One-to-one acting training and audition coaching, semi-private & group classes in acting fundamentals, scene study, text analysis, all on-demand.

Auditions have changed. Actors are creating, curating, and generating many tapes, submitting them for hopeful consideration in a near-vacuum. After having received minimal information in a breakdown, and no script, Actors are to divine what it is production may be seeking and, without the casting process to support them, some Actors feel like they have little choice: spend money and time focusing on the look of their slate and scenes. But what exactly is it that Actors are missing from the loss of real auditions?

SOME CONTEXT: The loss of the audition in the casting process denies Actors that which they’ve needed to refine and focus their offerings: input and feedback. When requested for an audition, the Actor was in a supremely subtle unspoken dialogue with Production, adjusting and responding to myriad cues, tone, and preference from the point of arrival through their encounters in session with a skilled and informed Reader, Casting Director and, later, the Director and/or Producer. While it may be true that the first 30 seconds of an actual audition can be intensely significant, it’s equally true that Actors have won the part, in an actual audition, in their second or third scene. 

Actors are losing – or have lost – their ability to tell a story. Story gets lost in a world where all that the Actor has created is reduced to a scan of the opening moments of a submitted tape. 

On the other hand, an audition, with interaction and feedback, produces an Actor who is now involved in production. The loss of the audition results in Actors showing up for work blindfolded, having never met the Director but with whom they must closely collaborate even as they are frantically catching up, working hard to keep pace with an already fast-moving train. Taking direction in this environment can feel next to impossible. A reliance on story can be the life raft many Actors are looking for. 

THE CLASS: Audition sides can offer little. Breakdowns can be misleading or so generic that they seem to request stereotypes. Zero human interaction before a booking assures that the Actor is heavily disadvantaged. A return to and reliance on storytelling can aid Actors who have been left adrift in the wake of having been abandoned in the casting process. By focusing on story, Actors make use of their skill set as creators and, by delving into text analysis as a gateway into backstory and character development, Actors can move away from the anti-artistic, one-dimensional focus on marketing and “look,” and back toward the multi-faceted and more human craft of acting.

And because it’s true that, in any moment, any person has the potential to respond in dozens of ways, all germane to them, the same is true for the characters Actors create. By creating a robust and dimensioned character, Actors are well-able to sustain input and collaboration from Directors because the Actor has never “locked in” a performance tailored to “look right.” 

In HOW TO TAKE DIRECTION, Kelly-Ruth centres story, and what it is that audiences connect with: The Actor. This class helps Actors create relevant characterizations, as well as helping them to just feel like Actors again. And, for those who entered the work force in 2020 or later and who’ve never met a Casting Director, Producer, or Director, it’s an opportunity to understand just what it is that a Director does and how to make space for – and welcome – all that the Director can offer. 

It’s never how you say the line; it’s why you say the line. – KRM

Submitting a tape is not the same as auditioning. – also KRM

As of March 2023, class times and locations are being scheduled. Please email interest below!