Audition night.
Whew.
Monologue auditions KILL me.
I stress out.
I sweat.
I get nervous and can't breathe.
And then (typically) I choke.
Tonight, I think I kinda broke the cycle.
I didn't choke. I was prepared.
I still got nervous.
I still sweated and stressed out and couldn't breathe, but I did ok.
And afterwards the director paid me a very nice compliment.
So... whew.
I try very hard, with monologue auditions, to choose something the director isn't going to see 5 more times that night. In fact, I really try to choose something the director hasn't seen in an audition room, ever, but with Shakespeare, that plan is usually hit & miss.
So, tonight I chose an old friend, Richard II.
I knew this monologue intimately in my Shakespeare & Company days and revisit it when the time feels right. This time, it felt more than right. I never dreamed that the director would have seen a production of Richard II in London (almost no one performs it anymore!) and already have a (not-so-positive) opinion of it. But it all turned out in the end. I delivered the speech (almost) exactly had I prepared it, aside from the debilitating nerves and afterwards, I was paid a lovely compliment. All in all, a success, considering I usually panic into a puddle on the theater floor...
I was less pleased with the cold readings as I only had the opportunity to read for Hamlet's Ghost. Granted, the side contained a fantastic monologue, but of all of Hamlet's characters, Ghost is probably my least studied.
Ah well, keeping my fingers crossed for a callback.
