Auditions for Stage & Screen
Updated: 10 hours ago
We are founded on the belief that actor training needs reimagining to better serve our current and future generations of young artists. We believe in empowering you, our students, to recognise the unique strength of your voice and lived experiences. Using a holistic, embodied approach, we believe a balanced and healthy actor is a productive and professionally valuable one. The culture we develop demands that as students, you take ownership of your voice, your individual creative process and the path you create.
If you see yourself in this kind of environment, we look forward to meeting you.
For the BA (Hons) Acting for Stage and Screen, Bristol School of Acting (BSA) will be holding all first-round auditions virtually, via Zoom.
All recall auditions will be held in-person at one of our studios in central Bristol (Tobacco Factory Theatres or BSA Studios). It’s important to us that the recall experience becomes an opportunity for you to audition us at BSA as much as it is a chance for us to get to know you and your potential. We offer full-day workshop-based recalls to give you and us a fair opportunity to confidently make such an important decision.
ALL OUR AUDITIONS ARE FREE.
To keep our process inclusive and accessible, we don’t want money to be a barrier to auditioning with us.
HOW TO APPLY
We begin accepting applications for auditions from September each year and will provide exact dates on www.bristolschoolofacting.com.
As well as applying for an audition with us, you also need to apply to us through UCAS. We cannot make you an offer unless you do this.
Please note: all of our acting and performance degrees above are validated by Plymouth Marjon University, though they will be taught by us,
Bristol School of Acting, and our partners, in Bristol.
What you need to prepare:
FIRST ROUND AUDITIONS
Our first round auditions will take place remotely via Zoom with a BSA tutor. You will be given the log-in details once you have booked yourself in.
You will be asked to present two contemporary monologues (written after 1970) from published full-length plays, each under two minutes. The monologues should be of contrasting tone, tempo, genre or style. Please note: performing two contemporary monologues is our strong preference, however, if you feel you have a classical piece prepared that you feel represents you well, then you are welcome to perform that in place of one of your contemporary pieces.
You'll then have the chance to talk to a tutor about the course and our approach at
BSA.
If you wish to audition for more than one of our acting and performance-based degrees as listed above, you are very welcome to, just let us know when you apply.
You only need to do one audition in order to be considered for all of these degrees.
Within two weeks of your first-round audition, we will tell you whether you have been selected for a recall audition (see below). If you have, you'll be asked to select a date for it. There will be a limited number of recall spaces per day so the sooner you select, the better the chances are that you will get your first-choice recall date.
RECALL AUDITIONS (In-person)
The recall auditions take place over the course of a day, from 10am-4.30pm. You should plan to be with us for the whole day. An indicative schedule is below.
NB: Please arrive in clothes suitable to move around in (leggings, sweats, t-shirt, no shoes) and bring a bottle of water, some lunch and/or some lunch money.
10.15am We will welcome you, get you settled and provide an introduction to BSA and our approach to training.
10.30am - 12.30pm You will then take part in two group workshops, 1 hour movement workshop and 1 hour acting workshop. We are looking for spontaneity and an openness of approach. We want to see you make individual creative choices but in a non-competitive way, showing that you can work respectfully with others as part of a team.
12.30 - 1.30pm You will have time for lunch (please bring some food with you, or some money - there are plenty of local cafes and shops nearby).
1.30 - 4pm You'll work on a duologue/scene of your choice with a reader (a current
BSA student or tutor). A selection of scenes will be sent to you before the recall. You may also be asked to present your monologue from your first round audition. You will then have a brief interview.
4pm The session will end with a Q&A.
4.30pm Day End
Our recall auditions take place at various times throughout the year, usually from Nov to April, though we will advise of exact dates at the same time that we invite you to a recall. Successful applicants will be notified within two weeks of attending.
Whether a first round or recall audition, we strongly encourage you to submit/book your audition as soon as you receive your invitation. Our courses fill up fast and once we have made enough offers to fill the courses, we will close them to new applicants.
DECISION MAKING PROCESS
The audition panel will score each candidate on each of the following 7 categories
Workshop
Improvisation skills
Physical aptitude
Prepared scene
Vocal flexibility and variety
Physical embodiment of the scene
Characterisation
Connection to emotional truth
Delivery of the text
Each category is rated 1-4. (4= excellent, 3= good, 2=reasonable, 1=poor)
If a candidate scores above 24 they will be offered a place, if less than 16 they will be declined. A candidate scoring between 16 and 24 will be discussed at length by the panel and a decision will be made after taking the whole audition, especially the interview and the monologue (if we have seen it) into account, and reflecting on the candidates suitability for the training.
Please contact auditions@bristolschoolofacting.com if you have any questions.
