What are drama schools looking for?

There are thousands of drama schools to apply to and they all look for similar things. Some drama schools are more advanced and look for actors who are willing to work at their full potential and be committed. Whereas less advanced drama schools teach students about the life of an actor and skills they need to learn.

Before applying to a drama school you need to do lots of research on many drama schools around your area or further if you wish to move away. Look at their courses and see which suits you best such as Acting, Musical Theatre or Technical Theatre. Most drama schools have a three year course and if you want to apply then you’ve got to ask yourself – am I ready to commit three years of my life to something I’m passionate about?

Entry requirements

You can find the entry requirements on the websites of your chose drama school, however they only give you a brief course outline and a list of names of successful alumni who graduated. In order to find out more information, many drama schools have open day events for you to see the school, meet staff and get an overview of what the three years in the course consists of. To get the full experience, attend a few plays or musicals performed by final year students from different drama schools; this is useful as it demonstrates the quality of teaching and professional guidance given from that particular school.

To expand your knowledge on your options of drama schools, research and gather a list of actors whose work you respect or you inspire from and are known to be good at what they do. These graduates might inspire you to join that drama school and become like them.

Audition and Interviews

In order to get yourself an audition for a drama school there is a price to pay which is usually around £50. You have 3 rounds and the last round is either accepting you, recalling you or telling you that you haven’t passed the audition. No matter how talented you are and no matter how much potential you possess, if you are not organised and fully prepared, the chances are you will fail.

You might think drama schools only want you to learn a classical and modern speech for your audience. Unfortunately it’s not that easy. You should prepare three contrasting dramatic pieces of your own choice lasting up to 2-3 minutes:

·         One from a classical play (such as Shakespeare, Jacobean or Elizabethan)*

·         One from a modern play  (after 1956, 20^th or 21^st Century)*

·         One should be a contrasting piece from any period.

A piece written by you or by an unknown or little-known author is unacceptable.

*The time periods depends on the drama school so be sure to check what they ask for you to bring at an audition on their website

Choosing a speech

- You should select a monologue that is age appropriate for you and allows you to express the uniqueness of who you are. Choose a piece that you feel comfortable in playing or have always known to be good at doing.

-          Think about the things we consider when discussing "type": status, energy, personality.

-         - An audition monologue should be active and in the moment, not a character telling a story or a memory. Choose a monologue in which the character is clearly pursuing an objective with another character as opposed to just telling a story.

-        -   Don't do a self-written monologue but choose a well-written piece from a play, and be sure to read the entire play so you understand your character, the situation, the relationship and all other relevant details.

-        -   There's nothing that ruins an audition more efficiently than delivering a monologue that's one long, shouted, angry rant or nonstop weeping. Neither yelling nor crying are impressive so choose a monologue that gives you the opportunity to show off your skill with transitions. Transitions is where good acting happens, you don’t have to include a transitions but if you don’t have a couple of good ones in your monologue, then it’s harder to tell that you’re a good actor.

-          - Don't choose pieces that are full of graphic violence, sex or offensive language. This gives a bad taste at an audition and can sound irritable hearing swear words a lot.

‘Be you when you walk into the room. Be you doing your speech. Be you when you talk to the panel people. Be you because they want to meet the true ‘you’ and see a considered, focused, in-the-moment speech.’ (Source: dramauk.co.uk)