REFLECTIONS

The Audition Adventure

Thoughts on the first day of auditions for Round Two of The Rehearsal Room Audition Workshops.

It’s 3.37am Sunday morning.

And the brain is leaping from thought to thought.

Is that the result of those couple of glasses of celebratory red with dinner or the stimulus of an exciting day? The first day of Round Two of the Audition Workshops is over. Fifteen actors focused and well prepared applied their skill and intellect to the task of presenting an audition scene.

Casting Director Dina Mann worked with enthusiasm. Actors felt trusted and inspired. There was a distinct lack of nerves. A thoroughly professional atmosphere. Focused, listening, attentive.

But there were of course differences.

• A fresh youthfulness beside a more mature life experience.
• Newly formed acting process being tested alongside established process being strengthened.
• Confidence levels being explored, new understandings reached.
• Actors challenging old habits, others creating new ones.

So, what stands out from this experience?

What is left besides the residue in the wine glass and a few crumbs of Boston Bun.

Images of the day? Committed actors approaching their craft with enthusiasm. Dina Mann - experienced and passionate. Those with less experience supporting each other with interest and optimism. No sense of competition but a shared understanding of common goals and a passionate desire to achieve them. A shared air of purpose. Achievements being valued.

A story clearly told is recognized.

Impulses trusted and given freedom are applauded.

Complex levels of listening are admired.

A world created and understood is appreciated and enjoyed.

And it’s clear that the over all task is to find a balance between all these elements.

Finding that balance is the quest.

How easy it seems - when it’s right. How plainly it needs adjusting when it is wrong.

• Not enough story and the audience is not drawn to watch.
• Too much story and there is no belief in the complexity of character.
• Not enough trust of impulse and although the performance is real there is no engagement with story for the character is not a risk.
• Too much impulse and although character risk is high often story is unclear – swamped by individual moments but no clear line.

The quest is for balance?

Trust and confidence, given free reign, allow all that preparation and active listening to rise to the surface. Listening to both story and ‘need’ produce readable impulses. A detailed world built for a character allows a complexity to exist within the character’s decisions?

These are the challenges. THIS IS THE SKILL. Here lies the risk.

And risk is something to be embraced. Risk is what keeps the actor active. Its what keeps the character real and it keeps the story alive.

When Dina Mann nominated the three things she was looking for in performance she offered …

1) Truth of the moment,
2) real listening and
3) risk.

Here are three more to think about …

4) Story told,
5) impulses trusted and
6) permission to confidently play.

Its 4.27am! The light of a new day will reveal if this has been a distortion created by the wine glass. Or has it been inspired by a residue of passion, commitment and a sense of adventure still alive in The Rehearsal Room air from an exciting morning of actors doing what they do best.

Many thanks for a great day.

Richard.

Copyright © The Rehearsal Room 2005. All rights Reserved.