Stage Management, 11th Edition

6 Expediting Auditions and Readings

My dear boy, forget about the motivation. Just say the lines and don’t trip over the furniture. —Noel Coward

 

The degree of stage manager involvement in the audition process varies with the level of theatre. In some Broadway theatres auditions are held before the stage manager is hired. In amateur and community theatres the stage manager may be asked to perform a variety of tasks in helping the producer and director to carry out the casting process. In some cases it will just be the director and stage manager running the auditions.

In auditioning actors for roles in plays, it is desirable to make the actors comfortable and to move them quickly through an interview–audition procedure. In general, two areas ...