What an amazing week!  What an amazing bunch of auditions!  Forgive me if I gush, but this really has been an incredible week, full of surprises and some super auditions (a few not-so-great, but not many!!)!

I really had no clue what to expect because, as I mentioned in a previous post, I gave the interested people audition pieces from the play to learn.  I think what surprised me the most is that the people I expected to do really well were the ones who clearly didn’t practice or spend much time on the pieces beforehand, while the people who I thought would blow it off were the ones who had clearly spent some time preparing.  This is one of the things I love about working with teenagers - They will surprise you at every turn.  One day is never quite like a previous day, and even though they may drive you up the wall, there is never a dull moment!

One girl in particular gave a very surprising audition…a VERY good audition if you know her background.  When I started the Shakespeare Festival last year, this young lady was in tears over the entire experience.  If I tried to get her to face the audience, she cried.  If I tried to get her to speak loud enough to be heard, she cried.  It was really a traumatic experience for her (and for me!), even though it was one scene and I think she only had three lines.  It was absolutely miserable…until the day of the Festival.  On the day of the Festival, she did not cry…she spoke loud enough to be heard…and when it was all over with, she said, “That was fun.  I think I might like to try out for the summer play!”  I think my jaw was stuck to the floor for several moments after that.  I was so pleased she enjoyed it and did well, but I never would have dreamed it would have turned out that way for her.

Well, she came in to her audition, looking nervous but not terrified, and she and her friend read the dialogue between Bianca and Katharina in Act II, scene i.  First she read as Bianca, and did very well - she sounded fearful of Katharina and put a lot of emotion into the audition.  Then I had the girls switch and she read as Katharina.  It wasn’t as good, but then I didn’t expect it to be great…this girl is NOT a shrew, but rather a very quiet young lady, and acting like Katharina would have been a HUGE stretch for her.  I was just so proud that she clearly practiced and worked on this audition piece in advance, and that she overcame that initial fear to the point that she wants to continue acting in our school plays.

So far I’ve seen twelve female auditions and eight male auditions, with three more boys coming in today.  These numbers are exciting for me because it means I’ve finally gotten the boys to want to do Shakespeare (last year’s auditions were overwhelmingly girls), and with 23 people I will have no problem filling my cast of 19.  In fact, I’ve decided to add the Induction back into The Taming of the Shrew, which is rarely done from what I’ve been told. (I will explain that in my next post!)  By doing this, I will ensure that everyone who auditioned gets a part, even if it has fewer than five lines.  I know I probably sound like a wuss, not wanting to cut anyone, but my goal right now is not just to create a solid drama program at our school.  It is also to convince these students that they have gifts to offer, and that drama can be fun for everyone.  Some of them may be in the play this summer and realize that they really don’t care for performing…but they sure thought helping with set design was fun!  And building their self-confidence makes all of the work worthwhile!

Posted Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:15:48 and filed under auditioning, Staging Shakespeare, Schools, Education, Acting, The Taming of the Shrew. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.