Before choosing your Drama School audition monologues, here's something to think about...

The first question I am asked when I get an enquiry into coaching someone for their drama school audition is 'what audition pieces should I do?' and it isn't an easy one for me to answer. In fact, I can't answer it, I can only give you my advice and guide you to make your choice. Why? Because it has to come from you. It is your story, your audition, spoken from your lips and the material you choose has to stimulate you in some way. Why would it matter to an audience if it doesn't matter to you? Why waste this chance- ANY chance in speaking if the words don't matter?

When sitting on the audition panels whether it is for the BA Acting, MA or Foundation courses, when someone brings a piece that does something to them, that moves through them so naturally, it is captivating, I can't put it into words but I can see it and feel in mere seconds. Yes, you are auditioning to train and build your craft but starting with a speech that matters to you is a great place to begin.

I remember when I was auditioning for drama schools - sifting through the long gone Samuel French bookshop trying desperately to discover a new monologue that no-one had done before. This is where I put all my focus until one day, by chance, I went and saw a play that moved me so very much that to this day I still get emotional thinking about one of the scenes and I decided to do it for my auditions. I didn't care if anyone had done it - I knew I had to. It mattered to me, it excited me and I could not wait to get in that room and show the audition panel my interpretation.

Which is why the first piece of advice I am going to give you is read read and then go and read some more. I don't just mean plays, I mean newspapers, stories, articles, magazines, whatever you can get hold of because reading costs nothing and is the greatest gift to us humans. Borrow what plays you can, watch what is going on in the world, what is going on around you, in your community, in other communities, down your street, in your apartment block, at your gym, at your place of worship, at your local shop - start being curious about everyone around you. Why? Because you are auditioning to be an actor, a storyteller, a vessel for other people's writing, for other people's stories as well as your own - a mirror to society some might say.

My second piece of advice is watch watch watch and watch some more. Watch documentaries about things you have no idea about. Watch dramas, films, comedies and interviews about other people's lives and start understanding what makes you vibrate - what makes YOU tick. Watch old movies not just new ones. Watch plays online. Watch live theatre if you can. What short films and sketches. The more you do this, the more open you will be to storytelling, whether fact or fiction, the more you will start understanding those things you are passionate about or interested in that you haven't even discovered yet. The more empathy you have as an actor and the more curious you are about the world around you, will only enhance your ability to share that in your own way.

Now this may seem like a lot to ask. After all we need to earn a living which takes up our time but I am not merely advising you to do just for now. This should be something you take through your entire career - from right now. This is something that should never end. Your curiosity needs to build and grow throughout your entire life as an artist. How wonderful that we can go through life with a never-ending curiosity and hunger to absorb information for our work and then ultimately in some form, pass it on and connect with the world around us? So if you don't quite grasp the importance of what I am suggesting right now, that's ok. Let it simmer for a while and as you move forward in your career, however it manifests, whether you get into drama school now, next year or in the future, you will gradually start to truly understand.

Every time you speak and perform, you have a chance to connect to an audience - don't waste it!

Lee x

(PS. I will be adding some more posts on preparing for drama school auditions and also soon I will be launching our auditioning workshops online to help you prepare. Always feel free to get in touch for any advice)