What to wear for your audition?

Continuing the theme of posts relating to how to audition in theatre, today's post answers the question "But what do I wear?"

Think about what the purpose of an audition is.  The director or casting director is looking at you and wondering whether you are someone they want to work with for the next few weeks of rehearsal.  Or the drama school faculty is wondering whether to admit you to their school.  Basically you should be trying to give the impression that you are someone who is hard-working and professional.

Again, as with choosing a monologue, there aren't really any hard and fast rules, so this post is just attempting to give you some guidelines.

The most important guideline is that you should avoid wearing a "costume".  A costume is basically anything that would make a stranger on the street say "what the heck are they dressed like that for?"  For example, you do not want to wear something that  comes out of history, or goes with a specific profession or situation (like, say, an astronaut's spacesuit).  Nothing screams "I am an amateur!" more than wearing a costume.  It makes it look as though you are trying to make up for poor acting abilities by dressing up.  And the time you spend creating your costume would have been better spent working on your monologues.  You may also get it wrong--perhaps you show up to your audition for Hamlet wearing a perfect replica of an early seventeenth century Danish courtier's outfit, only to find out that this director plans to set his production in nineteenth century China!

One of the other problems with wearing a costume is that will distract attention from your acting, which is another thing you want to avoid doing when you are choosing how to dress for audition.  Similarly, you want to avoid other distractions, such as "dangly" or otherwise extravagant jewelry, or slogans or distracting artwork on t-shirts (or any clothing for that matter).  Avoid "loud" patterns or too much bright color.  Some color is okay, it will help the auditors tell you apart from the other auditioners, but don't go overboard.

Another distraction to avoid is too much "sexiness" with your audition outfit.  This might include neglecting to wear proper underwear, or showing too much skin, or an outfit that makes folks worry (or hope!) that you are about to have a "wardrobe malfunction".  These things can be just as distracting as wearing a "costume", and might also make the auditors wonder if you are trying to hide the fact that you are not a very skillful actor.

The "hard-working and professional" look is a bit of a balancing act.  On the one hand, you want to make sure that you don't look like a slob (or worse).  But on the other hand, you don't want to dress so fine that you don't look like someone who is ready to start the work of reahearsal right away.  Also remember that you may be asked to do some sort of movement exercise or improvisation at your audition.  A traditional request, and I have actually known actors to be asked to do this, is for the auditors to say "please do your audition again, only while stacking up those chairs."  So at a minimum, make sure that you can stack chairs while wearing your audition clothes!

A more specific point is that the auditors will want to see your face.  So make sure that you have a hairstyle that keeps your hair out of your face, and also that you do not wear any sort of hat.

If you are giving two contrasting monologues, or are auditioning for more than one role, you want to find a "neutral" look that isn't specific to either of the monologues/roles, but can work with any.   Neutral colors are best for this--blacks, greys, browns, with just a bit of color to help tell you apart from the other auditioners.

On the "recognition" issue it is also a good idea, if you get a callback or the audition otherwise goes on longer than a single day, to wear the exact same outfit throughout the whole audition process.  The auditors haven't met you before, and they may well be thinking of you only as "That really talented girl in the green top", so if you don't wear that green top the next time they see you, they may not remember who you are.

If you know for a fact that you are auditioning for a specific role, or for a number of roles that are very similar, you have a little leeway--but just a little!--with the "avoid wearing a costume" guideline.  You should still make sure you don't wear something that gives strangers a "what the heck?" reaction, but you can "tweak" your outfit a bit to get closer to the character.  If you know, for example, that your character is a doctor or a lawyer, you can go for a slightly more "professional" look, but if the character is a construction worker, you probably want to get out your jeans and otherwise go for a more "blue collar" look.

I'm sorry there aren't any hard and fast rules about "you MUST wear this item, and absolutely MUST NOT wear this other", but I am afraid that is how it works.  If everyone came to an audition dressed absolutely alike, the auditors would seriously have trouble remembering who is who, so some variety is important and necessary.

Best of luck with all your auditions!

Choosing an audition monologue, part 2

Here are some more things to think about when you are choosing an audition monologue.

