On Sep. 6, Biola’s theater program, Theatre 21, opened doors for students across campus to audition for this academic year’s theater season. Students from all majors were invited to drop by the Theatre 21 Building and audition.
THE AUDITION PROCESS
Jesenya Rivera-Puls, a junior musical theater major, explained, “Biola Backstage is an audition [process] we do at the beginning of every school year, or as we like to call it, show season.”
Auditioning students prepared two contrasting monologues to perform in front of the directors for this season to showcase their acting ability.
“Contrasting doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be on opposite ends of the spectrum,” Puls said. “It could be that one of them is super serious and the other is comedic, it could be that one is from a Greek play written several hundred years ago and [the other] is from a play written two years ago. As long as they show range for you, that’s what you want to pick.”
Puls also noted that choosing monologues for an audition should take into account the kinds of performances the theater will show that season.
“I picked a Greek monologue because one of the shows that we’re doing this semester is Antigone,” Puls said. “So I picked [a monologue] from The Oresteia, which is [a Greek play] by Aeschylus.”
LEARNING AND GROWING IN AUDITION EXPERIENCES
Having participated in theater for about 14 years, Puls is very familiar with the auditioning process.
“I’ve been doing [theater] since I was about eight, so I was really young when I did my first audition, and it was definitely nerve-wracking,” Puls said. “I [looked] at the script and my eight-year-old brain was like, ‘How do I make sure that I sound like the character that I’m going for?’”
Over time, Puls found ways to help ease her nerves and gain confidence with each audition. She explained that one method to gain fluency in monologues is to use specific words to act as “pinpoints.” Another trick was to recite her monologue in different tones, such as with frustration or in a high-pitched voice.
Puls also emphasized the importance of not simply selecting monologues because of how “impressive” they are.
“It doesn’t matter [if you want] to do this really long and hard monologue from this Greek play because it sounds impressive — if you can’t perform it well, there really isn’t a point for you to do it,” said Puls. “Say there’s this really long monologue that I want to try, but I don’t sound as good, but I know this one Shakespeare monologue really well. I’m going to do [the Shakespeare] one because I know that I can showcase myself best, [and] it fits better with me … What’s going to be impressive is how you work with something simple.”
UPCOMING SHOWS OF THE SEASON
Since the conclusion of the auditioning process, directors now work to decide who will be part of the cast for this season’s shows. In October, Theatre 21 plans to perform “Antigone Now,” a modern adaptation of the original Greek play “Antigone.” Theatre 21 will also perform an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” in December.
