The Drama School Handbook E-Book

John Abbott

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 246

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Is your ambition to be an actor in films, TV shows and plays? Do you want to train at a drama school to start making that ambition a reality? Are you looking for honest, expert advice to boost your chances of success and beat the competition? If your answer to these questions is YES, then this essential guide to drama schools is for you! Written by an acting teacher with decades of experience in top UK drama schools, it breaks down everything you need to know about the whole journey, including: - Getting In: How to research which schools to apply to, select and prepare your audition speeches, and impress the audition panel on the day. - Getting On: How to make the most of your time as a student, including settling in, working successfully with the teachers and your classmates, and preparing to enter the professional industry. - Getting Out There: How to grab the attention of agents, directors and casting directors – with detailed advice on meetings and different types of auditions – find work, stay motivated and create your own opportunities.Whether you're thinking of applying to drama school – or you're already there and looking ahead to what comes next – this book will equip you with the inside information you need to let your commitment and talent shine, and take the first steps towards your career as a professional actor. 'Without John Abbott's exceptional advice and guidance, I would never have made it into the career I so wanted. His words come back to me time and time again – trust me, you need him too!' Leo Woodall (One Day, The White Lotus), from his Foreword

Leseprobe

A Nick Hern Book

The Drama School Handbook first published in Great Britain in 2024 by Nick Hern Books Limited, The Glasshouse, 49a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP

Copyright © 2024 John Abbott Foreword copyright © 2024 Leo Woodall

John Abbott has asserted his moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Designed and typeset by Nick Hern Books

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 84842 690 0 (print edition)

For Jane Harrison

CONTENTS

Foreword by Leo Woodall

Acknowledgements

PART 1: GETTING IN

1. First Steps

2. Preparing Your Speeches

3. Impressing the Audition Panel

4. The Day of the Audition

PART 2: GETTING ON

5. The First Term

6. The Second Term

7. The Third Term

8. The Second Year

9. Publicity

PART 3: GETTING OUT THERE

10. The Third Year

11. Getting an Agent

12. Meetings

13. Auditions and Readings

14. The Big Wide World – or Your First Job and Beyond

FOREWORD

Leo Woodall

When I was thinking about auditioning for drama school I had very little experience and very little confidence. I needed help. Which speeches to choose, how to perform them truthfully under pressure, even how to walk into the room.

I needed John Abbott.

I can honestly say that without his guidance I would never have auditioned with the confidence needed to get into one of the leading UK drama schools. It was brilliant, and I truly believe I wouldn’t have been accepted without him!

Once I was a drama student I panicked because everyone seemed so good, they knew what they were doing and what they were talking about. Surely the teachers would realise they had made a mistake and ask me to leave. I even walked into the Head of Acting’s office with the Principal of the school and told them I didn’t think I should be there.

I needed John Abbott.

Once again he talked me through the ups and downs of training and got me on the right track. We would meet regularly to discuss how it was going and with his guidance I was able to navigate the excitement of great casting; the disappointment of not-such-great casting; different styles of teaching; relationships with other students; and much, much more.

He also gave me exceptional advice for actually moving into the career I so wanted. How to talk to agents with confidence, how to make self-tapes, and how to join the profession as an equal.

Now I’ve graduated and I travel the world filming, taking direction, meeting new people – and John’s words come back to me time and time again, and now he has put all the help he gave me into this book.

Trust me: you will also need John Abbott!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I’ve got to thank Jane Morton. This book wouldn’t exist if she hadn’t asked me to help her son Leo with his audition speeches to get in to drama school.

Then, of course, thanks to Leo Woodall himself, who was with me through the whole process. Together we worked on all the things that drama schools are actually looking for in prospective students. Then, once he was at drama school, we met regularly to discuss some of the problems facing students that might not get noticed by the staff.

Also thanks to Laura Meredith, who gave me an insight into the student experience from a female prospective.

I must also thank Gareth Farr for the many conversations we had about how teachers and students interact with each other.

And Leanne Nagle, who gave me some good advice for the third section of the book on how to use technology and social media.

I also have to thank Yusuf Kahmisa, who arranged an extended meeting with a group of foundation course students to help me understand the mindset of prospective drama school students.

And thanks to Paul Martin at Sainou Talent Agency for keeping me up to date on how actors use the internet for interviews and auditions.

Then thanks to everyone at Nick Hern Books for their publishing talents and hard work:

Matt Applewhite, who has been a friend and colleague for nearly twenty years and seen me through four books.