Some monologues require portrayal of very strong emotions.  These can be a good choice if you are good at handling a character's emotions.  But I would suggest avoiding any monologue that only involves anger and/or sarcasm.  The auditors will not be impressed by an ability to be angry or sarcastic, because these are almost always two of the first things that beginning actors latch on to.  A number of bad actors try to just get by playing all their roles as angry or sarcastic, you don't want the auditors to think you are one of those actors.

Personally, I would like to see more actors finding monologues that portray a character's vulnerable side.  I would also like to see more monologues relying on "dry" humor, such as a situation where the character doesn't realize how funny their comic monologue actually is.

Also, you probably want to avoid a monologue that relies on some sort of "shock" value.  These are monologues that intentionally use certain subject matter or language just to "shock" the audience and make them uncomfortable.  Like anger and sarcasm, this is just a cheap trick that will not impress the auditors.  (Of course some monologues, particularly comic ones, do rely on surprise twists or a punch line, and some dramatic monologues rely on a certain emotional "punch", but this is not quite the same thing, as you will still need to demonstrate your ability to handle these twists to the auditors)

You will frequently asked to provide “two monologues” or “two contrasting monologues”.  Whether or not the word “contrasting” appears in the instructions or audition notice, it is usually a good idea to make sure that your two monologues are contrasting anyway.  Use this opportunity to show the auditors the variety of roles you can play.  Make sure one of your monologues is comic, and one is dramatic.  Remember, however, that sometimes a dramatic play might include a comic monologue, and a comic play might include a dramatic monologue.  If the purpose of the monologue is to make people laugh, it’s probably comic, otherwise it is probably dramatic.  It’s also usually a good idea to make sure that your two monologues come from two different playwrights.  Also think about having some contrast between the two characters, for example think about finding one character who is professional or educated, and the other character maybe more “streetwise” then booksmart.

If you don’t have a contrast between the two monologues, you may end up typecasting yourself.  For example, if both your monologues are comic, the auditors may assume that you are unable to play drama.  If both your monologues are gay characters (I’ve seen an actor actually do this), the auditors may assume that this is the only type of character you can play.  Or if both your monologues are poor and uneducated characters, this may typecast you as well.

Another thing you may be asked for is a “contemporary” monologue, a “classical” monologue, or one of each.  Unfortunately, there is no universal agreement on what these terms mean.  Everyone agrees that a monologue where a character is speaking exactly like people do today is a “contemporary” monologue, but nobody seems quite sure how old a monologue can be and still be considered “contemporary”.  Everyone seems to agree that Shakespeare counts as “classical”, but nobody is sure exactly who else counts.

To be on the safe side, make sure that your “contemporary” monologue doesn’t have any language in it that seems “old-fashioned”.  Make sure that it is no older than about fifty years, tops.  If it meets both of these criteria, it’s very unlikely that someone will say “that’s not a contemporary monologue!”

For your “classical” monologue, you probably want to stick to plays from before about 1800, and stick with plays originally written in English.  Yes, this does include Shakespeare, but remember what I said earlier about overused monologues.  Unfortunately, just about every monologue from Shakespeare, at least the ones for younger characters, became overused quite some time ago.  For these reasons, I would suggest younger actors choose their classical monologue from a different playwright than Shakespeare.  The very fact that you KNOW a classical playwright other than Shakespeare may well impress the auditors.

I am well aware that there are many, many very good plays that do not meet either my definition of “classical” or “contemporary”.  Does this mean that you shouldn’t use them?  Not at all.  If the audition call or other instructions doesn’t specifically ask for either a “classical” or “contemporary” monologue, then you don’t need to feel constrained by these guidelines.

In fact, if the audition call doesn’t specify that one of the monologues must be “classical”, and the audition isn’t for a classical play, there isn’t really any need for you to include a classical monologue.

This discussion ended up being much longer than I expected!  There really is a lot to think about.  And unfortunately, once you have chosen your monologues, you still have a lot of work to do.  So get to those libraries and bookstores and start reading plays!

