How to Choose Audition Material

Choose Audition Material

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Congratulations! You finally have that first big audition. You’re excited, you’re nervous and you’re terrified all at the same time. The first important building block to any successful audition is choosing the correct material. Follow these steps and you’ll be nailing down that gig in no time.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

Monologue Books
Plays
Time
Stopwatch
Pen/Pencil

Step1

Read everything. Spend the time and read every play and monologue book that you can get your hands on.

Step2

Remember age appropriateness. Make sure and choose material that comes from characters that are in your age range. Nothing kills an audition quicker than a 20-something walking in and doing Mama Rose.

Step3

Check the time. Most auditions have time limits on their audition pieces (usually between two to five minutes depending on whether they are seeing one or two pieces per audition). Make sure that your potential pieces are not too short or too long. Read them aloud, as you would perform them, and time them with the stopwatch.

Step4

Have options. Select several different monologues or scenes that you like, and think would be appropriate.

Step5

Cut as necessary. If you have found a piece that you truly love, but it’s a little long, you may want to cut it. See if taking out a couple of sentences will help shorten the time into the range you need.

Step6

Forget the scenes. Some two or three character scenes make great audition material because talking directly to another character is already built into the dialogue. Just make sure that when you take out the line from the unneeded characters, the piece makes sense.

Step7

Run it by someone. Perform your chosen piece for a friend, teacher or colleague. Have them critique it honestly. Make sure that the criteria you want, they can see in the chosen material. If not, choose another one. Remember, you won’t have a problem switching pieces because you have several options (Step 4) at the ready.

Step8

Nail it down. Have fun. Enjoy performing. Nail down the gig.