CRW_4887Last year, Ophelia Lovibond was interviewed for Whatsonstage before she appeared in Lucy Prebble’s The Effect at Sheffield Theatres (Crucible Studio).

“I’m so excited…The luxury which I am realising I’ve not had working in film and television is the time to figure out every different facet of the character and discuss everything – it’s very addictive.”

Students at Audition Doctor often comment on sessions with Tilly in a similar vein. The regularity with which most attend is a testament to the value they place on the time for experimentation and discovery that Audition Doctor provides.

Lovibond spoke particularly of how acting for the stage was pushing her to learn “a different aspect of her craft. There are so many ideas that you can interrogate. And Daniel Evans, the director, is so full of ideas; he’ll make you try things out that hadn’t occurred to you and you discover something you never could have anticipated which enriches your performance so much more.”

Similarly, Audition Doctor alerts students to less obvious and consequently more interesting character choices. Many make the mistake of making bold choices for the sake of being remembered in an audition. At Audition Doctor, the choices made are original and daring without compromising the motivation of the text. Audition Doctor students are remembered for the right reasons at auditions – for playing unique characters that are ultimately rooted in truth.

Gael Garcia Bernal commented on his time at LAMDA saying: “Looking at it in retrospect it was of course very formative and incredibly important.” Aside from professional actors, Audition Doctor has proved highly popular with those applying to drama school. While some have used Audition Doctor as their main training ground, Tilly encourages everyone to receive formal training and the focus that the one-on-one nature of the sessions affords is integral to drama school candidates. With 5000 people auditioning, the need to assert individuality and imagination is a must to pass the numerous recall stages.

Furthermore, the brilliance of working consistently on one character at Audition Doctor is that the intensity of focus encourages a feeling of ownership. This is invaluable especially with parts – such as female parts in Shakespeare plays – that are not only limited, but also performed with such frequency.

Bernal spoke about the importance of ownership and how much easier it is as an actor to achieve in a television series and in theatre than in film: “In a film you don’t get the chance to feel that. Even if you do feel and develop that, later when you see it put together, you see a whole different collage of what you did. [In a series], you feel more in the chronology, like in a theatre.”

With drama school auditions, candidates don’t have the luxury that a full-length play affords to display this ownership over character.  Audition Doctor gives her students the ability to show a panel that they are fearless and innovative in the time it takes to perform their monologue, which is why most of Audition Doctor’s students go on to gain places at leading drama schools.