Sarah Lambie, who was an enthusiastic, patient and supportive editor of this book.

Deborah Halsey, who made the pages look great.

And, of course, Nick Hern himself, without whom…

1. FIRST STEPS

So let’s start from the moment you decide to get some actor training.

What do you do next?

Well… maybe you’re at secondary school and a famous Hollywood producer is scouring England looking for an untrained teenager to star in his next movie and he picks you out.

You end up going to Hollywood and becoming an international superstar.

Yes indeed!

Or perhaps your English teacher has a friend who is a casting director for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He recommends you for the part of Romeo…

And you wow all the critics!!

Or maybe you’re in a show at your further education college, and a top actors’ agent sees you and…

Stop!

A very fine actress I met once said the difference between amateur actors and professional actors is that professional actors ‘dedicate their lives to acting’.

Think about that before you head out on this journey.

They dedicate their lives to acting.

Is that what you want?

If it is, carry on reading.

GETTING ADVICE

Okay, so perhaps you need some advice on how to get started.

But listen. Don’t ask an actor, whatever you do! They can be a bit cynical.

After all, if someone has dedicated their life to acting and they haven’t got a job, it can make them feel quite depressed.

Actors often get depressed.

But don’t worry, people in all manner of jobs get depressed at one time or another.

In fact, statistics show that the job that makes you most depressed is being a dentist!

So don’t be a dentist, right?

MIGHT AS WELL BE AN ACTOR.

Hey! Perhaps your drama teacher will be able to give you advice.

Or maybe you could try a Google search.

How about standing outside a West End stage door after a show and stopping a famous actress as she emerges to ask her how she started? You never know. You might strike lucky.

All these things are possible.

But probably the best thing to do if you want to be an actor is to apply for a place in a recognised drama school, so you can get some training. If you do that:

You will meet other people your own age who want to be actors.

You’ll learn loads of techniques from experts.

You’ll be in lots of plays.

And you’ll get an introduction to the world of professional acting.

Sounds good?

Then do it!

FINDING A DRAMA SCHOOL

When to apply

Most drama schools start their audition process during the Autumn Term and then continue with regular audition days until the middle of the Summer Term.

So you should begin the process well over a year before you want to do your training.

Most drama schools need applications to be in by February or March for the following September.

How to choose

All the drama schools have websites explaining how brilliant they are, and they will all have pictures of ex-students who have been successful so it’s a minefield.

But this is where your dedication to your ambition starts.

Get online to check out drama schools.

Read their websites carefully.

And get agut feeling of which schools appeal to you!

They all teach acting but they each have their own method, so it’s important to think about what you actually want to learn.

And what kind of career you would like to have.

Maybe you want to be in a long-running television drama.

Or maybe you want to make your mark in a TV sitcom.

Perhaps you want to be part of an experimental theatre group.

Or make cutting-edge, new-wave films.

Maybe you want to perform at the National Theatre.

Or maybe you want to be a movie star.

There are many paths available so you should think carefully about what you actually want.

You probably like watching films and TV.

Maybe you like going to the theatre.

And there are probably actors you particularly admire.

So find out where they were trained.

Especially if they have recently graduated.

You should also:

Check out the drama schools’ specialist facilities, such as rehearsal studios, theatres, and radio, film and television studios.

Find out about tutor contact time.

Discover the length of a normal training day.

Find the names of the professional directors they use – Google them to see how connected they are to the industry.

Checking out the schools you’ve chosen

If it’s at all possible, try to see some final-year productions at your selected drama schools so you can judge the kind of work they are doing.

Are the plays mainly classical or are they contemporary?

Is the acting style theatrical, humorous, physical or an example of ultra-realism? Ask yourself which styles you are most interested in.

Do the students look confident on stage?

Hang around after the performance to observe the atmosphere when the cast emerge from their dressing rooms.

Watch how members of staff talk to the students after the performance to see if they have the sort of relationship that would like to have with your teachers.

Ask yourself if you would have liked to have been in the show!

This is your training.

And you need it to be the best.

So you can achieve your ambition.

Making your application

Drama schools charge you a fee to audition so, unless you’re very rich, you will have to be quite selective.

I suggest you apply to about six drama schools if you can afford it.

Sometimes you will be asked to fill in an application form online, so that will be easy.

Write about your acting experience.

Write about your other interests.

Be enthusiastic but don’t exaggerate.

Be straightforward and honest about yourself.

Tell them what you want to achieve and how you think they can help.

THE AUDITION PROCESS

This is different for each drama school, but they all want to know

Can you act?

