Unit 12: Task 2 - Audition for Final Show! 15/04/24

Candidate Declaration - I confirm that the attached portfolio is all my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself

 TASK 2 – AUDITION PROCESS – Take part in a well planned, rehearsed and understood audition for your chosen project.

Final Show Auditions

Before we broke up for half term, Kelly made clear that our first day back would be auditions to be apart of our final show. Unlike all of the auditions I've been apart of during my time at Stockton Riverside, these ones are completely different since it's not an audition for a specific character, it's to be in the show. I found this really interesting and a new way to look at auditions, in the fact that you don't have to worry about getting the character that you want, as it'll be the character that challenges you the most you'll get instead. Over half term, I looked at monologue lists from published plays, and lots of them I had a go at and learnt, but none of them really challenged me or held any special meaning for choosing it. However, I was scrolling one day looking at female monologues from plays, and found a specific one from the play 'Steel Magnolias'. Steel Magnolias is one of my favourite films of all time, for it's meaning and how comforting the entire film makes me feel, so when I saw that it was originally a play, I knew I had to do a monologue from it. Funnily enough, we were told due to it being a stage audition, to not find a monologue from a film, and knowing that Steel Magnolias was originally a play was interesting to find out. The monologue I chose is from a pivotal point in the play where the main characters daughter unfortunately has passed away, and she's coming to terms with the loss. It's a moving monologue that is sad which I've not shown to Kelly or Abi before, hence the reason to why I wanted to perform it. I normally have showcased light monologues before alongside the obvious Shakespeare ones in preparation for University auditions, so I know a monologue that you need to be careful with, and have to take the correct pauses to draw any heartfelt emotions out would definitely be a challenge. I rehearsed it multiple times over the half term, and let it just stay in my head during the last few days so that I wouldn't be nervous before the audition, which definitely benefited me as on the day of auditions I wasn't stressed, instead I was calm and confident. 

My audition on Monday 15th was at 13:05, but due to some auditions being longer than expected, it meant mine was delayed and so I just hung around the theatre practising until it was my time to go in. I walked in with confidence and made sure to not show any nerves I had, because I feel if I showed my worries, then the people watching me would be apprehensive in return. My audition began with a small talk, where Kelly asked me about my monologue. I replied saying it's from Steel Magnolias, which in response received lots of approval from both Kelly and Abi, meaning they had seen the movie and loved it as much as me. Abi even spoke about how she wrote about the film in her dissertation, which I found so interesting, and I made sure to explain how once I knew it was a play, I felt like I just had to do a monologue from it. The entire talk we had before I performed my monologue was super relaxed, and it made me feel excited to perform instead. Kelly asked me about 'One Flew Over..' which I replied that I had read the play and loved the challenge of it, and how I just got the movie version, and will be watching it as soon as possible. When the subject of the other show came up, I stated that I would prefer to be in 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' but since I don't know the other one just yet, i'll definitely keep my options open. In addition, on the subject of the other show, Kelly said how she had Steel Magnolias in mind for it, but due to the extremities of the set, we just wouldn't have had time to do the whole play justice. After our little talk, I put a chair in the middle of the stage and began my monologue. I chose last minute to use the chair to create a more intimate connection between the words I'm speaking and with the audience, as I always felt when I was practising it stood up, my arms were hindering me and blocked my full emotions to appear. I felt like I performed it really well, and kept my facial expressions clear to highlight my grief, and by taking pauses now and then contributed to that further. Once I had completed my monologue, Kelly and Abi both gave me a little clap, and Kelly said how she loves the way I act, which to me was a huge compliment and meant to me that I had done the monologue justice. I had intended to cry so in preparation watched the scene from the movie version of 'Steel Magnolias' since it always makes me emotional, and every-time I pictured it my lip would quiver slightly, and my eyes would water but it never led to full streaming tears. However, looking back, I much preferred how I focused on the words and how I said them, rather than making myself fully cry.  I finished my audition, said thank you so much, and left to a very supportive hug from Adam waiting for me outside. Everyone is in the same situation and it's important to be supportive of one another before they go in for their audition, and it was clear to see how loving everyone was. 

The following day Abi wrote everyone a litle bit of feedback on Teams, in which mine said: 

Milly S – A very mature performer, well thought out audition. Can tell you really understand the character and emotion. Great use of pauses and emotional connection. Very gripping! Can see the thought process. Well done Milly.