Improvisation

From research and from being informed by our teacher that in auditions often it is required to do a bit of improvisation after the monologues have been performed. We had to make sure that we were prepared for this in case we were required to do a piece of improvisation in our auditions.

How it Works

In the audition after you have performed your monologues, a member of the panel will usually say that they want to see an expansion on one of the monologues. Then they will give you a time, place and situation. Then another member of the audition panel will appear on stage with you where you have 1 minuet to set up your improvised piece that matches the location and situation given to you. You and the member of the audition panel will then have 1-3 minutes to improvise a scene.
How we Prepared

To prepare and practice this we got into pairs in our class. One member from the pair gave a character to the other explaining the situation, place and time of the scene in 1 minute. The pair then had to improvise the scene, after giving feedback to one another on how well the other did.
For example, I was paired up with Emily. We improvised a piece from her play 'Star Spangled Girl' where she was trying to leave to run away from a guy who was in love with her. I was playing the part of another man who was in the play to try to convince her to stay as I truly loved her.
This helped us practice simple improvisation techniques such as open questioning and avoiding blocking. It also gave us confidence in knowing that we are capable of improvising. It also allowed us to get a feel for how it might be in the audition making it not so scary when being faced with it.