Theater for Youth

How To Handle Auditions

by Gregory Dennhardt

A growing number of park and recreation departments throughout the State of Illinois are becoming involved in producing theatre for children in which the children are onstage participants. The casting of a play for children is an art in and of itself which requires special consideration by the recreation staff involved.

The author puts "auditioners" at ease.

Auditions for children cannot be managed in the same manner in which tryouts are conducted for adults. Studies have shown that the single, most pervasive fear among young people (indeed, among people of all ages) is expressing oneself in front of a group. Furthermore, since an audition may be a child's initial contact with dramatic arts, the recreation staff must do everything in its power to make this first encounter as pleasant as possible. In doing so, the staff will insure that even should a child not be cast, he will not fear trying out again in the future. With this in mind, following are a number of suggestions regarding the audition process for children's theatre.

Make certain that your park district "gets the word out" about auditions well in advance using all possible media. Select tryout dates early to insure inclusion in park district brochures. Most local school districts will be happy to announce your auditions or permit posters to be hung on school property. Do yourself a favor by encouraging a large pool of talent to be at hand for your auditions.

It is to your advantage to make scripts available at a centralized location prior to auditions so that the children can read the play in advance. Include mention of such availability in all publicity. A local library is an excellent site for making scripts available on a reserve basis.

Auditions should be held at various locations throughout the city to facilitate participation. Schools are a good choice as children will give a better audition in a familiar surrounding. If possible, schedule your auditions immediately after school in a room that has a stage, good lighting, and some degree of privacy.

In conducting tryouts, the recreation staff must provide certain materials to facilitate the audition process. The first obvious one is scripts for reading. Make certain enough are available so that even while a tryout scene is being read by one group of children, others can be practicing their own audition scene. Audition cards should be printed up for the children to fill out. These cards should contain such information as: name, address, phone number, height, weight, hair/eye color, previous acting experience, character/crew preference, etc. During the audition, the director can jot down comments on the back of the card concerning a child's performance and following the audition the card is very helpful in jogging a director's memory concerning individual children.

One other item that should be brought to all children's theatre auditions is the rehearsal schedule. Copies should be handed out to each who tries out. Then on your audition form a blank marked "conflicts" can be used for their children (and their parents if present) to write down any prior commitments that will interfere with attendance at rehearsals or performances. Piano lessons, football games, vacations, birthday parties all have potential to interfere with rehearsals. Before casting a child you must make certain that he can fulfill his obligation making it known that rehearsals are mandatory. Only previously listed conflicts and sickness or emergencies should be taken as a valid excuse for an absence. A word of caution: some children (and unfortunately parents) will purposely neglect to list a conflict in the belief that once they have been cast, no one would dare throw them out of the play. Discourage such actions by making an example of the first participant who attempts this ploy. Keeping this rule inflexible will result in more consistent attendance.

In approaching auditions for children's theatre, remember that such tryouts should be first and foremost a learning experience. You are teaching children exactly what it takes to win a role in the competitive world of the theatre. Because children are involved, this sense of competition must be kept to a minimum. Give every child a fair reading. Avoid showing favoritism to those children with whom you have had previous contact and casting the same people repeatedly. This breeds elitism and discourages open participation. I, personally, have a rule never to cast over one-third of the roles in any play with previous participants. This serves to introduce new blood into each production while retaining a degree of cohesiveness that insures quality. I also try to mix the casting so that those children who have had a large role in previous productions are given a smaller part in new productions. This discourages the children from developing a "star"

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complex and teaches young actors that every role, from a walk-on to the lead, is important. "There are no small parts, only small actors." Above all, the children's theatre director should not be afraid of taking a chance in casting. Go ahead and cast a child who will really have to work to succeed in a role. Take care not to obviously miscast that child, but give him a chance to grow and even surprise himself with his talents.

Auditions should be open to anyone who truly desires to try out and everyone should be made to feel welcome and at ease. But remember, it is the children with whom you should, and must deal throughout rehearsals and performances. Parents can sometimes force their way into auditions in an effort to "take charge" for their child. The "stage mama" is not peculiar to Broadway. I have always found that this problem can best be dealt with by immediately separating child and parent once the audition cards have been filled out. Explain the audition procedure to the children fully, letting them know exactly what they can anticipate. Answer any questions they might have about the play or about rehearsals. Make it clear that this theatrical activity is their own and no one else's.

The next step is the actual audition. I personally feel that it is best to start with readings that involve two to four characters. Divide the children up into couples and small groups and pass out the scenes to be read. These readings should be kept short as most casting can be done in the first thirty seconds of any reading. This is usually more than enough time to determine a child's physical type, reading ability, and stage presence.

Once the scripts have been distributed, give each child time to look over and practice the scene. Cold readings will not give a director a true evaluation of a child's skill. After the children have been given time to look over their scenes, always ask if there are any questions. There will always be inquiries as to the pronunciation of difficult words and some of the brighter or more experienced children will ask about specific characterizations or emotional states. Answer all questions as thoroughly as possible, making certain the performers understand your explanation.

