Download Preparation for Audition in Theatre – IBDP DSA-JC Applicants

Preparation for Audition in Theatre – IBDP
DSA-JC Applicants
Applicants need a range of theatre experience and must demonstrate a high motivation
and commitment to embrace all aspects of theatre study including the creative,
technical, historical and theoretical facets. Students are expected to be imaginative,
enthusiastic, expressive, co-operative, open-minded and flexible thinkers, and self-driven
learners. An excellent standard of English, spoken and written, is a key pre-requisite. An
interest in literature and the arts is clearly essential.
Applicants should possess strong sustained artistic talent and excellent secondary school
academic track records.
Artistic Excellence Criterion (where applicable):
• Outstanding results in examinations for ‘O’ Levels in Theatre;
• Active and diverse participation in Drama or Theatre programmes in or out of
school;
• A strong portfolio documenting student’s learning experiences in Theatre;
• Experience and confidence in fulfilling roles in at least two production areas e.g.
Acting and Stage Management, with outstanding ability in at least one area;
• Knowledge and appreciation for theatre theory and history;
• An extensive exposure to the viewing of theatre, and other art forms;
• Good results in English Literature is an advantage
Shortlisting for Theatre applicants
All applicants applying to the IBDP Theatre Programme are required to submit the following
for shortlisting:
a) A 2-3 minute video recording of a presentation, introducing themselves and talking
about their experience and interest in Theatre, and why they would like to join SOTA’s
IBDP Theatre Programme. *
b) A video recording of a monologue performance. You MUST choose from the
monologues in Annex A.*
c) Portfolio of study and experience in theatre. This can include any courses or workshops
you have participated in, in recent years, and/productions or clubs you have
participated in.
d) At least one reference to support your interest and potential as an acting student. This
should be from a person in a related field. e.g drama teacher or drama professional.
e) If you have any theatre-related written work or design work, you may also include
copies of this in your portfolio e.g theatre reviews, set designs, original plays.
*The video recordings should be recorded in a single take (no editing) and cannot be
professionally produced. Video recording should be saved with the name of the applicant
and Talent Academy Index Number, in one of the following file formats: *.mov, *.m4v,
*.mp4 (eg: Chantel_Yew_T001.mov). Kindly provide a copy of this video in a DVD or thumb
drive.
Students must submit supporting documents, DVD/thumbdrive, portfolios and/or
photographs submitted for shortlisting will be retained for the school’s records.
Shortlisted applicants will be informed via email invite to attend the Talent Academy.
What You Will Experience During the Talent Academy
During the Talent Academy, all shortlisted applicants are also required to sit for a Cognitive
Exercise. The cognitive exercise is meant to gauge the applicant's ability to reason and to
express ideas coherently, using the English language. The exercise may comprise multiplechoice questions, and a writing exercise that requires a short response to a text or an issue.
Applicants for Theatre also:
a) Take part in a workshop audition. Applicants will join a group of up to 15 students in an
acting and improvisation workshop to challenge them in the areas of imagination,
expressiveness, concentration, spontaneity and teamwork.
b) Complete an individual audition in which they are to:
• Perform ONE monologue from the selection of monologues in Annex A (the one
used in the application video). It is crucial that applicants limit their choice to the
selection that we have provided and not source for a text from elsewhere, or do
their own adaptation of these texts. Applicants must come to the audition with their
performance fully prepared and rehearsed, and fully memorised. The aim is to
assess their dramatic awareness and craft.
Applicants may be given feedback on the spot and asked by the audition panel to
present the piece a second time. Sometimes, applicants may be asked to perform
the piece again with a fresh emphasis, emotion or attitude in order to encourage
them to display flexibility. Costumes are not necessary, and should be kept to a
bare minimum.
•
Dramatically read aloud a given text on the spot. Sometimes, the panel will ask
candidates to spontaneously tell a story from their life experience, or to create and
present an improvisation with a given stimulus.
•
Be interviewed by the audition panel to ascertain their theatrical knowledge and
discipline and their ability to communicate and express themselves.
How to Prepare for the Workshop Audition and Individual Audition
Workshop Audition
There is little to prepare for this section of the audition process, although if you have had a
chance to participate in acting and theatre-making workshops before, you should find
yourself more comfortable than those who have not.
