How it Begins: Auditions, Part 1

The Audition Announcement for an Original Script (or an old one, but mostly new ones...)

I am a Director. I also write plays, but my first and foremost theatre art is Directing. Most people have no idea what that means. The job of a Director is not that of dictator – if they’re any good at all – but that of leader. The Director’s primary responsibility is to interpret the script and lead everyone else to contribute to the effective embodiment of that interpretation.

As a Director, my work begins before Pre-Production and extends to Opening Night (and often, in my case, throughout the run). Auditions and casting are one of the most complicated, difficult, thrilling, and delicate steps in Directing a play. It isn’t just about finding someone who can play the part, who can learn the lines, who can sing the songs, who can perform the steps – it is so much more than that.

As with everything regarding theatre I talk about, it comes first from a philosophy, from principles, that dictate the approach I take and decisions I make. Principle one for me as a Director is “do the work.” For the play to turn out the way I want, I have to do the work. Lazy has no part in a play generally, but it especially cannot be a characterization of the Director. Regardless of how a play is received, I need to be able to say to myself that I honestly did all I could, that I did the show I set out to do.

Here’s another thing about being a Director: everything on that stage is on you. Yup. Now I don’t personally want to have every idea up there, but I am the one that takes in other people’s suggestions and accepts or rejects them or modifies them. The bottom line choice of everything from the bow in an actor’s hair, to the accent used by another, to the tone and speed of the play is on me. Which means every poignant, compelling moment is mine. And every disastrous, deadly dull exchange is mine too.

Director sanity saver: It is all your responsibility – but you aren’t responsible for everything. In other words, yeah, that show, good and bad is on you, but learning lines, for instance, isn’t your damn problem and if they didn’t do it, no matter what you did to assist, well, that’s on them. Other people have work to do too.

And all those things coming together and working begin in the early stages, like auditioning. So you need to get it right.

Making things, like auditioning, easy on your actors means working harder yourself. That’s the job. (I heard a suggestion, for plumping out audition numbers, that every actor auditioning be required to bring another with them. Fuck that and the guy who suggested it. 1. Bringing in actors is your job, not something you put on actors. 2. It goes against everything I’ve said, and will say, about making actor’s work easier. 3. Auditions are competitive. You expect them to cheerfully up the competition? 4. Some actors literally don’t know other actors. 5. Actors who do know other actors are generally encouraging them to audition already if they want to. You have simply created another difficult hurdle to auditions that will drive down the numbers, not up them.)

Working harder means, for instance, you want actors to feel comfortable, safe, and to know where things stand so that they can do their best work. That means things like making a very clear, exhaustive rehearsal schedule so they know what they’re doing every day and don’t waste time asking or stress wondering. It takes more work as a Director to create that detailed schedule, but it saves things being overlooked or forgotten, and keeps everyone in the loop. It has no downside. But it takes work; if avoiding work is what you’re after, don’t be a Director.

The belief that getting a good cast is a magical, a hit-or-miss thing is childish. Do the work. That’s the fancy trick. And yes, sometimes auditions are better or lesser attended, sometimes you get stronger or weaker options, for a variety of reasons; don’t let that reason be that you didn’t put in the time.

I have often, almost exclusively, directed original work which is important to me, and exciting to me, but it has it’s own casting/audition obstacle. If you’re directing Mary Poppins everyone knows what that is and people will show up because they’ve always wanted to be in Mary Poppins. If you’re directing Creatures of the Night, by Emily Fitzgerald, nobody automatically says I’ve always wanted to be in that because it has never existed before. You gotta do the work, and the work of enticing actors to audition for an unknown work is its own art form.

One note of warning if you’ve made it this far: Directing is all about reading. Reading people, reading the room, and most of all, reading words. Scripts are made of lots and lots of words. If close, detailed reading isn’t a skill or interest of yours, Directing is not for you.

What is a great audition announcement when you can’t rely on a well-known title? It must include the following:

Title. Even though it’s an unknown play, the title matters because it’s the first thing people will (should) see. “Creatures of the night” isn’t an uncommon or unheard of phrase. It is evocative. Using it as a title may just arrest an actor long enough to look closer. Spend time choosing a title – it’s your first enticing element.

The director and the playwright. SPELL PEOPLE’S NAMES RIGHT. Nobody likes to have their name spelled wrong. It matters. Details always matter. You can take the extra minute to check, dammit.

Dates, Times, Location. By dates and times I mean when the auditions are, but also when the performances are and what the basic rehearsal schedule is. These are the very first things an actor with potential interest needs to know: can I even do this? If they know they can’t make performance dates, or can’t commit to the rehearsal schedule, there’s no point in auditioning. And they will only waste your time if they show up to audition only to find this out then. Always be as clear and thorough as you can with key information.

This includes whether actors need appointments or not. I strongly encourage first come, first serve over auditions. 1. It’s a hassle to keep up with audition times. 2. What if something comes up and someone can’t come to their appointment but could come your other day. Now they have to cancel and reschedule. 3. What if they simply don’t show? You’re just sitting there doing nothing and you’re angry now. 4. What if they just heard about the auditions? But they don’t come because they needed to make an appointment.

Caveat: if you have an unholy number of auditioners expected, sure, make appointments. Hopefully in that situation you have a person dedicated to nothing else but managing audition appointments.

Yes. I’ve seen people leave out the location of auditions. 1. Makes it hard for people to show up for them and 2. Makes an actor ask themselves if they want to get involved with a production that doesn’t even know where it is.

