ok,
so im going to audition for rada uni...and really need advice from anyone who has any !!!
what monolougue should i do? and where can i find some?
advice on what to say, the right kind of thing...any one had experience with them? good or bad?
thanks
RADA ADVICE
Moderator: busybusybusy
Re: RADA ADVICE
Hi
Good luck for the audition. can't advise but I did stumble across some monologues, no idea if they are suitable for anything but here is the link in case they are.
http://notmyshoes.net/monologues/#omd
Good luck for the audition. can't advise but I did stumble across some monologues, no idea if they are suitable for anything but here is the link in case they are.
http://notmyshoes.net/monologues/#omd
Re: RADA ADVICE
Hi Hannah
Have you applied yet? If not, wait until you are really confident that you have some good speeches. It's such a vital part of the audition process and sometimes audition dates come through really quickly!
Presumably you have looked at the audition advice given on RADA's site and the advice booklet you can download from the NCDT website about auditioning.
It isn't really possible to advise you which monologues to choose, as we don't know you. What suits one person won't suit another. Here are some things you can do and some things to avoid:
Don't choose something you've done on an A level course if it's a set text(too many others may have the same idea!)
It's probably best to steer away from monologues you can find by typing "monologue" in to google... (no harm in doing this to find playwrights you like though). Don't forget there are many thousands of applicants looking for speeches and this might seem to be the easy thing to do, but you are all quite likely to stumble on the same ones! I'm not saying it's impossible to find good monologues this way, but you have to be choosy. It's also true that many of the monologues you find will be American - and unless you are American, these probably won't be good choices.
Probably best to steer away from monologues in monologue selection books too (at least for the modern one)
Don't ever choose a "stand alone" monologue (like a Victoria Wood sketch) for a drama school audition. The speech you choose should always come from a play.
Don't choose anything from a set list given out by other drama schools - it can make you look a bit lazy
Stay away from pieces written for particular actors (e.g. Alan Bennett's Talking Heads)
For your modern piece:
Look for a piece appropriate for your age and accent
If you do have a strong accent, embrace it and look for playwrights that come from your area for inspiration. In fact, even if you don't have a strong accent, trying to find local playwrights can be good hunting ground.
Look at a book of monologues and find playwrights you like - then read other plays by the same playwright.
Ask older members of a local amateur dramatic society for suggestions - see whether they have a collection of play scripts you can look through.
If you live in London, go to French's and browse through some plays.
Attend as many plays as you can (especially new writing) - you might come across a great piece.
See whether there are any competitive drama festivals near you - you might get some ideas from these (though quite often the choices there are fairly "standard").
Remember that you can "cut and paste", so the speech does not have to be all in one chunk in a play (as long as it still makes sense if you're missing out another's lines).
Don't choose anything just for the shock factor. Difficult subject matter is fine as long as you haven't chosen it just for that reason.
Try to find something that has a "journey" for the character. Some kind of change that occurs through the piece.
Make sure you time it by reading it out loud, in performance "mode". Err on the side of brevity. Some schools will stop you if you go over time.
Make sure you read and really know the play it comes from!
For the Shakespeare/Jacobean piece
If you don't have a great knowledge of Shakespeare and his contemporaries and you don't have anyone to advise you, I think it's reasonable to look through some monologue selection books of Shakespeare (especially some of Simon Dunmore's "alternative" speeches books) for inspiration. If you choose something from a selection, make sure you read the whole play and understand it. Again, try to choose a character suitable for your age group.
Choosing good audition pieces is really tough. Unfortunately, there isn't really a short cut and it involves reading lots of plays, asking lots of people who know you for suggestions and going to see as many plays as you can.
The Essentials Guide available to download here: http://www.oxforddrama.ac.uk/index.php?page=38 could also provide some useful reading, though not specifically on audition pieces.
My son went to RADA. He found the audition panel friendly! There is normally a very short and informal interview at the first audition as well as your speeches. Just be friendly and open and honest - don't try to guess what they want to hear, just give them honest answers and prepare for the "obvious" questions! There are four rounds of auditions at RADA.
