting is casual or if they use a more formal approach and adjust your manner accordingly.  Acknowledge everyone in the room, before concentrating more fully on the main interviewers (This includes any student helpers in the interview)

3.    Listen to what is being said.  It is so easy to let nerves partially deafen you so you only take in a fraction of what the other person is saying.  If you really concentrate, not only is the information you receive is valuable, but you will find that your anxiety begins to lessen as your focus changes from yourself to the topic in hand.

4.    Have some answers ready.  Interviewers are not renowned for originality when it comes to questioning, so you can work out your responses.

5.    Don’t rely on sex appeal.  Be wary of flirting. 

6.    Be prepared.  Find out as much as you can about the college, staff, your play, your interpretation, what’s going on in the world of theatre.  Research in every way that you can.

7.    Recognise your own worth.  You have something valuable to offer – your talent.  You believe you can act otherwise you wouldn’t be there, so why shouldn’t it be recognized?

What not to do

Remember confidence is not arrogance or aggressive behaviour.  Be careful that in an attempt to convince the interviewer on your belief in yourself you don’t become opinionated and over bearing.  False confidence is just as alienating as false modesty.

What to wear - Be careful of wearing black.  Actors of both sexes are apt to wear it as if it were obligatory.  Seeing endless procession of black – clad individuals can make it difficult at the end of the day’s interviewing to remember which is which.  If you know people who have auditioned then ask them what each school prefers.

Body language.  Make sure you give eye contact.  Sit comfortably in your seat but don’t sprawl.  Rather, lean slightly forward so you appear to be attentive and interested.  Face the person addressing you so they can see your features clearly, especially your eyes.  This does not mean fixing them with a glassy stare, but looking them min the eye naturally as you would normally in conversation.  Remember to shake hands when you leave, be sure to include everyone in your farewell, the spectator (Student) has as much say in the final decision as the main interviewer.

Controlling and harnessing those nerves.  Nerves can be a positive.  The flow of adrenalin can give a sparkle and an edge.  Use this in a positive way.  You are half way to controlling your nerves. 

Consider the following.

1.    Breath

2.    The Jaw

3.    The throat muscles – yawn / smile / open back of throat

4.    The face

5.    The body

6.    The mind

7.    Confidence