Auditions for Students

In the “real world” of theater, most auditions are done with cold reads, meaning the actors are reading from script with zero preparation. Directors cast based on first impressions, right are wrong, which means many times actors are judged not on true potential, but on their skills as a cold reader.

A lot of directors and teachers will use this technique to give their students the real world theater experience. I think it’s doing your kids, yourself, and your audience a disservice not to take some time to get to know the kids and their abilities in different circumstances.

Plan to take time with auditions. If you don’t already know the students, hold an acting or improvisation workshop. Make sure every kid gets a chance to get up and show what they can do in a no-pressure situation. Don’t even call it an audition. Just get them there, run some scenes, and let them do their thing.

For my current play, Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", I gave the kids a chance to prepare a monologue in advance of their choosing. That way they could pick something they are most comfortable with. For those who didn’t have the ability to prepare in advance, I picked two scenes with a male and female character, and had each person read both scenes as cold reads. Once again, the more options you put in front of them, the more chances you give them to succeed, the better your decision making process will become.

Casting “corrections” a messy affair. The first time I did Midsummer, an actor who auditioned well but rehearsed poorly forced me to switch three roles (Theseus, Demetrius, and Bottom) three weeks before we opened. They handled the changes remarkably well for eighth graders, but it could have easily been a disaster. Take the time to get it right the first time. It’s the fairest plan for your kids and your sanity.