Have you applied yet? If not, wait until you are really confident that you have some good speeches. It's such a vital part of the audition process and sometimes audition dates come through really quickly!
Presumably you have looked at the audition advice given on RADA's site and the advice booklet you can download from the NCDT website about auditioning.
It isn't really possible to advise you which monologues to choose, as we don't know you. What suits one person won't suit another. Here are some things you can do and some things to avoid:
Don't choose something you've done on an A level course if it's a set text(too many others may have the same idea!)
It's probably best to steer away from monologues you can find by typing "monologue" in to google... (no harm in doing this to find playwrights you like though). Don't forget there are many thousands of applicants looking for speeches and this might seem to be the easy thing to do, but you are all quite likely to stumble on the same ones! I'm not saying it's impossible to find good monologues this way, but you have to be choosy. It's also true that many of the monologues you find will be American - and unless you are American, these probably won't be good choices.
Probably best to steer away from monologues in monologue selection books too (at least for the modern one)
Don't ever choose a "stand alone" monologue (like a Victoria Wood sketch) for a drama school audition. The speech you choose should always come from a play.
Don't choose anything from a set list given out by other drama schools - it can make you look a bit lazy
Stay away from pieces written for particular actors (e.g. Alan Bennett's Talking Heads)
For your modern piece:
Look for a piece appropriate for your age and accent
If you do have a strong accent, embrace it and look for playwrights that come from your area for inspiration. In fact, even if you don't have a strong accent, trying to find local playwrights can be good hunting ground.
Look at a book of monologues and find playwrights you like - then read other plays by the same playwright.
Ask older members of a local amateur dramatic society for suggestions - see whether they have a collection of play scripts you can look through.
If you live in London, go to French's and browse through some plays.
Attend as many plays as you can (especially new writing) - you might come across a great piece.
See whether there are any competitive drama festivals near you - you might get some ideas from these (though quite often the choices there are fairly "standard").
Remember that you can "cut and paste", so the speech does not have to be all in one chunk in a play (as long as it still makes sense if you're missing out another's lines).
Don't choose anything just for the shock factor. Difficult subject matter is fine as long as you haven't chosen it just for that reason.
Try to find something that has a "journey" for the character. Some kind of change that occurs through the piece.
Make sure you time it by reading it out loud, in performance "mode". Err on the side of brevity. Some schools will stop you if you go over time.
Make sure you read and really know the play it comes from!
For the Shakespeare/Jacobean piece
If you don't have a great knowledge of Shakespeare and his contemporaries and you don't have anyone to advise you, I think it's reasonable to look through some monologue selection books of Shakespeare (especially some of Simon Dunmore's "alternative" speeches books) for inspiration. If you choose something from a selection, make sure you read the whole play and understand it. Again, try to choose a character suitable for your age group.
Choosing good audition pieces is really tough. Unfortunately, there isn't really a short cut and it involves reading lots of plays, asking lots of people who know you for suggestions and going to see as many plays as you can.
The Essentials Guide available to download here: http://www.oxforddrama.ac.uk/index.php?page=38 could also provide some useful reading, though not specifically on audition pieces.
My son went to RADA. He found the audition panel friendly! There is normally a very short and informal interview at the first audition as well as your speeches. Just be friendly and open and honest - don't try to guess what they want to hear, just give them honest answers and prepare for the "obvious" questions! There are four rounds of auditions at RADA.
-
Hannahtaylour
- BRIT Award
- Posts: 48
- Joined: Sun Jul 11, 2010 2:44 pm
Re: RADA ADVICE
wow!!!
THANKYOU! so much thats such a help!
i understand that picking the obvious is alwasy a riskly game but i reckon im going to pick for one of my classical piece Lady mcbeth as i think i can play this character really well!!
looks like ive got a lot of research to do!!!!!!
but im excited and cant wait!!!
ill let you know how it goes.
muchs thanks xxxx
THANKYOU! so much thats such a help!
i understand that picking the obvious is alwasy a riskly game but i reckon im going to pick for one of my classical piece Lady mcbeth as i think i can play this character really well!!
looks like ive got a lot of research to do!!!!!!
but im excited and cant wait!!!
ill let you know how it goes.
muchs thanks xxxx