What experience have you had of acting?

What are you like as a person?

Most drama schools ask to see a self-tape to start with.

Check online for details of what each drama school wants you to do.

And how they want you to do it.

(And turn to page 186 in Chapter Thirteen for advice on self-tapes.)

After they have viewed your self-tape they will then decide if their training is suitable for you. If they think it is, you will then be given an audition date for some time in the future!

That’s exciting!

(Note: Choosing audition speeches and preparing them for performance is the same for self-tapes as it is for live auditions.)

Gathering suitable audition speeches

Drama schools usually ask to see you doing two speeches:

A classical speech – some ask specifically for a speech from a Shakespeare play.

And a contemporary speech – which some drama schools call a modern speech.

Maybe they will ask you to prepare a song as well.

And perhaps you need an extra speech up your sleeve.

And you may have to do a bit of sight-reading.

Each drama school has its own particular requirements. But basically, the standby reliable requirements are the two speeches:

A classical speech and a contemporary speech.

The classical speech

A classical speech is one that uses heightened language and often contains metaphors, similes and poetic images.

In other words it is not entirely naturalistic.

And was probably written over four hundred years ago!

In those days the words the actors spoke had to let the audience know about:

Their character’s mood and inner feelings.

Where their character is supposed to be.

What time of day it is.

And probably what the weather was like!

The audience went to the theatre tohear a play.

There was no stage lighting because the performances always took place in daylight.

There were no recorded sound effects.

There were no sets to speak of.

And usually there were no elaborate costumes.

Everything the audience needed to know, they got from the words the actors spoke.

Look at these lines from Shakespeare’s King Lear :

LEARBlow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!

You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout

Till you have drench’d our steeples, drown’d the cocks!

You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,

Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts

Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,

Strike flat the thick rotundity o’ the world!

The weather, right?

I told you so!  

Even if you don’t understand every word, it’s pretty clear that Lear is in the middle of the most horrendous thunderstorm.

So that is why I say that a classical speech uses heightened language and is not entirely naturalistic.

Of course it has to be acted realistically.

But it also gives the audience loads of information.

And it’s poetry!

Tricky stuff for sure.

But fun too!!

The safe bet for a classical speech is to do one from a Shakespeare play.

Although it would be quite acceptable to do something from another Elizabethan or Jacobean playwright, like Marlowe, Webster or Fletcher.

You could even do a speech from one of the Ancient Greek playwrights like Aeschylus, Euripides or Sophocles. These are all perfectly acceptable, although trawling through these difficult texts for an appropriate speech can be quite a mission.

Warning! You might think that Restoration comedy is classical. Or Chekhov. Or Ibsen, Oscar Wilde or Noël Coward. But most drama schools wouldn’t consider them to be officially ‘classical’.

So it would be best to avoid them.

Why annoy anyone before you’ve even started?

Which classical speech?

Okay. Let me lay my cards on the table here:

If you choose a speech from a Shakespeare play, it is impossible to find one that no one else will be doing.

People holding auditions often hear the same Shakespeare speeches, because they are the ones that are good for young actors.

‘I left no ring with her. What means this lady?’ (Viola from Twelfth Night)

Or

‘Think not I love him, though I ask for him.’ (Phoebe from As You Like It)

But the popularity of these speeches never clouds the panel’s judgement of the acting talent on display.

So originality in the choice of a classical speech is not a major requirement.

Don’t get hung up on it.

It’s much more important to choose a speech that is suitable for your personality and age. So don’t go for King Lear. He’s ancient.

I suggest that you choose a character who is no more than fifteen years older than yourself.

There are books of classical audition speeches and it is worth looking through those, but don’t reject speeches just because you don’t understand them on first reading.

Shakespeare is hard for everyone to understand.

So take it slowly.

And read the speeches carefully before making your choices.

The contemporary speech

There are also books of contemporary speeches that you can look through.

But maybe you had a speech in a play at college or in a drama group that you liked.

And maybe it went down well!

If that’s the case, then it would be a good idea to do it for your audition speech.

For a start, you will already have done a lot of work on it.

And secondly, you will know the play it came from backwards.

People are sometimes so obsessed with finding something ‘new’ that they dismiss their past successes.

Of course you may not have had the opportunity of doing a speech like that.

But never mind.

That’s not a problem.

It just means a bit more work.

Here’s some other suggestions:

Keep your eyes and ears open for speeches when you go to see plays.

The theatre might even be selling the playtext at a special reduced price, so you can buy it to read later.

Visit the National Theatre Bookshop. They have a great selection of plays and theatre books.