It is very important that you be prepared to give everything a try, and with as much
enthusiasm, effort and concentration as possible. You need to come dressed very
comfortably, so that you are free to move around.
Individual Audition and Interview
It is vital that you memorise your lines well in advance and allow yourself the time to
introduce movement, gesture and vocal expression into your performance.
It is very helpful if you can practise performing your monologue in front of other people, so
you are accustomed to performing for an audience. Ensure that you get plenty of
opportunities to practise doing it aloud, not just ‘in your head’.
Try practising it in different styles and with different interpretations and effects e.g. perform
the whole monologue angrily, happily, impatiently, riding a bike, climbing a mountain, etc.
You can also practise doing cold-readings (reading without practice) of dramatic texts or
poems.
You could ask your parents, siblings or peers to interview you about your knowledge,
interests and aspirations in Theatre and the Arts.
ANNEX A: MONOLOGUES FOR MALE CANDIDATES
LOVE'S LABOR'S LOST
A monologue from the play by William Shakespeare
BEROWNE: And I, forsooth, in love!
I, that have been love's whip,
A very beadle to a humorous sigh,
A critic, nay, a night-watch constable, A domineering pedant o'er the boy, Than whom no
mortal so magnificent.
This wimpled, whining, purblind, wayward boy, This signor-junior, giant-dwarf, Dan Cupid,
Regent of love-rimes, lord of folded arms,
The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans, Liege of all loiterers and malcontents,
Dread prince of plackets, king of codpieces, Sole imperator and great general
Of trotting paritors -- O my little heart! And I to be a corporal of his field,
And wear his colors like a tumbler's hoop! What? I love, I sue, I seek a wife!
A woman that is like a German clock,
Still a-repairing, ever out of frame,
And never going aright, being a watch,
But being watched that it may still go right!
Nay, to be perjured, which is worst of all;
And, among three, to love the worst of all;
A whitely wanton with a velvet brow,
With two pitch balls stuck in her face for eyes.
Ay, and, by heaven, one that will do the deed
Though Argus were her eunuch and her guard.
And I to sigh for her, to watch for her,
To pray for her! Go to, it is a plague
That Cupid will impose for my neglect
Of his almighty dreadful little might.
Well, I will love, write, sigh, pray, sue, groan:
Some men must love my lady, and some Joan.
THIRST
A monologue from the play by Eugene O'Neill
NOTE: This monologue is reprinted from Thirst and Other One-Act Plays. Eugene O'Neill.
Boston: Gorham Press, 1914.
THE GENTLEMAN: You remember when the crash came? We were all in the salon. You were
singing—a Cockney song I think? You were very beautiful. I remember a woman on my
right saying: “How pretty she is! I wonder if she is married?” Strange how some idiotic
remark like that will stick in one’s brain when all else is vague and confused. A tragedy
happens—we are in the midst of it—and one of our clearest remembrances afterwards is a
remark that might have been overheard in any subway train. You were very beautiful. I
was looking at you and wondering what kind of a woman you were. You know I had never
met you personally—only seen you in my walks around the deck. Then came the crash—
that horrible dull crash. We were all thrown forward on the floor of
the salon; then screams, oaths, fainting women, the hollow boom of a bulkhead giving
way. Then I was on deck fighting in the midst of the crowd. Somehow I got into a boat—
but it was overloaded and was swamped immediately. I swam to another boat. They beat
me off with the oars. That boat too was swamped a moment later. And then the gurgling,
choking cries of the drowning! Something huge rushed by me in the water leaving a
gleaming trail of phosphorescence. A woman near me with a life belt around her gave a
cry of agony and disappeared—then I realized—sharks! I became frenzied with terror. I
swam. I beat the water with my hands. The ship had gone down. I swam and swam with
but one idea—to put all that horror behind me. I saw something white
on the water before me. I clutched it—climbed on it. It was this raft. You and he were on
it. I fainted. The whole thing is a horrible nightmare in my brain—but I remember clearly that
idiotic remark of the woman in the salon. What pitiful creatures we are!
OFF CENTRE
A monologue from the play by Haresh Sharma
NOTE: This monologue is reprinted from Off Centre. Haresh Sharma. Singapore: Ethos Books,
2006.
