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AUDITIONS FOR DEPT. STAGE PRODUCTIONS

Auditions ARE REQUIRED for both mainstage theatre productions in the fall and for both in the spring semesters.  Auditions are held at 6pm. 

For Fall 2021, auditions will be held Thursday 9 September. Callbacks will be posted late Thursday evening, and will be held Friday evening 10 September. Cast lists will be posted Saturday 11 September.

All auditioners must complete the audition form, found here, prior to auditioning.

Audition Guidelines 

The audition piece must be memorized if you are a declared Theatre major or if you have taken an acting class. If this is your first time auditioning for the Department, it is very strongly recommended  that your audition piece be fully memorized.  Auditioners may have the script in hand. Prior performance or acting class experience is not required.

Directors—whether faculty or senior thesis students—of the Department of Theatre are looking for actors who are actively and imaginatively engaged in the pursuit of an intention/objective rather than merely demonstrating an emotion or personality. The most successful audition piece is one that actively reveals the experience of a person other than the actor him/herself. It is recommended that you select material that you respond to personally.

Accessibility

We are committed to providing an accessible and welcoming environment for all participants. Individuals with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations or have questions about the Theatre Department's accessibility should contact the Theatre Administrator for assistance, cgrant@barnard.edu.

Preparing for Auditions

Choose an audition piece, and read the entire play it’s taken from before the audition. Work on the audition piece in advance; waiting until the night before the audition is highly discouraged. The audition monologue is limited to 60 seconds.

Some basic questions to consider when preparing your audition piece:

  • Who am I?
  • Where am I (what is the time, weather and place)?
  • Who am I talking to?
  • Why am I saying this now, or what makes it important to say this now?
  • What am I hoping to achieve by saying this? Or, how do I hope things will change because I say this?

Audition Procedures

All students auditioning for classes and/or productions must attend an informational meeting in the Minor Latham Playhouse prior to auditions, typically at 6pm on the day of auditions.

Auditions will begin shortly after the introductory session. Auditioners must be present at the beginning of the audition period, but will be auditioned individually, and may leave one they have auditioned. You will have the opportunity to declare whether you are auditioning for all shows produced that semester, or only for one show. If the director would like to hear you sing, that information will be announced prior to auditions.

Callback lists for the semester’s productions are posted later in the evening: callbacks are scheduled for the following evening and instructions will be provided. All shows for a given semester will be cast by the end of the first week of class, so that students who are cast may register for the class/production. Students are required to register for the appropriate section of Performance Practicum or will be dropped from the show.