Otherwise, go to a local library or a bookshop and just keep searching through the play section until something catches your eye.

If you live outside London, find out if there is a theatre near you that has a bookshop or library.

But, please,

An important piece of advice…

Don’t try to shock the audition panel by your choice of outrageous material!

For a start, an audition panel is unshockable. They’ve seen it all.

I’ve heard speeches with way too much swearing.

I’ve seen simulated masturbation.

I’ve sat though blood-curdling mutilation speeches.

I’ve heard descriptions of deviant sexual practices.

I’ve even had a girl baring her breasts in an audition.

None of these things have ever shocked me.

Or made me feel that the actor is amazingly brave.

Or even interesting.

I just get embarrassed because it makes them seem so desperate.

So please don’t try to show how shocking you can be.

People just want to see if you can act!

The length of an audition speech

It’s frightening to hear this, but the audition panel usually make up their mind

Within 30 seconds of you starting your speech!

It’s true.

1. They may have decided to reject you after 30 seconds, in which case you might as well get it over with as quickly as possible.

Or… wait for it…

2. They may recognise your talent immediately! And a long speech could possibly make them change their mind!

Oops

So unless the drama school says differently, your audition speeches should last just over a minute and a half each.

And definitely no longer than two minutes.

That’s all the time you need.

And remember this:

The worst thing you can do is to bore the audition panel.

Character choices

The type of character you play doesn’t need to be extreme to be effective.

In fact, it is quite a good idea to use speeches in which the characters have the same sort of emotions that you have experienced yourself.

Most people know what it’s like to fall in love, so either Romeo or Juliet would probably be characters you could choose.

Maybe you sometimes get angry, so a speech where your character loses their temper would be useful.

Perhaps you find it easy to make people laugh, so try a funny speech.

Or if you like explaining things, choose a speech in which your character tells someone about something.

Find speeches that you really relate to!

Contrasting speeches

Once you have selected one of your speeches, make sure the other has a different mood or emotion.

a) A strong, confident character for your classical, for instance.

b) And an uncertain, romantic character for the contemporary.

I bet you’ve experienced both these moods at one time or another.

a) Maybe a loud, bombastic speech for one.

b) And a quiet, intense speech for the other.

The contrasting moods in the speeches should both be moods and emotions you experience yourself.

Sometimes you arehappy , sometimes you aresad.

Sometimes you feelfull of energy , sometimes you feelknackered .

These are the sorts of contrasts you should be looking for.

CONCLUSION

When you’re preparing for a drama school audition, it’s no good thinking ‘that will do’, about any step on the path.

Nothing will ever just ‘do’.

It can always be improved.

If you feel confident with your speech make sure that you can still do it when you’re nervous.

If you are in a bad mood on the day of the audition, you must be positive when you do your speeches.

If you are tired, depressed or you still need to be able to perform an upbeat, lively speech.

It’s no good coming out of an audition and blaming yourself for not being in the right mood.

You have to make sure that you arealways in the right mood.

You have to be at your bestwhatever the circumstances.

And that means lots and lots of work.

Just remember…

You don’thave to be an actor.

It’s just a choice!

But if you make that choice,

You need to do everything you can to beat the competition!

I mean it…

   EVERYTHING!   

2. PREPARING YOUR SPEECHES

So now it’s time to start getting serious.

You want this, right?

Well… the next thing to understand is:

How to impress the audition panel.

And actually that’s quite easy because they are only interested in two things:

COMMITMENT & TALENT

I’ll deal with talent in the next chapter, but this chapter is about how to show the audition panel that you are committed to your work.

Let’s start with an important reality check.

Doing an audition speech has nothing to do withreal acting .

Shock-horror, shock-horror!

And why not?

As a professional actor you are trying to hide your acting skills from the audience so they believe your character is a real person.

When you are doing an audition speech you are trying toreveal your acting skills to the audition panel so they will want to offer you a place on their acting course.

That’s the difference!

And actually there’s another difference.

In plays and films the characters are usually talking to each other. The trouble with an audition speech is that there is no one there to actually talk to.

You are on your own.

‘Ah,’ you may say, ‘but this speech is a monologue from a play and the actor was on their own when they said it.’

Oh no they weren’t!

There was an audience out there.

And the actor was communicating with them.

‘But isn’t the audition panel an audience?’

No… it’s not!

It’s a collection of judgemental observers!

Who might even be taking notes!