Vinod: (to audience) People never get a second chance right? You’re all the same. You
don’t want us to bring down your productivity level so you conveniently put a label on us…
no insurance, no loans, no job. (slight pause) Let me give you some advice, next time you
want to commit suicide, make sure you do it right. If you’re going to take pills, don’t be
modest. Take them all – Panadol, pain killers… personally, I feel it’s easier to jump. You can
take your pick – Marine Parade for that beautiful sea view. Pasir Ris, if you want something
more modern. Woodlands, if you want to jump across the the causeway. Don’t forget your
passport. If you want something more dramatic, then hang yourself in your room. Very
easy. Use bedsheets. I think I’ll write a book. “Be the best you can… at suicide”. Chapter 1:
the kiasu suicide. Get rope, bedsheets, poison, pills, gun, blades, knives… everything also
must have. Chapter 2: the slow suicide -- stay in Singapore. Chapter 3… hmm, oh , and the
most dramatic death of all – slashing. Don;’t slash veins. The blood only drops out. If you
slash an artery, the blood spurts out. Next question… where are your arteries (points) Here,
carotid. Here… and don’t forget, don’t lock the door. So, in the morning, mummy dearest
wakes up and screams… “MY BEDSHEETS!! Ordinary washing powder will never get rid of
these stains!!” (pause) Don’t worry Mum. No stain is too stubborn to wipe out.
SHRIMPS IN SPACE
A monologue from the play by Desmond Sim
When lights come up, Huat Bee is a little older... dishevelled, in a cardigan... in different
specs...
Norms stopped calling -- for the next few years. Strangely enough I didn’t much notice.
Time flies when you have so many things to do, you are fighting to breathe.
My work with troubled kids had taken me to new areas where my passion to help required
more skills.
In three years, I completed another part--time degree in child psychology. I was now
equipped to face the most vicious of samseng kids.
Well, that’s also because I took up Aikido.
I learnt that in many forms of martial arts, size also doesn’t matter.
You just need to channel your opponents energy, make it your own, and make them fall
the way you want.
It was such a cool philosophy.
Once I understood that concept. I was ready to work with bigger and tougher kids.
In fact I was work with young teenagers who were in the Primary Six repeat... I mean
Normal... classes.
These two boys in particular frightened me a little.
They were in gangs who were into stealing, glue shiffing and smoking. It was a matter of
time when they got into more trouble... and probably drugs.
Their gang wasn’t happy that I was trying to turn their friends around.
Since I started working with the two boys, I’d had my car tyres slashed... my cupboard
broken into and vandalised and even had essays written about me on toilet walls. I
actually took a red pen and corrected the bad grammar -- to show them that I wasn’t
scared.
The principal wanted to sack the two boys so as to remove the presence of the whole
gang from the school... but I knew that this was psychological warfare, and if we removed
the boys then the gang would have won.
I was making such good progress with the two boys, and unlike the Hay Bee of old, I was
NOT about to give up!
ANNEX B: MONOLOGUES FOR FEMALE CANDIDATES
POSTCARDS FROM ROSA
A monologue from the play by Desmond Sim
ROSA: Those two weeks that Benny stayed with us was the happiest we had all been for a
very long time. I told him… “Benny, you always wanted to learn my recipes. Maybe now is
the time we do it. Look, here are all the postcards I wanted to write to you. To tell you all
the things that happened in my life. But it is too late. My hands cannot write well. Let’s use
them to write my recipes down as I teach you how to cook!”
And so he went marketing and I supervised as he cooked…
“No… no… no Benny! When you make achar, you cannot just put all the different veggies
on the same tray in the sun to dry! They won’t be crunchy! The cucumbers have more
water than the carrots and the cauliflower, and so they have to be treated and dried
different. And the chillies and the long beans are different too! Each one has to be dried
separately for maximum crunchiness. And the Buah Keluak nuts… did you soak them
overnight and rinse them three times with fresh water? If you don’t you will get cyanide
poisoning ah. And if you are making the Nasi Ulam, then you must go and get the 14
different ingredients. And make sure you slice and chop them very very fine. Not short
cuts!”
And when all the pots were stewing and steaming and we were sitting with coffees
around the table waiting for our meal to be perfect, Benny asked me, “Ma Ma… no
wonder our Peranakan culture is disappearing so fast. Come on lah, no one who is
working today has the time to do all these little, tiny, time-wasting things the way you old
folks used to do it! Takes so much time, so much effort – who can do?”
