They are culled from past AWOL Q&A's. They are in no particular order and there are redundancies.

Most communities - even small ones - have a theatre group or two. Most inexperienced beginners start in community theatre. They are excellent places to learn the basics and begin to build some experience.

There are many, many hundreds of theatre groups that do not have internet sites, or whose sites are not posted on this page - yet. Besides the sites posted on this page, you should also search the web using your favorite search engine.

Search this site too: The American Association of Community Theatres.

You can also find out about your local theatre groups and their auditions, by looking in your local newspapers. Call your papers and find out which day of the week and in which section they publish audition notices. Also look for performance listings. Call the phone number listed for ticket sales and ask about future auditions.

Attend community play performances. Talk to cast members after the show. Tell them you are interested in their group and would like to join and audition for plays (be sure to mention how much you enjoyed their play and performance.) Find out whatever info you can. Most community groups publish a newsletter for members. These will also contain audition notices.

Try contacting your local colleges and universities. These places frequently produce shows which are open for the public to audition. Look in the phone book.

Go to as many auditions as you can.

If you don't get a part in a play, then volunteer to help on the stage, costume, set design or lighting crews. Becoming involved in theatre productions, even behind the scenes, will give you important experience in how the performing business works and can be included on a theatrical resumé as well.

Besides local plays, you should also market yourself directly. Contact your nearest AFTRA/SAG office to see if they have any casting director contact names and addresses. Watch the TV commercials for your local businesses. Call the various businesses and ask who do their TV ads. Then call the ad agencies and ask if they keep actor files (for those times when they cast direct) and/or who handles casting for their productions. Often times the production houses do their own casting instead of going through agencies. Contact your local production houses.

Contact big companies directly. Some really big companies do some of their own productions in-house and keep actor files. Also ask who they use for their outside production work and which agencies they use for casting.

Contact your local film schools or universities with film making depts. Find out who is making student films and make sure each of those aspiring directors know you are an eager actor willing to work (expect to get NO pay. But you might get a video of the films you are in - from which you can put together an audition video to send to agents).

Check your local papers, film commissions or trade publications for audition notices for independent films that might be filmed in your area. Call whatever contact # is given.

If you are a talented actor, singer and or dancer, you might swing an audition for a touring show and, if you get a part, join the tour.

The tour life is hectic, demanding and grueling, but a lot of fun and great way to build life-long friendships with others in the business.

Many touring groups hold auditions at various times in major cities. Listings for such auditions can be found in the trades like Back Stage/Back Stage West/Dramalogue.

You can also search the web for a touring show's web page which will also list audition schedules and performance schedules. If a touring production is scheduled to perform in your area, you can send a resumé, photo and tape to them and request an audition.

Each show will have it's own requirements for what they require, though most all include singing and dancing skills to some degree.

Although you must be a member of Equity to perform in most professional touring shows, new Equity rules allow an actor to join after they secure a contract.

Remember, even the best actors started with behind the scenes work and small parts. Take whatever parts you can get. As you improve your skills and experience, you will get better and better roles. Don't be in such a rush to start at the top. Learn your craft slowly, improve your knowledge and skills step by step. You'll find building that resumé a lot more fun and much less discouraging if you take a smart and methodical approach to your training.

Good luck with your search.

• PREPARE - PREPARE - PREPARE - PREPARE!!!
• Read the play in advance, if you can, and see what parts you want to audition for.
• Make some action and voice decisions about the characters you will audition for. For instance, you might decide one of the characters is awkward, loud and tactless. You might choose a voice that is rather booming, maybe abrupt and gruff. You might choose broad, sweeping, abrupt, movements, that lack any grace or poise.
• Do not try to do too much with your voice and body. Make three or four voice and action decisions, then go with them.
• Be brave and bold. Auditions, especially for plays, require a firm, no holds barred attack. This is not a time to be shy.
• Speak clearly and loud enough to be easily heard at the back of the house. I try to imagine myself speaking loud enough to be heard by someone beyond the back wall of the house. That way I know someone in the back of the house will certainly hear me.
• If singing is involved, choose a piece that is from the show or similar to songs in the show. Choose a piece that you can easily handle; well within your range. This is not a time to challenge your voice by stretching for notes higher than you can comfortably reach.
• If dancing is involved, know some basic steps.
• If you are doing cold readings, and have little time to look over the play, then you must be very aggresive and creative. Take chances. Make action and voice decisions, and attack. (see more info in the COLD READINGS section of this lesson)
• If the auditions are a group kind of thing, where everyone is in the same room and can watch each other audition, then I tell my in-person acting students to try not to go first. Try to get a feel for the scenes or monologs the director is using for the audition. Watch and listen to what the other people are doing with their auditions, then don't do those things. Do other, more interesting and creative things with you voice and body. Something that will get the director's attention and say, "Hmmmm. This person looks interesting."
• Be bold, attack the audition with vigor, enthusiasm and energy.
• Make sure you convey a positive attitude of excitement. Sometimes, when people get nervous, they pull back. They take a sort of, "If I get it, I get it - if I don't, I don't." attitude. WRONG Make sure your attitude says, "Gosh I'm nervous, but I really want the part and will do my best to get it!". Don't beg, of course. Exude strength, boldness, confidence, excitement and energy.

