I thought it would be a good idea to share a little nugget of wisdom I learned when I was a company member with The Pearl Theatre, an off-Broadway classical repertory company.

I lent a hand at many of the open calls we held throughout the year and gained some valuable insights into the audition from the auditor's point of view, and this was one of them...

When you walk on stage to do your monologue, remember this! You are walking onto the "Set" of the previous actor's "Play", meaning the monologue and/or scene they just performed. Now the actor who was just on may have been great or they may have been lousy; you have no way of knowing this. This is why it's critical for you to "Take Stage", i.e. - grab the focus of the auditor with your confident walk as you head for center stage, say your name and monologue information LOUDLY and CLEARLY and start your audition piece with energy and focus.

But, at many open calls, the theatre will provide you with a chair for the performance of your monologue. Here is where the high jinks can start. If, when you walk on stage, you see that a chair is there, remember it was the other actors' set piece and you need to establish YOUR "set". If you hadn’t planned on using it anyway, get that thing out of there! Now, here's a problem that some actors run into. They've been practicing their monologue using a chair that is placed, say center stage left, and when they walk on to do their piece they see that the last actor ALSO used a chair center stage left. They've only rehearsed the blocking one way and are now faced with the dilemma of performing on the other actor's set.

WHAT TO DO???!!!

The way to get around this problem, and prepared for this possibility, is to rehearse your monologue's blocking as a mirror image. Do it several times with the chair, and the characters you may be speaking to, from center stage left, and then do it center stage right. Get it?

It's a great acting exercise that will keep you on your toes and help prevent a potential train wreck.

Also, a word to the wise on using two chairs during your monologue; you know, one for you and one for your imaginary partner in the scene? DON'T! You don't need to establish where the other character is by using an empty chair, the auditors don't care if the person you're talking to is sitting, standing or flying in the air! Also, you should have rehearsed the scene enough in the first place to put that other character in space without needing a visual anchor.

Lastly, if you are going to stand during your piece, it's a good idea to NOT have the other character(s) seated as this will lower your gaze down and may throw shadows onto your face. Keep that chin up and show them what a fantastic actor you really are!