Audition Evaluation

 So I’ve just had my first audition which was for mrs Lyons. I woke up this morning feeling so sick and I kept getting distracted on my driving lesson thinking about it and was on my way down all the wrong roads hahaha. I just knew that every audition I’ll be stood there shaking and panicking with a completely blank mind. But then I came it today and Kelly said what we had to do for the day and I knew I had 25 mins until it was my turn. So me and my friends went into the changing room to rehearse and I ran it a few times with La Toya just so I could refresh my memory and remember my lines again. I was so exited because it was an audition that I was exited for because I thought the scene was so good. Then I realised it was 25 past and that’s what time I was going in so I quickly got my paper and went and waited with Emily, where we consoled each other and went over lines. Then I went in and told them which duologue I was doing and it was really calming to see how positive and supportive they were. Then I did it and I felt nervous in it but I was trying to push it away and fully let the character consume me, I was trying to just be Mrs Lyons so I was letting the emotion come through of what you would act like if you were so desperate for something and you wanted it so bad whilst it was right in front of you. I got a few teeny words wrong but it wasn’t anything that would be a huge problem so it’s okay, it’s just because I was focused on it so much. Afterwards they said they thought it was good and that’s something that makes you feel so proud, then the nerves just turns it’s self into excitement and you’re on a high. I feel like I developed my character quite a lot in a short time since I only realised how good the character was two days ago and decided to audition for her. I was just trying to actively think like the character and I tried to move around and not stay as still. I used method acting that I’ve been studying from thinking about how much I really wanted the part and just channeled that but of myself. I think it would’ve been an improvement if I made sure I wasn’t looking too far to the left so I need to work on my stage craft, I just hope I showed them me so I wasn’t blocking out any face expressions and body language. I just feel like you could really see how much thought I’d put into the characters emotions which I’m happy about. I was doing research about how Mrs Lyons uses manipulative strategy’s like guilt tripping to get what she wants. I loved how you could see throughout the play how she slowly gets consumed by the fear and anxiety of her secret being told and her world being torn apart until she finally snaps and shoots the trigger which changes and ends everything. I think this is a character any actor would love to sink their teeth into. 

My mrs Johnstone audition was the one that I thought I would be focusing on more since it was the first one I was interested in but then I did end up rehearsing for my other character audition more so even though I’d rehearsed this a lot I felt more underprepared. I was mainly worried about the accent and how I feel like I have a motherly nature but I don’t know if I’m a bit too soft to be mrs Johnstone that I couldn’t really do. Although, I did do research and character analysis where I discovered that mrs Johnstone is weak due to her kindness and superstitious beliefs which makes her easy to bully. However, I did like how motherly I was in my performance and how connected I felt to my imaginary Eddie child haha. I’d been rehearsing the lines with Emie beforehand and that made me a lot more calm that nervous before my audition, especially since I’d already had a nice and smooth audition earlier on. But I do think it would’ve been a lot better if I could find a more firm voice but I won’t stress about it because I know a lot of people speak softer to their children especially in an emotional and vulnerable moment. First the four of us who are going for mrs Johnstone went in the room one at a time and sang a small part of the song ‘Marilyn Monroe’ which was quite nerve wracking. It has took me a lot of confidence to sing infrknt of people, especially my teachers and an actual singing coach, but I just remembered that if I want a shot at playing this character I had to be able to put my fears behind me and sing this song. I was less worried about the singing than the acting scene since I knew that if they thought I was a bad singer that’s just how it is, I don’t go to singing lessons so it’s not like I should be a good singer however, I’m dedicating a lot of my life to acting so if the actings not good that would be something that affects me and of course you want to impress the tutors because it’s them that make the final decisions in opportunities you get. I used method acting ,which I’ve been studying for a while now, to put myself in the characters mindset. I was just thinking about how she would feel in that time, how she’s trying to hide her true emotions so little Eddie dosent get confused or suspicious. I was initially captivated by this character because of how she continues to adapt to bad things that happen in her life and keeps a lot of things bottled up to focus on her main responsibility which is motherhood. I also used more stage craft in this by sitting down on the bench and standing up and looking around so it wasn’t a boring and still performance. I really like this character and I think she’s really interesting to play. 

For this I did a lot of research on the era. How people had different expectations for women in the 60’s and how it made them value different things. I also researched the importance of social class. Mrs Lyons is middle class and Mrs Johnstone is lower class, that alone completely changes how I play the characters. I had to think about how Mrs Lyons husband would go away for months leaving her alone and how Mrs Johnstone had the pressure of providing for those kids all by herself. For mrs Johnstone this is the last time she’ll see her child and for mrs Lyons this is her only chance of having a child. I did everything I could to give myself the best chance of getting the part.