By the way, don't discount those high school plays. They are the beginning for most actresses and they are great experience. You can also put them on your resumé. (You are starting a resumé, aren't you?)

Finding theatre groups is easy. Look in your local newspapers for audition or performance notices. There is usually a phone number listed as well. Call them.

What do directors first notice? Enthusiasm, desire, guts and creativity. These four things should come shining through. Who wants to work with someone who doesn't appear enthusiastic or appear to be giving 100%. What a drag. I've worked with people like that. It's not fun.

Shy, uncommitted acting is boring. Attack an audition, a monolog, a scene, with gusto!

In your scene or monolog, be creative. Make definite choices about your character, what you're going to play and how you're going to play it. Even if your choices are wrong, a director wants to see you make definite choices and commit yourself to those choices.

Of course, demonstrating skill is something a director would like to see as well.

How do you find audition informations for tv and movie play?

Response:

Hi Alice,

Hmmmmmm. It depends a bit upon where you live. If you live in the New York or LA area, or if you plan on going there, check the trade periodicals. Back Stage (NY) & Back Stage West/Drama-Logue (LA) and ) The Hollywood Reporter are two you might start with.

If you live near a large city like Chicago or Washington D.C., which are secondary markets, go to a newstand or bookstore that has tons of magazines and see if there are trade publications specific to your city. In Chicago you should read PerformInk (Chicago area acting info.)(You might also find current issues of the publications I mentioned above.)

If you live in a small city or town and are not close to a big city, and are looking for things around where you live, try the newspaper listings, classifieds or call some of the theatres near you and start asking questions.

Find out what plays they will be doing, if there are parts for young women around your age and when auditions will be held.

Try to get copies of the plays from the library and read them so you know what the plays are about and what part or parts you want to audition for.

You should practice reading scenes from the plays that interest you. These should be "dramatic" readings, not just reading the lines. Put some life and personality into the part.

Keep auditioning. Even if you don't get parts for awhile, the auditioning experience is valuable. As you learn more, you will get better at auditioning and as you audition more, you'll get more comfortable with the process.

If nudity or sex scenes are required in a script, then the performers have to be allerted to this before they audition or accept a role. Also, actors and actresses of any age cannot be contractually bound to perform illegal acts or to perform in roles they find personally repulsive.

Hello,

I have just finished taking a few acting lessons and want to auditionfor a play in a few days. I am a total beginner. The play is a comedy"Five Women Wearing the Same Dress". In my class I worked on a monloguefrom Brighton Beach Memoirs.

The audition notes say to bring a prepard piece or if you don't have aprepared piece, readings will be available. So my question is should Ido my serious monologue that I have been working on even though the playis a comedy? Or should I do something funny? Also what is thedifference between a reading and a monologue?

Please help as soon as possible.

Thank You!!!

Rookie in Alaska

Response: Hi Rookie

-Don't do your serious piece. Do a comedy piece.

-Since you don't have a comedy piece ready, opt for the reading.

-This reading will be from the script of the play. They may give you a monolog from the play to read, or they may have you read a scene with other actors or a member of the casting team.

-Get the play from the library, if possible. Read it in advance to see what it is about and what parts might suit you.

Audition tips:

Good luck. Let me know how it turns out.

The monolog is the vehicle that is used to display a performer's abilities. But there are many other facets to the audition process that directors use when evaluating possible cast members. Often times performers who do bad auditions are cast in productions. Why? Maybe the director had seen them do good work in a performance sometime in the past. Maybe the director saw talent in that nervous, stuttering, sweating performer. Maybe the director saw the performer's determination and committment. Maybe...Well there are a lot of things.

