Shakespeare Monologues: 5 Mistakes People Make with their Drama School Auditions
Just a brief one today, but an important one:
ONE: PROSE
The most obvious mistake is that people choose a PROSE speech instead of a VERSE speech. What’s the difference? Well, one is poetry and the other is simply the ordinary written word. While I’m sure his PROSE is excellent, I believe that drama schools want to see if you can handle VERSE drama like Shakespeare, and if you choose PROSE, what are you showing them that is different from the contemporary or modern piece that they’ve asked for?
TWO: IGNORING THE VERSE
Apparently CENTRAL don’t want you to work out the Iambic Pentameter these days, funny, cos I’ve always thought that you can’t really get away from it, it would be like playing Chopin but ignoring the time signature – it would be all wrong.
THREE: NATURALISING
We’re so used to acting for film and television that we want everything to be small and natural. There’s no reason that you can’t use heightened performing that is authentic, or what you might consider natural in playing style, but you can’t naturalise Shakespeare’s verse (or anyone else’s for that matter). If it’s heightened language, it needs a heightened performance.
FOUR: POOR CASTING
Make sure that someone might cast you in that role. I’m sure that the Drama Schools would say that as long as you did it well, it doesn’t matter what you choose. But the point is that if they can’t imagine you in that role, you’re fighting a losing battle. On the flip side of that, if the part is for a girl, then sorry, but only girls can play it! Drama Schools don’t want to see your amazing inventiveness in playing a female Hamlet or a male Juliet, they want to see your acting, don’t make yourself look like a weirdo who can’t follow instructions.. which leads me to…
FIVE: FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS
Every now and again I come across a fellow or a fellowette who just can’t follow instructions. We’re not talking about obeying anyone here, but when the drama school has issue audition advice, they mean it. They’re tired of seeing pieces that don’t contrast, pieces from off the telly when they want a theatre piece, pieces of Marlowe when they specifically asked for Shakespeare, pieces of Shakespeare when they specifically asked for non-classical, pieces from 1850 when they were looking for a modern piece! FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS, or you end up looking like 1) you can’t read 2) you can read but you don’t care to follow their instructions 3) you’re a pain in the arse.