Originally posted by TonyDi [QUOTE=edh915] ED I sooooo agree with you on this remark.

I've pretty much come to this conclusion as well.

However, and I don't know if this discussion extends to warm ups as well, I still try to have perhaps five minutes of group warm ups primarily for the purpose of group focus so to speak.  Sometimes I reduce that to just getting together hand in hand in a circle, taking one breath together and then making some positive comments about the coming performance. I realize even that isn't necessary for experienced actors but as has been pointed out you don't always have all experienced actors. It can be chaos with a big cast backstage and I feel that just a moment of silence and focus like that can be helpful.  Of course maybe it's just in my head.

In this discussion of "theater games"during auditions , may I suggest that sometimes these are done as a type of "mental game" for the benefit of those who are auditioning in order to give the impression that audition is being conducted at " very high and professional" level artistically. And to also give the impression that the audition is being conducted fairly and in an unbiased fashion. But ( at least in my personal experience ) usually the opposite is the case .

    But why would a theater group want to put on a "sham audition" such as this? Probably because most shows have a few "lead roles" and "featured roles" but have a lot of small " 2nd Spear-holder on the left roles" to fill. And I'm sure there are many theater groups that feel if they put on a big show of doing an elaborate and "fair" audition it is more likely that more of the people that attend the audition will be willing to be cast in these smaller roles. And excuse me, (and again just my opinion ), but in more than a few cases the whole purpose of the auditions are really only to fill some slots in the cast and small roles that haven't already been pretty much determined , for the most part, by the director and/or the " board" of the community theater group.

   My impression is that most professional theaters, unlike some community theaters, do not have the time or inclination for such sham "theater games". I can't say I've been to a lot of professional auditions ( 6 or 7 ) but they are usually quite fast and efficient. And no games. For a musical you sing first. In 60 seconds they pretty much know if you A) Sing very well, B) have an average voice , C) can't carry a tune. Then generally you do a 1 to 2 minute monologue. From this they get a reasonable idea if you an act a little or can't and your speaking voice. Based upon the above which has taken 3 or 4 minutes and how you look ( theather is very much a visual art form after all) they pretty much decide if they should call you back for some role and give you something to read or sing or you should just go home. If the show requires a lot of dancing they then teach you a combination they teach it to you for 15 or 20 minutes and you show them what you can do. Done.

    Auditions are not rocket science. They can be relatively quick and easy and yet be "fair". My impression is that when a community theater audition seems to be wasting your time with a lot of "games" ...... it probably is. Think about the musical "Chicago" and the song "Razzle-Dazzle"... pretty much the same.

    

What do games have to do with a play?

Well, depends on the play, dunnit?  I actually did a bit of this once.  I was directing for a park district that had a very "this-is-how-we-do-it" culture, and they didn't do callbacks for the type of show I was doing.  So basically, we had to screen down to the callback list, then give the callbacks almost immediately.  Then repeat it the 2nd night, and cast.

I had the acting bit do two exercises: the first was the "numbers" game -- basically, improvving a skit about (insert topic here) but instead of making up dialogue, just say numbers.  I found that one to be really VERY indicative of quality, to the point that the cold read that followed as a "callback" was almost unnecessary.  It was an excellent gauge of acting ability.  People were able to emote and make choices without having to look at a paper, remember words, and they had to pay attention to what the scene partners were doing.

The other one was very simple: I asked them to line up against a wall, and skip across the room.  There was a fair amount of slapstick for a few key characters, and anyone who'd get embarrassed or wouldn't go all in on a simple task like that wouldn't work in those roles.  Not needed, maybe, but it was fast, and fulfilled its purpose.