I would like to start by thanking you for the great amount of effort youhave put (and are still putting) into the elaboration of the actingworkshop. I know that you haven't gotten around to the auditionmaterial part, but I have an audition coming up and I don't have anyonearound me to ask this to. My question is: Is it appropriate toaudition with a monologue from the play I am auditioning for or does itseem like I'm sucking up? If it is deemed inappropriate, should I chooseanother play from the same writer or would any other play (within thesame category) do?

Thank you in advance for your response,Jocelyne

Response: Hi Jocelyne,

I would not audition with a monolog from the play. It is not a matter of seeming stuck up. It is more to give yourself your best chance to get the part.

Why is this? Imagine yourself to be the director. You, the director, if you've done your homework, probably have a pretty clear vision of each character, the way they should be played, the interactions among the characters, the mood of the play (assuming it is a play) and probably even the way the key monologs should be played.

In comes an actress who performs one of those key monologs at the audition. She does a nice job, but her performance is quite different from the vision you have. You are now faced with a dilemma. Is the actress skillful enough or willing to alter her perceptions of the character? Will she be able to explore other facets of the character and develop a different interpretation, or has she "locked-in" the character? Will it be a major chore (or battle) to undo her efforts? Is it worth the trouble? Is she able to do anything other than the character as she did it?

Maybe yes, maybe no.

Now, same situation, you are still the director, but this time an actress comes in and does a monolog from a similar type of play, (maybe even from the same author, which is OK) and does a good job. You can view this actress strictly from the perspective of the skill she displayed and the choices she made. You are not burdened with the prospect of trying to reshape someone's more-or-less finished performance. You might still have problems with the actress, but at least you don't have the problem of undoing a pre-defined character.

Of course, you might get lucky and find that the actress' interpretation of the character is very much like what you had in mind. In which case you might decide to cast her in the part anyway. This would be along the lines of type casting, which is done quite a bit. But I tend to look for skill more than type.Especially in a play. A skilled actress is more flexible and able to contribute more creatively to a production. A type actress can be quite rigid and unable to conform to changes that inevitably occur as the performers interact and add shape and finesse' to the performance.

Of course if you're one of those directors who likes casting type...

Does that clear things up?

First of all I wanted to say what a great page you've got going here.

Second, I'm going to be auditioning for the play "Little Women" and I wanted to know how to dress for it (this will be my first auditionever!).Thanks a lot.

Response: Hi Cydney,

How exciting, your first audition!

I suggest you wear comfortable clothing, something you can move around in. Not sweats. Not a body suit. Try slacks, blouse, nice shoes (not heels). Something clean, nice looking, without holes in the knees, etc. If you are auditioning for one of the adult women, wear something that will show your figure a bit. Cleavage is not important for the roles. (At least the "Little Women" I'm familiar with.) Don't go for sexy.

If you have long hair, pin or tie it back so it will not flop in front of your face.

If you wear make-up, keep it conservative. No glitter eyeshadow or purple lipstick.

If you are auditioning for one of the adult women, and want to go for a more "period", look, then wear a long, full skirt and a blouse, maybe even with a buttoned, closed collar. Again, something that will show your figure a bit, but not sexy or cleavage.

Good luck. Let me know how the audition goes.

Hi,

Where do I go to get auditions for plays and television commercials,maybe even television program roles. Also where can I go to get anaudition to be an extra in a moie.

Thanks for your help.

Response: Hi airco.

You don't really audition to be an extra. There are agencies that cast extras. When a producer needs some extras, or a lot of extras, they contact an agency and the agency rounds 'em up from their humongous pool of actors and actresses who need the money, who want to stand around all day on a movie set, who want to see how movies are made, who might possibly glimpse a "star", who don't mind getting really bored waiting hours between takes, eat food, do their extra part (you know, walking in a crowd down the street or pretending to shop in the background or reading a paper at the bus stop as the car the star is in whizzes by, that sort of thing.) Oh yes, I almost forgot - and then get paid.

A monolog is dialog (usually an excerpt from a play or movie script) that one would perform without interruption from other performers who might also be on stage.

There is no set length required for a monolog. A piece that is only ten seconds long would not be considered a monolog. A piece that goes on for ten minutes might be considered a short but complete scene. If a complete piece is composed entirely of one, long monolog, it would be considered a one person play.

Usually, one thinks of a monolog as being between 1-5 minutes long. For audition purposes, one should generally look for monologs that are 1-3 minutes.

