Auditioning for a play, advice would be appreciated

Colt45

I've always wanted to be in a play, but my family never had any involvement in them outside of the nativity play at my church(in which I had no lines) when I was little and my high school theater program was uninviting and made it clear that I wasn't welcome so I didn't bother. Flash forward a few years and my best friend's girlfriend is a theater major who's been on Broadway and a ton of semi-professional productions including Rent. I tell her I have always wanted to be in a play and she shows me tons of auditions in my area. I'm excited, but I have absolutely no idea what I'm getting myself into. What should I do to prepare for the audition? How should I practice if I do make it?

I understand that it's extremely unlikely that I'll make it, but just going should be a lot of fun (albeit nerve-wracking) and I want to take it seriously even if just to say I tried out for a play once. Any thoughts?

Tl;dr
How do I audition for a play?

eddizhere

Hi there! I've got a degree in theatre performance and a handful of professional shows under my belt so I'll see what advice I can offer you. First things first, it can be really difficult to get up the courage to audition so good on you for taking care of one of the hardest parts!

Second off, it really depends on the type of audition you're going to. Some auditions are cold reads which means you read excerpts from the script with other actors at the auditions and the people running the auditions will mix and match the actors who are there. Some may ask you to prepare a short monologue and about 16 bars of a song as well as bring sheet music to be played by the accompanist. Most community theatre work (which is the kind I think would suit you best right now) will be the first type.

There are a lot of different approaches to cold reads, but my recommendation is that you read an outline of the play you're auditioning for and gain a loose understanding of what's going on in it. Most of the postings will tell you specifics like which characters they're looking for along with a brief outline of them.

The best advice I can give to you is to dress in nice looking clothes that you can move freely in, show up early (at least fifteen minutes!), and give yourself time to warm up (mostly I'd suggest spending a few moments calming/focusing yourself and stretching as you need it). Always try to be as friendly and helpful to everybody you meet, the audition starts the moment you walk in the door. It doesn't matter how good you are on stage, if you're a jerk nobody will want to cast you.


Go in there and give it your best shot! Remember that you can only do the best that you're capable of the time, so don't spend too much time dwelling on things you could've done when you were up there. I like to look at auditions as a chance for more experience auditioning so I can do even better next time. That way I get something out of it regardless of what the cast list looks like.

I hope that was helpful in some way. If you have any other questions just let me know.

Break a leg!

Colt45

Thanks that helps a lot! I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes!