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Hi

My dd has an audition for drama school next week. Could you watch her audition tape (on the link)>
The piece is from All New People and she is playing the character of Emma.
Could you give any comments, constructive criticism or advice?

Thank you so much

I can't look at it right now I'm afraid as my internet access is a bit limited. I will try to look this evening or over the weekend and comment then if that's ok.

Hello

I've sent you a pm, but thought I might as well put my thoughts on here as well, in case it's of use to anyone else - in terms of working on a speech:


It's tricky to comment in a useful way, partly because I have rather poor internet access at the moment and can't always view videos. Partly also because watching an audition for drama school on a video means that it is difficult to assess how she would come over in a real audition at drama school (she would not be so hampered by staying within the frame, keeping her head towards camera etc - I think she will be have more freedom in the real thing). However, I have watched it a few times and have the following suggestions which may or may not be useful:

DD is expressive, has positive energy and an appealing presence. One useful way to work further on the speech might be to split it up very ruthlessly by looking at the punctuation. Pace about the room and every time you come to a full stop - change direction - every time. Be strict! Even if the full stop is after two words. Each full stop is a change of thought - a change of direction in the mind - and doing it physically can help to cement this in your mind. The character makes some quite big changes of direction and I think you can afford to take a fraction more time between them. At the moment, it is a little bit generalised. The pace is quick (which is appropriate) but tends to run at a similar pace all the way through.

Another useful exercise is to really consider who you are talking to. What effect are you trying to have upon them? Not just overall, but with each individual phrase you utter? It won't be the same effect you are trying to have each time - so you need to change how you say the phrase, depending on what you are trying to do the other person (e.g. tease, provoke, flatter or whatever). You can then (for the purposes of the audition) imagine that you have provoked a reaction from your listener which in turn will affect the way you say the next phrase.

The fast pace is entirely appropriate for the character - but she needs to take care that her diction is still reasonable, a few of the words were unclear. Occasional changes in pace might well overcome this. I don't mean she should over enunciate, but if she just listens to it (rather than watching it back) and imagines someone hearing it for the first time, I think she'll see where she needs to take extra care. In these places, she needs to find a reason for the character to slow down - not just slow down for the sake of the audition.

I hope some of that is helpful! Very best of luck to her.

pg