For audition purposes, a monolog is performed alone, without other actors on stage. Generally it is memorized but a monolog can also be read from the script.

"Monolog" (also spelled monologue, as you did in your question) is just a term that defines a length of uninterrupted lines of dialog. Within the context of performing a play, one can do a monolog, with all sorts of people sharing the stage. Its just that they don't have any lines to speak while the monolog is being performed.

Re: auditions. The ideal is to read the play before the audition and have some idea about the character you wish to audition for and what they are doing in the play.

If you are unable to do that, ask the director what the scene is about and what the character is trying to accomplish.

If the director is not helpful or says something like "do whatever you feel like doing" then you are in a pickle. There is no way you can possibly know what is really going on. The best you can do is to quickly gather some sense of the character, circumstances and action from the dialog, draw upon your tremendous acting abilities, allow your brilliant personality to pull out front, invent a meaningful subtext and hit the boards with a bang.

Will your performance be correct? Probably not. (How could it, you know nothing about the play?) Will it be what the director was looking for? Maybe. (If the director was able to communicate effectively and you were able to respond to the direction.) Will it be interesting and show your range and courage as an actor? Probably, if you made it interesting and courageous. Will that be enough to interest the director and make him/her want to see more? Maybe, which is a pretty good outcome for any audition.

• PREPARE - PREPARE - PREPARE - PREPARE!!!
• Read the whole play so you have a good handle on who your character is, what function(s) your character has in the play, relationships with other characters in the play, relationships with characters who are not in the play (like a dead parent who is not in the play, but whose memory affects the character anyway), the subtext for the monolog.
• Imagine an "invisible other character" on the stage. Imagine this invisible character in detail. (If there is supposed to be another character on the stage in the play, imagining them there will be easy. If not, then invent one - like the dead parent mentioned above.)
• Do not use the casting people as this invisible person!!! Do not incorporate the casting people into your monolog!
• Perform your dialog to that invisible other character. Imagine that invisible character reacting to what you are saying, then you must react to their reactions.
• Make action and voice decisions about your character. For instance, you might decide your character is awkward, loud and tactless. You might choose a voice that is rather booming, maybe abrupt and gruff. You might choose broad, sweeping, abrupt, movements, that lack any grace or poise.
• Do not try to do too much with your voice and body. Make three or four voice and action decisions, then go with them.
• Be brave and bold. Auditions, especially for plays, require a firm, no holds barred attack. This is not a time to be shy.
• Speak clearly and loud enough to be easily heard at the back of the house. I try to imagine myself speaking loud enough to be heard by someone beyond the back wall of the house. That way I know someone in the back of the house will certainly hear me.
• Be bold, attack the audition with vigor, enthusiasm and energy.
• Make sure you convey a positive attitude of excitement. Sometimes, when people get nervous, they pull back. They take a sort of, "If I get it, I get it - if I don't, I don't." attitude. WRONG Make sure your attitude says, "Gosh I'm nervous, but I really want the part and will do my best to get it!". Don't beg, of course. Exude strength, boldness, confidence, excitement and energy.

A helpful auditioning tip: Give it everything you've got. Be bold, loud and aggressive. Hold nothing back.

I have found an ad in today's paper (in my area) calling for actors and models.It said that the 1997 filming season had begun and that they were scoutingnew people with different looks (they go on to name every type of person onthis planet) for commercials, TV shows, movies, catalogs, etc. They thenask to send in money to cover the audition fee, which is refundable "if youdon't qualify" (judging by the preceeding description, that would be nobody'scase). They call themselves a "Model and Talent Bureau". They also mentionthat they are not a school or agency. Being rather new to the profession,I'm not sure what to think of this ad. Is it normal practice to ask for anaudition fee? Or are they just looking for naive trusting people to makemoney off of?

Thanks in advance for your valuable input, Jocelyne

Response: Hi Jocelyne,

Never pay an "audition fee". Legitimate organizations do not charge fees to audition. You're right, this is a scam. If they are not a school or agency, then what ever can they possibly give you for their "fee"? They can't give you training or a job.

Re: returning your fee if you do not "qualify", you are absolutely right, everybody will qualify, and nobody will get anything for their money. Stay away from these guys. In fact, I suggest you report these scammers to your state Consumer Protection Agency and District Attorney Office - right away. Maybe you can save other people from being duped. Even if it is an out of state outfit, the state DA can investigate and file charges to prevent them from operating in your state.

The acting and modeling business is full of these kinds of scams. Some are pretty sophisticated. Keep in mind, they are all designed to part you from your money. Promises are cheap. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is not true. If it don't feel right, then it ain't right.

Sharp eye, Jocelyne.

hi, My name is Roger. I've found your site very useful, and I thank youfor it. Now for my question: Say that you were going to audition for alocal television show.... well, what material would you audition with? It would be a big help if you could suggest something because I amcompletely clueless when it comes to this. Thanks for the help.

Hi Roger, Sorry, I can't suggest anything specific. It depends upon what kind of TV show it is and the type of character. You should present material that is similar to the show you want to be selected for, and similar to the character you hope to play.

In other words, if the show is a fast paced, snappy sit com, and your character is a wild eyed, crazyman, don't audition with a murder scene from Othello.

Also, is a monolog what they are looking for? Or will you be reading sides (portions of a script?) If you are reading from sides, then get a copy of the sides. At the very least, find out what you can about the show and the characters.

Some key things to an audition:

• Be prepared. Know something about the part.
• Be brave. Give it everything you have.
• Make acting decisions, then go with them, right or wrong.
• Be flexible. Listen to what the director says and try to follow through.
• Even if you don't get the part, the director might have been impressed with you and at some point in the future, hope to cast you in another project. So always do your best work.
• Be enthusiastic and positive.
• Have fun.
• After the audition, put it behind you and move on to the next.

Say I'm auditioning for a Sopa Opera or some other television show what should I do to get a edge over the competiton besides knowing what to do

Hi mckinney. Here are few suggestions for you. They might sound like (duh) basic stuff, but you would be amazed how many people don't do them:

• Show up on time.
• Dress appropriately.
• Have your resumé and photo neat and stapled together. (Even if they already have your photo and resumé, bring another copy - just in case.)
• Have a good idea what the show is like.
• Have a good idea what the character is like.
• Get the sides as much in advance as possible so you will be prepared to read.
• Don't spend time trying to be chatty, cute or funny. Go in, get the audition done, leave, then get on with the rest of your life.
• The attitude you should project is that you really are eager to get the work.
• Everyone gets nervous. If you feel you are blowing the audition big time, ask to start over. If the director is spending his/her time with you, they want to see you do your best work and will probably give you the time to show it to them. (Remember, they want you to be the right person as much as you want to be the person.)
• Brush up on your cold reading and improv skills.

  Good luck. Have fun.

  ---

  From: "JY"

  Hello, I recenlty seen a posting on a newsgroup today. It's looking for anactor to play a part in an upcoming TV show (a young person). My questionis:

  Should I even send in a head-shot and a resumò (they said to)? And say forsome reason or another they want me to audition (it's in CA, and well I'mnot). And lets go even further, what if for some reason I do get thatpart. What do I do? Move there, or what. I guess you probably can'tanswer it, but maybe you can help. Should I ask if it pays? What if itdoes, then what? I guess I really shouldn't even think about since Iprobably wont get the part. The name of the show is "Tides of Paradise",it's being produced by New World Cinema. They said that they were kind ofnew. Please help.

  Hi "JY". If you don't send in a resumé and head shot, then you most certainly will not get the part.

  Will you have to go to CA to audition? Maybe.

  Will they fly you out there to audition? If they want you bad enough.

  Will they go to where you live to audition you? Maybe.

  Should the part pay? Yes. You will probably have to join the union.

  If you get the part, will you have to move to CA? Probably, if the part is a regular AND when you have a signed contract.

  Is this audition thing for real? If they start asking you for money, or insist you purchase anything or take classes, or get photos from "their" photographer, or want to charge you for any kind of service, then no it is not for real, they will scam you and you should immediately stop corresponding with them.

  Good luck. Let me know what happens.

  ---

  From: Roger

  Hi there, Do I need an agent before I can audition for anything? Say I want to audition for a commercial, where do I go?

  Hi Roger. There are many things you can audition for that do not require an agent. Theatre, non-union film, union films, lots of things. Commercials is, unfortunately, not one of them. Most commercials are cast through agencies.

  You should start contacting your local agencies.

  ---

  From: Janine

  Hi, What exactly is a monologue? And if I'm reading as one character howwill the other characters be represented?

  Hi Janine. A monologue (can also be spelled "monolog") is a prolonged discourse in which a single character speaks. For audition purposes, only the actress performing the audition is on the stage. During a play performance, the monolog is usually part of scene, so there may or may not be other actors involved in the scene and present on stage during another actors monolog.