Once the actual reading begins, be attentive showing the children you are truly interested in what they can do. Try directing the children within their scene and make suggestions. It is advantageous to determine which children can respond to directorial guidance. Once the reading has concluded, be sure to thank each child involved. After all, they were really doing you a favor by auditioning. It gives you, the director, the opportunity to select the very best talent with which to mount a play.

Invariably, the director will come across a child who reads poorly, or, in the case of very young children, cannot read at all. In such cases, an improvisation can serve as the audition piece. Try to base these spontaneous acting scenes on actual situations drawn from the play you are casting. For example, in auditioning children for Brian Way's PINOCCHIO, I was confronted with several children who, though too young to read well, had promise in filling some of the smaller roles in the play. These children were asked to improvise a scene in which puppets come to life at the stroke of midnight. The children, after having been given some time to plan their scene, began with one of their group being a puppeteer who owned a toyshop. After putting his creations through a terrific puppet-dance, the puppeteer yawned and stretched and decided to go to bed. Once their master was asleep, the puppets came to life and discussed each other's performance. The lively critique and the transition from lifeless, wooden puppets to living beings was very exciting. Several of these children were cast and did an excellent job. Without the improvisation, however, I never would have guessed that their acting talents were so creative.

Dr. Dennhardt holds a Ph.D. in Theatre Arts from the University of Illinois. He has taught acting to both amateurs and professionals ranging in age from five to seventy-three. He has taught at several state and private universities throughout the United States. With the Park District in Northbrook, Illinois, he acts as director of its Childrens' Theatre and instructor of its acting classes.

In casting children's theatre, I have never found the necessity to resort to callbacks. Some directors, however, prefer preliminary group auditions followed by more individualized final tryouts. While every director should be free to conduct auditions as he or she pleases, common sense tells us that the more involved an audition becomes, the higher the spirit of competition. I have seen directors hold callbacks three and four times, pitting one actor against another in obvious contention for a single role. Of course, after such a contest the actor who did not receive the part was devastated by the director's decision. Remember, it is children with whom you are working. Whenever they participate in an activity, it is the biggest thing in their lives at that one, particular moment and their fragile feelings need to be treated with respect.

Once auditions have been concluded, make sure to notify the children who have been cast as soon as possible. It is a good idea to tell all the children who have tried out exactly how and when they will be notified. Make certain, however, that you stick to your promise. I once told a group

The first step in any audition is to have the children fill out audition cards.

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Quiet please! Audition in progress!

of children that I would cast a play on Saturday but failed to do so until Sunday. I had more complaints from parents of their children sitting beside their telephones with a forlorn look on their faces than could be imagined.

Although there are many ways to notify children that they have been cast, I prefer the telephone as it is personal and to the point. However, it is often difficult to reach all the children cast on the first try and several calls may be required. Some directors prefer to leave their cast lists posted at the park district office, allowing the children to find out for themselves if they have been cast. I have used this method at times only to discover at the initial rehearsal that some children remained uninformed. So, do call your actors speaking with the child's parents first. It is amazing how often children fail to tell their parents that they have tried out for the play. Family squabbles can be easily avoided by determining that each child in the cast did, in fact, have permission to audition. After this has been determined, ask to speak with the child, inform him of your decision, and reiterate the commitment involved.

Casting may well be the hardest part of directing a children's theatre production. No matter how many children I eventually wind up using, I always wish I could use more. No doubt every director who has ever cast a children's play feels similarly. But rejecting children, even talented children, is a fact of theatrical life. If you decide not to use a child and the parent or child himself asks why, do not hesitate to reveal the reasoning behind your decision. Only through knowledge of what a child needs to improve upon can that child hope to win a role in the future. Respond as truthfully as possible to such queries being as sensitive as possible. There are many reasons why a child might not be selected. Some have to do with talent. Others such as height, weight, or physical appearance the child has little immediate control over. Often, reading ability is a determining factor. At times, the reason may be emotional maturity. Whatever the case, the child or his parents have a right to know what motivated your decision if they ask for the information.

One way a director can stretch the distribution of parts (thus, relieving somewhat the painful necessity of excluding children from a cast) is through double casting. This, of course, puts an added burden on the staff for extra time, money, and effort must be expended when dealing with twice the number of actors. However, such an additional effort is well worth the trouble, as it exposes more children to the art of the drama. In double casting shows, I typically divide the children arbitrarily up into a "red" and "blue" cast (never cast "One" and "Two" or "A" and "B', as it has the connotation of one being better than the other). One cast plays the first weekend while the other plays the second. Each cast receives equal rehearsal time and performs the same number of performances. In fact, everything about the two separate productions is kept the same, the only obvious difference being changes made necessary because of personal idiosyncrasies of the actors involved. The division into red and blue casts is done immediately at the time of casting to avoid any feeling of loading one cast with all the "good" or "talented" people as seen in rehearsals. The only changes made in this arbitrary division grow out of scheduling conflicts among the performers involved.

Although casting a children's play is very difficult, it is also potentially rewarding. Sometimes children you have known from previous productions simply knock you off your feet with their improvement. New talents always make for exciting discoveries. The positive aspects seem to far outweigh the negative. One thing is certain. A play cannot be mounted without an audition and careful thought and planning must go into the preparation for each and every one that is scheduled.

Prior study gives a better reading.

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