The audition is the first rehearsal

The audition is the first rehearsal. An audition is not a combat, or a plea, or even an interview: it’s a piece of work. Go to it as you would to the first rehearsal if you already had the part. Don’t dress as if costumed for the part, that smacks of desperation and is inappropriate, but dress in the clothes you’d rehearse in. The first rehearsal is often, like the audition, a reading, so you will have familiarised yourself with the script and thought about it, but it’s unnecessary to have learned it word for word. It’s the first rehearsal so there will be plenty of questions to ask and a degree of experimentation may be involved. The point of all this is to establish a working relationship with the caster or director, rather than just being part of a selection process. You will put yourself and them in the right frame of mind to progress your involvement in the production. You might be right or wrong for the part, that much is in the lap of the gods, but you are putting yourself in a position in which there will be no unnecessary barriers to your getting it. The audition is the first rehearsal. If you get the part it will turn out to actually have been the first rehearsal. And if you don’t get the part at least you will have worked with a director or caster who may well remember you favourably for next time. Those are the Words of Wisdom.