  Sometimes, you will find a"monolog" that is actually dialog from a play (includes spoken lines by another actor.) Sometimes, one might want to do such a piece for an audition or for solo performance, so one is left having to decide how to deal with the other character's lines. I deal with them by not using that particular pseudo-monolog. If the author wanted it to be done as a monolog, she would have written it as a monolog.

  However, if you feel you want to use that "monolog" anyway, then you can either:

  • Ignore the other character's lines. Sometimes this is possible without jarring the flow too much or sounding weird.
  • Try to fudge around the other character's lines - such as:

    Becky: I don't understand my father.
    Hector: What do you mean?
    Becky: He's so gross.
    Hector: Gross? Your father's gross?
    Becky: Oh, yes! He belches out loud at the supper table, snorts and coughs in restaurants...
    Hector: In restaurants! Oh ick!
    Becky: ...Yes, and he even scratches his pits during movies. Really gross.

    This might become:

    Becky: I don't understand my father. I mean he's so gross. He belches out loud at the supper table, snorts and coughs in restaurants - Yes! And he even scratches his pits during movies. Really gross.

  • You can also get someone else to read the other character's lines. Though this is a bit of a distraction if you are intending to do a monolog, not a dialog.

  Does that help?

  ---

  COLD READINGS

  (The following info on cold readings are culled from past AWOL Q&A's. There is no particular order.)

  A cold reading is reading from the script "cold". That is, without having memorized the lines and perhaps never having seen the script before.

  Do not focus on the auditors. They should be invisible observers, as far as you are concerned. Yes, it is a good idea to direct your monolog to an imaginary person. By this, I do not mean an imaginary audience member. I mean an imaginary character, on the stage, with you, to whom you speak, who reacts to what you say and to whom you react.

  If, in the audition piece, you are supposed to be talking to another character on stage, then this is easy, since the invisible character is supposed to be there anyway and is supposedly reacting to you. You just have to imagine their reactions and movements and respond to them.

  If, however, you are not speaking directly to another character who is on the stage, or if there are not supposed to be any other characters in the scene, then you will have to ask yourself, "Who am I talking to?"

  Characters do not talk to themselves - even if noone else is on stage and it seems like they are talking to themselves. Nor does a character talk to the audience (unless they are intentionally speaking to the audience - as in an "aside" or as some sort of audience-directed exposition.)

  And even though it might seem as if a character is speaking to the audience or even to another character on the stage, they might in fact be speaking to another character - a character who isn't even on the stage! A character in their mind! If you are doing cold readings, and have little time to look over the play, then you must be very aggresive and creative. Take chances. Make action and voice decisions, and attack.

  Tips on cold readings:

  • Look up from the script as much as possible - you are supposed to be acting not reading.
  • Understand the gist of the scene - you are not expected to memorize the lines, but you should have a good idea about what is going on.
  • Limit your actions to only those that are absolutely necessary.
  • Use your face muscles. Be expressive. Reactive. Especially your eyes - not big and broad like in a play - normal, but expressive.(This is a movie audition. The eyes and face are a big deal.)
  • Use your voice naturally and appropriately for the character and the action (not louder than usual as you might do for a play where your voice must carry 100 feet to the back row.)
  • Make choices about a few intentions appropriate to your character in the scene. Then play them.
  • Make choices about a persona for the character - then play it (make choices that are consistent with your type.)
  • Don't hold back. Give it all you've got. This is no time to be shy or wishey-washey.
• Your audition could involve some cold reading with another actor. This means you will be given part of a script, some background info and some time (not too much) to: discuss the scene with your assigned partner, make some decisions about what you will do, rehearse what you planned to do. REHEARSE! REHEARSE! REHEARSE! REHEARSE! REHEARSE!

  When it is you and your partners turn to perform, stick to what you rehearsed. Do not spring surprises on your partner (make sure you discuss this with your partner so he/she does not surprise you.) The performance is no time to surprise your partner with unrehearsed material.

• Be aggressive. No holds barred. Make bold decisions about what you will do and go with them without reservations.
• You may look at your script (become familiar with it, but do not waste time trying to memorize it,) but do not bury your face in it. Run your thumb down along the side of the page to keep your place.

  You are supposed to be making contact with your partner, reacting to him/her and your partner is supposed to be reacting to you.

• The same applies if you are doing a cold reading solo. Be aggressive. No holds barred. Make bold decisions about what you will do and go with them without reservations.

  That's it for now. Hope these tips help.

  AWOL MM.

  
  
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