The main purpose of this term is to prepare us for auditions, the industry and learning how to be the best version of yourself, and we were put through our paces this week by being giving a full day's worth of castings and self tapes for all sorts of different productions and characters. It was really challenging being given so many auditions to submit in such a small and pressurised time period, but I felt it was really exciting trying out for different roles that I haven't thought about before and pushing myself outside of my typecast, and for the majority of the castings I tried my hardest and performed something that I was very proud of. Before we completed this day, Carleigh gave us the three most important things you need when going into any audition or casting, and they are better known as the RIP. Your performance has to be rare, try your best to experiment with the sides/monologue/character to make sure it isn't a carbon copy of anyone else, you also need to show your personality as best you can so the panel can see if you're the type of person they want to work with. It also has to be informed, you need to make character choices that are strong and prove that you know what you're talking about when discussing the play/writer/plot of the speech or script you are given. There are always clues in the casting so make sure you keep yours eyes peeled for any information that applies to the role and the production. Finally, all of your auditions need to contain work you're proud of and would be able to perform in front of any casting director. Even with self tapes, it may be much harder and the energy may not be as strong as in the room auditions, so you have to try as hard as possible to showcase the RIP through the camera, and I'm sure the same would be said if you were making a show reel. The RIP is very important and I found it very useful going into this stressful day.
My favourite casting of the day was the in person workshop for a pantomime for old people, and I feel like I gave the best version of myself in this casting. I loved creating our Christmas show last year and getting to try out larger than life characters with different physicalities and voices and I love getting to perform comedies so this was the best chance for me to showcase my love for this genre and how many skills I've developed since working on other productions, I also enjoyed getting to work with different people to try out different character groups inside of this performance, and as we were reading the script I could fully envision the piece on its feet and I could see so much potential in all of these characters. I really enjoyed reading for Holly and Nikki with Archie as I like getting to work as a duo and I got to bounce energy off him really well and there was lots of sibling chemistry between us and we both look very young so I think that would've been the character I would most likely be cast as. My least favourite casting of the day was the movement piece and poem for 'The Black Dog', and I think the main reason for this was because it was the end of the day and I let tiredness overcome me so I didn't give my best performance and to the panel that looked like I didn't care enough, I should've kept up the energy from the adrenaline of the day and made sure I filled the RIP. Also, I don't feel very confident in movement and how to create a piece based off of any physical theatre, I haven't done much work on this in the past and as comfortable as I felt choosing the right poem, I struggled to create the right movement piece to accompany it, and I know that is one of the many skills that I need to develop during the next few terms.
Overall, I felt the day was very successful and I feel much more confident in how to present myself in castings and what genres and characters I could possibly be seen for, it was really informative for me seeing what I've done well this term and what I need to work on going into the next process. It gave me great practice of getting into the right head space and learning everything I need to know about each character and solidifying my interpretations of them. I need to show each casting director that what I can produce is rare, that my choices are informed and I am proud of every performance I do, and I felt confident that everything I showcased today showed off my best work and I enjoyed trialing different characters and looking at different genres. I know I have plenty to work on going into the next process and things to take on when I'm creating my self tapes for drama school, but I really enjoyed every moment of this day and the pressure kept me on my toes!
A photo of me performing a monologue from the pantomime production as part of a workshop
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