Image. Have a poster/image that is evocative of the play, interesting, and for the love of all the theatre gods, well executed. Keep in mind a couple things: Simple and clear is good; make the title the most prominent thing; if using a photo, make it a good one (in focus, no crap in the background, etc.); it must be up-loadable. Put work and thought and care into your images. It matters.

Audition requirements. Do you want monologues, head shots? Do they need to sing, play guitar, juggle? Be very clear about what actors need to be prepared for, and which characters have which requirements. Maybe everyone needs to sing in your musical but does everyone need to juggle?

Get real with yourself. Do you have an impulse to ask for a 1-2 minute monologue, and head shot/resume because that’s common? But do you really need that? Maybe you do – but often you really don’t.

First, if you want monologues, why? Is it to cull down an immense number of actors – great. Or why I required monologues when I did Twelfth Night – because I only wanted serious auditioners who had put in some time and I needed to know if, given time, they could understand and make meaning with his language. 1 asked for a single 1-2 minute Shakespearean monologue. Be very clear what you want and why. (You never need more than a minute, really, especially if you’re doing two contrasting, and be clear what type monologue. Shakespeare, classical, contemporary, comedic, etc.)

Resumes can be useful, if you have time to really peruse them. A damn fine audition questionnaire and short chat can give you a sense of their experience level.

Headshots. Again, are you expecting so many actors you can’t remember them without a visual reminder? That’s the only practical need I can see for one. (And you could just take their picture on your phone.) Otherwise, it’s a classist requirement. Those things are expensive and not every good actor can afford them or has them at the ready. I’ve never based a casting decision on a head shot or resume. I simply say they are “welcome but not required,” in exactly that language.

I have done almost exclusive cold readings from the actual play in every audition and it tells me what I need to know: can I see this actor in that role?

It is all about making auditions accessible and inclusive. On multiple occasions the best actors I’ve had ran in at the very end of auditions because they only just heard about it. Because they didn’t need a monologue or head shot/resume, they could grab a side, walk in, and audition. Had I had those gate-keeping requirements, I would’ve lost out on those actors, much to my own loss. Make it easy for them, get as many people as you can.

Also remember: Actors are auditioning you, too. While you’re sizing them up, they should be doing the same with you. If you make them jump through a bunch of hoops and can’t give them a good explanation why, you may lose them.

A good synopsis. I’m not going to say this is always easy. You have to introduce a story and some characters no one has ever heard of. You have to evoke the tone: drama, comedy, absurdist, musical, dark, farcical. Especially with a mystery or something with a great twist you absolutely must allude to it and you absolutely cannot give it away. Nonetheless, this is the most important next step – you want to entice actors to want to be part of this incredible story.

Something a lot of people don’t consider either is that the audition announcement is the beginning of promotions for the show. This is the first anyone has heard about it in any detail. People may think “Well, I’ll be out of town or having major surgery during rehearsals but I definitely want to see this.” It begins a public consciousness and interest in the unheard-of play.

Character descriptions. Who do you need? This can be complex so here we go. Inclusion is and always should be foremost in your mind, both in terms of the types of people you cast AND  equal access to a role.

Example:

Annabelle Valentine (F, 25-30) Valentine is a hard-boiled, smart-ass private investigator. Her hard, sarcastic shell hides a sensitive woman who has fierce loyalties and protective instincts for vulnerable people and the people she considers her family, including her partner Parker, their friend Aurore, and her mother figure, Rosita. The role is physical and requires an ability to perform stage combat, handle a gun, and cuss.

No ethnicity is mentioned because Valentine can be any ethnicity. If your character should be a particular ethnicity, say so. If they don’t either don’t bring it up or specifically say that all ethnicities welcome.

The same is true of her gender. The character is a woman, but she can be played by an actor of any gender, including trans and non-binary, who can play the character as a woman. You can not mention it at all or you can explicitly invite actors of all genders.

Similarly her age range: the character should be played somewhere between 25-30. The actor could be any age if they can play that range.

Some actors have things that make them uneasy, and four of those are stage combat, stage intimacy, firearms, and bad words. Setting it out clearly in the descriptions gives those actors who may have an issue a heads up.

The same clarity is true of her dis/ability status. By stating that Valentine needs to be able to do combat, it implies a certain kind of physically disabled actor would be ill-suited to the role. But perhaps their disability doesn’t matter: I’ve worked with chronically ill, mentally ill, and autistic actors who were excellent. I’ve done combat with an actor who couldn’t bend one knee. It’s all about matter-of-fact communication and accommodation. A commitment to inclusion.

Depending on who you are and how much you’ve cast shows before, under what conditions, or if  you simply haven’t truly thought actively about inclusion before, you will make assumptions about who Valentine is. Is she a white, mid-20’s, physically fit, curser? Or is she a Latina, 30 year-old, chronically ill trans woman who can still throw down when necessary, and stops herself when she wants to say a bad word? Free your mind.

Contact. Give a name and contact info. Choose someone who is both responsive and can answer a prospective auditioner’s questions. I always chose to give my own contact info; as the Director, I know the answers and I counted on myself to respond in a timely manner. Even if all they wanted was the address of the theater, well, I know that too.

Get all of it right THE FIRST TIME. I’m an actor, say, scrolling through a list of auditions. I see this one. I like it ok, but I know I’ll be out of town during the actual audition. I move on and if I see this title again, I already know it’s out. So what if that original date was wrong, or changed, or extended, or you forgot to write “If you can’t make these dates/times, contact the Director for options”? They’re not likely to read the whole thing again to notice the new information. You’ve already lost some people. So get it right the first time.

Which means, take the announcement seriously. Put in the time. Be thorough, be clear, be accessible, be interesting. Get them in the door.

Then it’s on to Auditions, Part 2: Running and choosing (and what to do then)