HELP

So this chapter and the next are about how you can prepare your audition speech in such a way that it will show ‘a collection of judgemental observers’ that you have the COMMITMENT and TALENT to become a professional actor.

BECOMING FAMILIAR WITH THE PLAY

Let’s start from the moment you have chosen your audition speeches.

What do you do next?

Read the plays

It’s no good just knowing the words of your speeches, you have to find out as much as you can about your characters and the situations they’re in.

Most of that information will be in the text of the play.

(Note: Obviously aShakespeareplay is difficult to read, but you can find editions of his popular plays with a modern-language translation running alongside the original text. Some people say that this is cheating and you should struggle with Shakespeare’s own words, butyou’re not applying for a degree in English Literature! You just want to find out what the play’s aboutso you can make sense of the speech.So give yourself a break!)

Here’s where your commitment begins.

Read the play so you have some idea of the story.

And then…

Read it again!

And make some notes about your character as you do it.

One of the most useful things you can do is to:

Write a list of everything that your character says about themselves.

And then write another list of everything that other people in the play say about your character.

Then you can compare the two lists.

This way you will be able to make yourown decisions about the character.

After you’ve made your lists you should read the play yet again so you become as familiar with it as you would be if you were performing the whole thing. There are two reasons for this:

1. It will help you learn as much about your character as possible.

2. You will be able to answer any questions about the play that the audition panel might ask you after you’ve done your speech.

This second reason is really important.

It will show the panel that you are committed to the work.

But there’s something else:

If you can’t answer their questions you will feel useless!

And your confidence will crumble!

And staying confident is one of the most important things on the day of the audition!

Research

Sometimes the play takes place in a part of the world that you are unfamiliar with.

Sometimes there are things about the character that are outside your field of experience..

If either of these things are the case, you should start doing some research.

Luckily research is easy because we have the internet.

Google everything and take notes.

Think about what you are reading.

Decide how it will impact on your character.

The more you know about the background of a character, the better prepared you will be to play the part.

Copying the way other actors perform your speeches

This is a total no-no!

It doesn’t matter how brilliantly another actor does a speech or how much you admire them, you shouldnever try to copy someone else’s performance.

There is only one way of interpreting a part

And that is your way!

Never forget:

The brilliant actor you admire only had the same information as you when they started work.

So read the play thoroughly and do some research.

Then you will have all the information you need to create your own unique version of the speech.

Think like your character thinks

Imagination is the actor’s greatest tool so now is the time to use it so you can create a well-rounded character.

Here’s what to do:

Imagine you are your character.

Then write answers to the following twenty-four questions the way your character would.

Some of the questions will be easy to answer, but the others will need a bit of thought.

So think like your character.

Use your instincts.

And just make things up!

Remember:

If you have studied the play properly

And done your research,

There are no wrong answers.

Character questions

1. What is your full name?

2. Do you have a nickname or pet name?

3. What is your relationship with other members of your family?

4. What is your greatest responsibility?

5. Do you have a social life?

6. What sort of people do you like to be with?

7. What is your job?

8. What is your state of health?

9. What is the state of your mental health?

10. What kind of education did you have?

11. What makes you laugh?

12. What makes you cry?

13. What moves you emotionally?

14. How sexual/sensual are you?

15. How interested are you in your appearance?

16. What do you daydream about?

17. What would catch your attention or distract you?

18. Are you relaxed, hyper or something in between?

19. What is your ambition?

20. Do you like yourself?

21. Do you like other people?

22. What are you obsessed about?

23. Are you a good listener?

24. Do you like Art or Science?

(Note: When you do this you should indicate the question in the way you write the answer so you can read through them later without having to look at the questions. e.g. 1. My name is Mary Smith; 2. My nickname is Curly; and so on.)

Pretending to be your character

You’ve done lots of research.

You’ve done lots of thinking.

Now you are ready to start acting.

Hurrah

Using the knowledge you have gained so far, spend a bit of time going through the following list of activities.

Explore each one until you have learned something.

(Note: This doesn’t involve any speaking. Just use your imagination and see what happens.)

Walk around the room pretending to be your character.

Think about the things your character would think about as you walk.

Try sitting in a chair to see how your character would sit down.

Try standing up…

Lying down on the floor…

Looking out of the window. What would your character see and how would they feel about it?

Try feeling like your character as much as you can.

Walk out of the room and then walk back in the room as if your character was seeing it for the first time.

Examine the room. Try going for a walk outside pretending to be your character. Walk in the park. Walk down a busy shopping street. See things the way your character would see them and think about your character’s opinion of everything.

Try to get inside the head of your character.