Choosing an audition monologue, part 1

I've been having some conversations online with folks who are facing acting auditions, and who therefore need to choose which monologues to use.  This advice I am hoping will be useful whether you are auditioning for an amateur production, a professional production, or for entrance into an educational program.  The focus is on a stage audition, but some information will also apply to film or TV auditions.  And you may find some of the advice also applicable to choosing a song for a musical theatre audition.

In future posts, I may go into more detail about what to do after you have chosen your monologues, but let's go one step at a time.

The only hard and fast rule is that you MUST follow any instructions from the people you are auditioning for.  If they ask for one classical and one contemporary, then you MUST have one classical and one contemporary.  If they say they prefer Shakespeare for your classical, then you really should choose Shakespeare for your classical.  If they say you have three minutes maximum for your monologues, then you MUST be sure to keep the total running time for your monologues under three minutes.

Apart from following the instructions from the people you are auditioning for, however, there really aren't any absolute rules.  Everything else in this post is just meant as a guideline.  I have probably seen ALL of these guidelines broken successfully by some auditioner somewhere.  If you really know what you are doing, then you may get away with breaking these guidelines.  But if you are just starting out, you probably should stick pretty close to the guidelines.

First of all, you should find a monologue that is appropriate for your type.  That is to say, it should be from a character that you reasonably could be cast as (in a "not-too-weird" production).  At a minimum, the character should be the same gender (male or female) as yourself, and should be within the age range you could reasonably play--for most people this will be, at most, ten years from their actual age.  Yes, in high school productions you may have been cast as the opposite gender, or may have played characters much much older than yourself, but this is not going to happen now that you are auditioning in the "real world".  Age and gender are two of the most significant definers of your "type" but there are also others to think about (which may need a separate post all to itself).

Your monologue should almost certainly be taken from a play.  Not from a TV show, a movie, a novel, or so on.  These are very different media, and have very different requirements.  If you take a monologue from a film or TV show, the auditors may think you are somebody who is completely ignorant about the world of theatre, which is not the impression you want to give.

The monologue you choose should stand on its own, in that the auditors should be able to understand what is basically going on just from hearing the monologue.  You will not be able to "explain" the monologue.

Make sure that you have read the whole play that your monologue comes from.  This will ensure that you actually understand everything that is going on for the character and the correct context for the monologue.  Best of all is to use a monologue that you have actually spoken in a play you were actually in!

You want to avoid any monologue that the folks you are auditioning for have heard someone perform better than you.  Your goal should make your performance the best performance they have heard of that particular monologue.  For a new actor, this means you should probably avoid taking a monologue from a famous, often-performed play.  There is also a peculiar category of monologues that are performed by auditioners much much more then the plays they come from are performed.  Directors tend to groan when they realize they are going to have to listen to that same darn monologue AGAIN.  Once when I was holding auditions, there were two actresses in a row who performed the very same monologue!

I suspect that those notorious "monologue books" are at least partly responsible for this problem.  Actors who are choosing monologues all go and read the same "monologue books" instead of searching out plays.  There is even a monologue book called, believe it or not, "Monologues They Haven't Heard".  Well, within a short time after that book came out, we certainly HAD heard all those monologues, and were sick of them.  If you see a monologue you like in a monologue book, you should assume that hundreds, thousands of other actors have also read a copy of that monologue book, seen the same monologue and have decided to use that monologue!

It might make more sense, when you see a monologue you like in a monologue book, to use that as a starting point and go and read other plays by the same playwright.  You should be able to find a lesser known play by a playwright you like, and find a monologue just as good as the one in the monologue book.

When you are choosing a monologue, you need to remember that the auditors are evaluating you on your ability to play a character.  So make sure you choose a monologue that allows you to do this.  This is not [just] a speech competition, don't choose a monologue simply because you like the words or the ideas in the monologue, choose the monologue because you are interested in the character and would like to play him or her.  The best monologues are the ones in which the character goes through some sort of internal journey over the course of the monologue.

That's enough to think about for now, part 2 of this discussion will be coming soon!

Welcome to my new blog!

This is the blog of the REAL KEVP.

So don't be fooled by imitations!

For now, this is just going to be a place for random thoughts that I want to get onto the Internet.  Perhaps in the future it will get more organized, and maybe split into different blogs, each with a particular focus.