I thought for a while. It is true what he said. But I needed to tell him something.
You know Benny, it is true that all the things we Peranakans do require time and effort.
Very leychey… our food, our clothes, our altars, our customs all very elaborate and very
leychey one. But leychey also, we still insist on doing it our way. But you know why?
It is because love is leychey. It is never easy. It takes effort and it sometimes takes a lot of
discomfort. And if it is a waste of time, then so be it. We do it this time-wasting way
because our hearts tell us this is what we do. Betol tak, Juliana?
Juliana merely sipped her coffee. And said nothing.
OFF CENTRE
A monologue from the play by Haresh Sharma
NOTE: This monologue is reprinted from Off Centre. Haresh Sharma. Singapore: Ethos
Books, 2006.
EMILY: Go and deliver a baby lah! You think I wear this to sleep is it? (slight pause) Vinod
– That’s a very nice name – Vinod, God spoke to me... He wants me to go to heaven. He
needs me. He needs my help. So, after I deliver this last baby I’ll go. But before I go, I want
to tell you that you have helped Saloma a lot. You have been there for her when no one
else even gave a second look. (slight pause) You are so beautiful Vinod – Your mind, your
heart, your soul. I know there is beauty in destruction. But trust me OK? Please say you will
trust me. (slight pause) The robbery… use it to move… to do. This country needs to be
cleansed. I would do it, but now I can’t. (slight pause) Start with one person. Talk to him,
go into his heart. Then go to another person. Nirmala will do so too, and so will Saloma.
We are special. Remember when you had your breakdown? We have come out of our
body and gone back in. What we have experienced all these people have not. They
need us. They don’t understand us, but they need us. (slight pause) Come.
Just come.
There’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Come, I’m late already.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
A monologue from the play by William Shakespeare
HELENA: How happy some o'er other some can be!
Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.
But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so;
He will not know what all but he do know.
And as he errs, doting on Hermia's eyes,
So I, admiring of his qualities.
Things base and vile, holding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
Nor hath Love's mind of any judgment taste;
Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste.
And therefore is Love said to be a child,
Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.
As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,
So the boy Love is perjured everywhere.
For ere Demetrius looked on Hermia's eyne,
He hailed down oaths that he was only mine;
And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt,
So he dissolved, and show'rs of oaths did melt.
I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight. Then
to the wood will he to-morrow night
Pursue her; and for this intelligence
If I have thanks, it is a dear expense.
But herein mean I to enrich my pain,
To have his sight thither and back again
LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN
A monologue from the play by Oscar Wilde
NOTE: This monologue is reprinted from Lady Windermere's Fan. Oscar Wilde.
London, Elkin Mathews, 1893.
MRS. ERLYNNE: Believe what you choose about me. I am not worth a moment's
sorrow. But don't spoil your beautiful young life on my account! You don't know
what may be in store for you, unless you leave this house at once. You don't know
what it is to fall into the pit, to be despised, mocked, abandoned, sneered at--to
be an outcast! to find the door shut against one, to have to creep in by hideous
byways, afraid every moment lest the mask should be stripped from one's face,
and all the while to hear the laughter, the horrible laughter of the world, a thing
more tragic than all the tears the world has ever shed. You don't know what it is.
One pays for one's sins, and then one pays again, and
all one's life one pays. You must never know that.--As for me, if suffering be an
expiation, then at this moment I have expiated all my faults, whatever they have
been; for to-night you have made a heart in one who had it not, made it and
broken it. --But let that pass. I may have wrecked my own life, but I will not let you
wreck yours. You--why, you are a mere girl, you would be lost. You haven't got the
kind of brains that enables a woman to get back. You have neither the wit nor the
courage. You couldn't stand dishonor! No! Go back, Lady Windermere, to the
husband who loves you, whom you love. You have a child, Lady Windermere. Go
back to that child who even now, in pain or in joy, may be calling to you. God gave
you that child. He will require from you that you make his life fine, that you watch
over him. What answer will you make to God if his life is ruined through you? Back to
your house, Lady Windermere--your husband loves you! He has never swerved for a
moment from the love he bears you. But even if he had a thousand loves, you must
stay with your child. If he was harsh to you, you must stay with your child. If he illtreated you, you must stay with your child. If he abandoned you, your place is with
your child.