To Cold Read or Not to Cold Read

I have been reading the forum on Audition Tips and one subject that has come up that is of particular interest to me is the issue of Cold Reading. Quite obviously you either don’t like them or don’t mind them, and there have been quite convincing comments made for both sides, and I exclude any comment already made by myself in this regard.

It is also very timely considering the impending auditions for   at the Garrick Theatre, Perth. Link here for more http://www.theatre.asn.au/forum_topic/auditions_for_garrick_one_act_season The question then becomes do I Cold Read or not? I know that Cold Reading doesn’t demonstrate the ability to show character development and acting skills. This is something that comes only from rehearsals. For this reason I am requesting applicants to prepare a short (30 sec to 2 min) monologue which will be presented first.

The thought was to then hold ‘Cold Readings’ of the play to try and determine ensemble dynamics; how the actors worked within a team and without much preparation.

Now, I do believe that there may be some vagueness surrounding what a Cold Reading actually is, and maybe that’s where my confusion rests :puzzled:. The extreme version of a ‘Cold Reading’ is that the actors have very little (if any) preparation before they are to read on-stage. This approach I do have a problem with. This would be great for testing the ability to improvise and invent, but not necessarily an accurate measure of acting ability. Despite the general fear :sick: that can well in the heart of newbies, this approach can, and often is, very off-putting to many actors. It is an unfair evaluative method.

My perception was in the fact that the actors would be working with others with minimal, but some, experience of either the script or each other. Industrious actors would no doubt have attempted to find a copy of the script (if available) and read up on it, or found some reviews of previous productions, and possibly even source sample pages from the Director. This would give them a familiarity with the story, script, etc without actually knowing what was to be read specifically at the audition. Plus the Director will most likely want to try various combinations and there is certainly no way to prepare for that.

:idea: Maybe this could be called a ‘Luke-warm Reading’ or a ‘Medium Rare Reading’.

Jokes aside, attempting to give the actor a chance to demonstrate their skills and still be able to experiment with group combinations means (as far as I can see) an Audition in two stages; Individual and Group.

The individual can have something they prepared earlier. The group would have no opportunity at all for preparation.

Your thoughts and opinions are most welcome and may influence my options for the Auditions of 'Quake'

Jeff Watkins

http://au.geocities.com/labrug