How to Prepare Theatre Audition Sides
- How do you prepare audition sides?
- What are sides, and how are they different from a monologue?
- Which version and passage should you work on?
- Does preparation mean memorization?
- How can you separate facts from acting choices?
- What would a marked-up scene look like?
- How much should you write on the page?
- How should you work with a reader safely?
- What should you keep after the reading?
- Sources
How do you prepare audition sides?
Prepare audition sides by checking the production's current pages, assigned character, reading boundaries, and memorization instructions. Read the whole supplied scene, clarify unfamiliar words, and separate what the text establishes from your interpretation. Make a few readable notes and remain open to direction. Ask the production about access arrangements and unclear requirements. Never improvise physical contact, intimacy, stunts, or hazardous action to demonstrate a scene.
This guide concerns a provided scene for a community-theatre audition. It is desk-researched preparation guidance, with an original fictional worksheet below, not a report of an audition attended or a method promising a role. If you are still sorting out the appointment and requirements, begin with reading the audition notice.
What are sides, and how are they different from a monologue?
The University of Washington School of Drama defines sides as pages from a play's scene. Another person may read the other character's dialogue; a designated reader can participate without auditioning. A cold reading uses material without prior preparation. In UW's description, that does not require memorization. These terms explain the task, but your production determines its actual format. UW auditioning glossary
Do not assume that receiving pages means you must prepare an additional self-selected speech. Equally, a notice requesting both a monologue and sides has assigned two tasks. Put them on separate lines in your preparation record so completing one does not obscure the other.
A useful first question is specific: “I received Scene B for Rowan. Is that the complete reading material for this appointment, and may I use the pages?” This is an example question, not wording issued by a real production.
Which version and passage should you work on?
Before annotating, make a small header on your own working copy or separate note:
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Material | File name and any printed revision date |
| Assignment | Character and scene requested |
| Boundaries | First and last requested line; any marked cuts |
| Format | Paper or device instructions; memorized or script available |
| Unresolved point | A question for the official production contact |
Keep page numbers supplied by the production visible. If the PDF viewer calls a sheet page 4 but the script prints 17, record both when asking about a passage. That prevents two people discussing different numbering systems without realizing it.
Follow explicit start and stop marks. If they are missing or contradictory, ask rather than inventing a cut. Request missing pages through the official channel; do not replace them with a different edition found online.
If revised sides arrive, compare the assignment, boundaries, and wording before carrying notes across. Keep the current working copy clearly distinguished from the superseded one. Follow the production's material-use and confidentiality instructions; do not publicly post restricted sides or upload them to an outside service without authorization.
Does preparation mean memorization?
Not everywhere, and not for every task. Washington and Lee University's theatre guidelines say its emailed sides need not be memorized. They recommend checking word meanings and pronunciation, speaking the lines aloud, and considering the situation and relationships. The same page allows individual directors to add requirements. That is guidance for its own auditions, not a promise about your local production. W&L audition guidelines
By contrast, the University of Rochester's advice for a prepared audition piece emphasizes memorization where possible and being ready to change an interpretation when directed. Its prepared-piece advice should not be relabeled a universal rule for supplied sides or cold readings. Rochester audition tips
Ask which expectation applies before choosing how to allocate preparation. Request an accessible format or other necessary arrangement through the designated contact; neither this guide nor another institution's policy establishes what a particular production provides. Record the response, including anything still awaiting confirmation.
How can you separate facts from acting choices?
Read the supplied scene beyond your own lines. A response makes more sense when you know the question, refusal, or discovery preceding it. If authorized access to the complete play is available, use that context too; do not invent certainty about events missing from your excerpt.
In the Royal Shakespeare Company's archived 2020 Homework Help answers, actor Alice Blundell describes noting textual facts separately from judgments and recording what characters say about one another. It is one actor's approach, not a compulsory audition marking system. Our simpler worksheet adapts the distinction into facts, possibilities, and questions. RSC Homework Help
For each important moment, ask:
- What does this page actually establish?
- What am I choosing to imagine?
- What remains unknown?
- What new information does the other character give me?
An accusation is evidence that a character makes that accusation; it is not automatically proof that the accusation is true. Likewise, an actor's choice to sound impatient does not turn impatience into a printed stage direction.
What would a marked-up scene look like?
The following four-line scene is original fiction written solely for this guide. It is not an excerpt from a published play or actual audition material. No props or physical action are required.
ROWAN: I brought the blue folder.
ELLIS: I asked for the green one.
ROWAN: The green one is still at the office.
ELLIS: Then tell me what you remember.
An original preparation sheet might look like this:
| Observation | Text supports | Possible choice, not established fact |
|---|---|---|
| Rowan mentions a blue folder | Rowan says they brought it | Rowan might initially expect approval |
| Ellis names a green folder | Ellis says this was the request | Ellis might be puzzled rather than angry |
| Rowan identifies the office | Rowan says the green folder remains there | Rowan might want to explain the mismatch |
| Ellis asks for remembered information | The request now concerns what Rowan remembers | Ellis might be trying to keep the conversation productive |
The exchange does not establish who employs whom, whether anyone lied, what the folders contain, or why the wrong folder was brought. Adding a boss-employee relationship is an interpretation, not a discovery from these lines.
For Rowan, a tentative aim could be to help Ellis despite the mismatch. For Ellis, it could be to obtain the needed information. These are choices to explore, not a hidden answer key.
Notice the change at the final line: Ellis requests information instead of specifying a folder. A working note such as “listen for the new request” is more useful here than fixing every sentence to a predetermined emotional label. You can revise that choice if the director supplies different context.
How much should you write on the page?
Use the smallest marking system you can read while speaking. This is our editorial organizing suggestion, not a required professional notation:
- Mark the assigned character's name clearly.
- Put a question mark beside an unresolved word or instruction.
- Note the cue immediately before your first line.
- Keep optional interpretation notes in the margin or on a separate sheet.
Avoid covering another character's dialogue or printing so small that your copy becomes harder to use. Preserve the actual words; a private paraphrase used to understand a difficult sentence is not permission to substitute it in the audition.
If several roles are assigned, identify each clearly rather than assuming one color or set of marks will remain understandable. Use labels as well as color if that makes the copy more accessible to you. The point is reliable retrieval, not a beautifully decorated script.
How should you work with a reader safely?
Confirm who reads the other lines and where the production wants you positioned. Do not assume the reader will stand, move, or enact a stage direction. UW explicitly prohibits touching a reader or fellow auditioner without prior permission. A fictional relationship does not supply real consent. UW reader guidance
Do not rehearse fights, falls, weapons, climbing, or other hazardous action alone or improvise it in the audition. Tell the production about the concern and request a non-contact reading under qualified direction. Keep exits and working routes clear. Stop if a requested action is unsafe; an audition is not authorization to perform it.
UK Equity's casting warning advises against audition requests involving intimacy, nudity, or sexual activity, including nude or partially nude images. It tells members to decline and report such requests. This is identified UK union guidance, not a statement of every jurisdiction's law. Do not perform or record such material to prove commitment; seek the appropriate local safeguarding or professional support channel if pressured. Equity casting safety warning
What should you keep after the reading?
Record any new material, changed requirement, or confirmed next step privately. Separate an instruction you received from your guess about how the audition went. The result remains the production's decision; preparation is not a casting guarantee.
Our audition desk covers the surrounding paperwork. If you also want to explore a crew role, the first-show backstage guide explains the separate questions about training, supervision, safety, and time commitment. Neither route obliges you to accept work or conditions you have not agreed to.