casting a play?

Question

in a few weeks, my friends and i are going to hold audtions for a play. Any ideas on ways we could do this. Besides making the actors memorize monologues.

Answer 1

you could have them show you their interpretation of mood, emotion, pronounciation, & voice inflection in an excerpt of said play. voice inflection is key; anyone who has listened to a prof who is clinically monotone knows that.

Answer 2

All of the above answers are nonsense. Memorized monologues are a good way to do first auditions to weed out those who do not look right or sound right for any role in your play. You can skip this step if you have a small number of people auditioning. Choose several small scene fom the play which show the essence of each character. Have the actors go on stage and read from these scenes with one another. I'm not sure you should be casting a play if you have never seen tryouts for a play.

Answer 3

You don't say where your pool of talent is coming from. There is a world of difference between the actors you'll get for professional production compared to a high school play.

A lot should depend on the script and your interpretation of it. If you're doing a musical, then singing and dancing should be included. I wouldn't bother having the candidates memorize anything, but have them read through and interpret the part they are auditioning for.

Answer 4

In casting,most of them time,you look for that person who has that extra'something"(Don't ask what that is,no one knows.Try to not cast to "type"as so many directors do.See how well they handle improv,for instance.Does the play rewuire singing or dancing?If so audition them seperately.then,hsve the people you pick "read for you"You can make this a challange for the actors as well as fnding out thier strengths and weaknesses>TL

Answer 5

use a workshop style situation, see who works well as a cast, cast the ones that you feel would work well, hard and fit the roles, but also look into different acting techniques, such as:

Brectian style, stanislavski, emptychair, breaking the fourth wall, movement, imagination, diversity, pace, timing, movement/blocking/lyrical and script memory. etc etc!

its important to get someone that you would get on with as you probably would be directing it too. it sounds harsh but choos only the best and use the above ideas to knock people out of the running!

its the best way of casting (i have found anyway!!)
Cheers
GOOD LUCK x

Answer 6

You could have them play improvisational games. This shows that they can think on their feet and (most importantly) you can have them play games together. This helps you see the chemistry between people auditioning.