Audition Doctor News
Playing Pretend
When auditioning for drama school, performing the work of long dead playwrights is unavoidable. Most, if not all, accredited drama schools require applicants to perform one (or even two) Shakespeare or Elizabethan-era monologues. Even with the assistance of a No Fear...
Shakespeare is Still Commercially Viable
Even the most respected institutions are beset by flaws. The criticism levelled at drama schools is varied and contradictory. It's been argued that drama schools are out of touch, blindly forging on with teaching Elizabethan playwrights for which there is no...
Drama Schools – Commissioners of New Theatre
This week, Lyn Gardner asked readers: "Who has commissioned or co-produced some of the potentially most interesting new theatre that is taking place over the next couple of weeks?" The answer was drama schools. Increasingly, drama schools such as the Royal Welsh...
“The Hardest Thing of All is Getting In”
For all drama school candidates currently in the throes of auditions, it might be marginally reassuring to note that Anne Marie Duff once said that "The hardest thing of all is getting into drama school. You'll never have that level of competition ever again. I mean...
Preparation
The chief reason why people come to Audition Doctor early on in the audition process is preparation. Advice on picking monologues and direction on the speeches themselves can only be assimilated and played with if you give yourself enough time before an audition. The...
Theatre’s Place in a Netflix World
It's common to hear of aspiring actors declaring a preference for screen or TV. As discussed in the previous posting, this may purely be down to the fact that students are wise to the fact that opportunities in theatre are waning. However, it would be foolish to...
Picking Speeches
Insanity was once defined by Einstein as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. One of the many reasons why students come to Audition Doctor is the fact that they find that they are not getting the recalls they so desperately want....
Why Drama School Graduates are Making Their Own Theatre
When Ideastap asked David Harewood whether drama school was worth the time and expense, he responded: "I’m really glad I did because it gave me that classical training, and you can’t get that anywhere else in the world. We have a deep theatrical tradition here as old...
Beckett in the West End
This week Mark Shenton wrote of his pleasant surprise at finding that a triple bill of Beckett monologues seemed to be outselling Andrew Lloyd - Webber's newest juggernaut - Stephen Ward the Musical. It was refreshing to see that not only had these notoriously...
Why Theatre is Not Elitist
Last week, Denis Kelly declared that nothing annoyed him more than the lazy and commonplace assumption that theatre was elitist. "I'm the son of a bus conductor and a cleaner, I grew up in a council house and left school at 16 with no qualifications, but I found a...
Using the Time Before Auditions
Ty Burrell, who plays Phil in the monumentally successful series Modern Family, said this week: "The real job of an actor is auditioning, not acting. That's really the day-to-day life. You get the call at 2pm and they want you there by 4.30pm..." Thankfully, auditions...
The Demands of Training
Previous articles have touched upon the relative merits of university drama courses and drama school training. An article in The Times warned its readers about the "hidden truth about university courses; that a few offer a terrific, demanding education while many...
Finding the Right Monologues for You
Last week, Susan Elkin wrote in The Stage: "I happened to be visiting a prestigious London drama school recently while it was auditioning potential students. The applicants were huddled, anxious and nervous in a stark corridor waiting to go in one by one. Each was...
Shakespeare’s Relevance
Much has been written on the fact that too much time at drama schools is devoted to Shakespeare and not enough given to acting for screen, with heads of acting at top drama schools lamenting the fact that they are training pupils for a fast disappearing theatre...
University Drama Courses vs. Drama Schools
Susan Elkin, columnist for The Stage, commented on the regularity of students asking her whether university drama courses are a safer choice than conservatoire-style drama schools. This was due in part to the discussions last year of drama schools moving to model...
Alternative Forms of Training
In The Guardian, Nick Asbury wrote: "Being an actor is hard, both in its delivery and its expectancy. Nothing trains you for standing in front of thousands of people and starting a long Shakespeare speech, or having to get the final take of the day right, because if...
Drama Schools Adjust Curriculums
In an article in The Stage entitled "The camera never lies - how well do drama school prepare their students for TV?" Matthew Hemley was adamant that "drama schools could do more to prepare actors for the reality of a working life, particularly in front of a camera....
Being Responsible for Your Training
While Audition Doctor has always maintained that training at drama school is the wisest way to enter the acting industry, said establishments have come under fire recently for a myriad of reasons. They have been criticised for being too expensive, not preparing...
Finding Speeches
Audition Doctor always maintains that the most important decision you make when applying for drama schools is choosing your speeches. While the scope of modern speeches is pretty much boundless, the choice of Shakespeare and Elizabethan monologues to pick from is far...
Training is Vital – Whether at Drama School or Not
The Stage recently reported on the success of the NYT's rep season. This new form of training actors is the brainchild of the NYT director, Paul Roseby, who was also responsible for controversial remarks earlier in the year questioning the benefits of three year drama...
Preparation for Drama School Auditions
Whenever advice is proffered by teachers at drama school before auditions, they always encourage the following: Be open to suggestion, be willing to be vulnerable and be receptive to your fellow actors. It's difficult to follow such advice when experiencing the often...
Why Drama School is Still Worth It
Much has been written about Paul Roseby's declaration that three year drama school courses are a waste of time and money. Nick Asbury's response to it was a considered one; while he deplored the "astronomical" costs of drama school that meant "[it] saddles people with...
Shakespeare at Drama School, in the West End and on Broadway
In the dramatically titled Guardian piece - Frank Langella: Legend of the Fall, it transpired that acting and writing autobiographies aside, Langella delivers sobering talks to drama school students. "The desire has to be raging in you, because such is the brutality...
Drama School – Not Just for Actors
When applying for drama school, its common to only see your immediate goal - getting in. The audition process is such a lengthy process that often candidates forget that securing a place is only the very first step to even possibly beginning a career in acting. I use...