Students will be able to identify the expectations of college auditions by viewing auditions from the perspective of the auditioner and using this information to justify their monologue choices.
Materials Needed:
Copies of the part of a monologue adjudication form Lesson 2.Monologue Adjudication Form, video of interviews with professors about what they are looking for in a college audition piece **created and collected ahead of time!**, video worksheet Lesson 2.Video Worksheet, stop watches.
Hook/Step 1: Mock Auditions (20 minutes)
Say that we will address their monologues later, but first pass out monologue adjudication forms. Tell them that they will be auditioning someone and they are to evaluate them using these specific forms. Give them a minute to review all of the terms on the form, but do not tell them what they mean (you will talk about this later with them). The teacher will then be the auditioner and model a bad example of both rapport and monologue delivery/choice. After the audition, give the student a moment to record their scores on the form and then ask the students about what they just observed. •What did you think of the performance? Why? •What did you or did you not like? Why? Once everyone has filled out the form, go through each of the terms and make sure that the students are clear as to what they mean. When the students have a good grasp on what exactly they are looking for, tell them that the auditioner will go again. This time, once the students recognize anything that needs to change, they are to yell “STOP!” and then instruct the auditioner what to do differently. After this monologue has finished, then instruct the students to once again use their form to score the next performance. Then model a good audition. After allowing them to score the monologue, discuss the differences from the original audition.
Step 2: Video (30 minutes)
Tell the students that we’re now going to see what some college professors have to say about college auditions and what they look for. Pass out a worksheet with each of the questions on it. Go over some terms that the students may not be familiar with (slate, dialect). Give them 5 minutes to fill out the worksheet with what they think the professors will say. After watching each segment, give the students time to recap what the professor said on their worksheet, and then discuss. •What does it mean when different professors answered the same question differently? •What does this tell you about auditioning?
Step 3: Justifying (15 minutes)
Now have the students pull out their monologues. They need to have a copy that they can turn into you by the end of class. If they don’t have one they can turn in, they can write one out now. First have them get with a partner (which we will select at random) and have them verbally justify their piece to each other. They should discuss if the choice is a good one. Then at the bottom of their monologue, they need to defend their monologue choices. Talk about what specifically makes their monologues good monologues for them. It may be helpful to review what a good monologue is (goes through another person, has an objective, is talking to another person, is passionate) and write these traits on the board so the students can check their monologue against this criteria. Also ask: •What did we learn about college auditioners’ expectations that can be expressed/shown through your monologues? Once the students are finished doing this, they will turn their monologues in to you.
Step 4: Cutting (10 minutes)
Have them get with a new partner to make sure that their piece is 40 seconds long. Have them work together to cut it if necessary. Have them discuss with each other if their cutting makes sense and it shows the best range of emotions.
Step 5: Wrap up (5 minutes)
Review with them that their monologues need to be chosen in two classes (lesson #4).
The questions we will ask the professors are: What types of monologues do you like to see in an audition piece? How do you feel about character pieces and dialects for auditions like proficiencies? How do you like an auditionee to act when coming into an audition setting? What do you like auditionees to include in the slate? How should an audience end a monologue? Transition from slate to monologue and from monologue to monologue? What nervous habits do you notice/look for in an auditionee? How does their personal presentation affect how you view their audition? What affects their personal presentation (physicality, speech, eye contact, etc.)? Is there anything specific that you look for?
