Auditions: guidelines
Please click here for a PDF of the full guidelines.
Planning
As soon as a venue is secured you should plan your auditions. Remember to advertise the auditions in the OUDS Newsletter and on the OUDS Facebook Portal.
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Audition callout
Make sure your audition criteria and requirements are as precise as possible and include all important logistical information including time, location, contact details, sign-up process and necessary audition preparation. Ensure that this message reaches far and wide – you can use OUDS as a marketing platform as well as social media sites.
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Format
It is worth deciding what your auditions will entail before you advertise them. For example, some teams choose to have an audition lasting 10 minutes, with 5 minutes for the auditionee to perform a monologue, and 5 minutes for redirection, while others may give more or less time, and may request the auditionee to have prepared a song, if the show is a musical. Also decide roughly when you are going to have callbacks, and what format they will take.
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Feedback
OUDS encourage production companies to give as much individual feedback as possible, and actors may also contact you for feedback on their audition. Constructive criticism is one of the best ways to improve any drama scene so make sure you take thorough notes on each auditionee throughout the audition process.
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Inclusivity and Accessibility
We ask that all members of OUDS abide by the following guidelines:
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Diversity (ethnicity/gender/sexuality) – avoid using phrases such as "colour-blind casting" without fully understanding the implications of this. You could instead use inclusive phrasing such as “we encourage students from all backgrounds and ethnicities to audition”.
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Access – think about how you can make auditions welcoming to those who are new to the drama scene and to those who have disabilities. Can you provide monologues from the play for students to get familiar with beforehand? Is your audition venue accessible? Make sure you clearly outline accessible facilities.
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Outreach – think about how you can attract a wider audience by contacting other student societies, such as Oxford First-Generation Students, the Oxford South Asian Arts Society, the Oxford BAME Drama Society, the LGBTQ society, the Oxford Students' Disability Community, etc.
If you have any questions regarding wording of callouts or running of auditions, please do not hesitate to contact the OUDS president.