Jude Magnotti ’26
EE Managing Editor
It’s that time of a year again…and you know what that means. Kids are back to school, teachers are handing out homework, but most importantly, this is the start of another brand new fun and exciting TheSpians season!
This season starts first and foremost with auditions for the highly anticipated student run fall play. The fall play has long been a staple and tradition of THS’s long standing and well respected theater program.
The past three productions, The Alibis in 2023, Almost Maine in 2022, and 12 Angry Jurors 2021 have all received rave reviews from students and teachers alike. What makes the fall play unique as compared to other productions put on by the THeSpians is that the fall play is, first and foremost, entirely 100% student run.
Several directors are chosen every year to put on and direct their very own scenes with a unique cast of their peers. This allows students (some of whom are aspiring play directors) to learn the trials and tribulations of what it is like to be in the directors chair of their very own play!
In addition to being a great experience for the directors themselves, this format also presents a unique opportunity for student actors as well. It presents them with the opportunity to work together with a group of peers instead of adults. This allows for them to engage in better teamwork and group coordination, all while experiencing the same laughs they would with their friends along the way.
With that being said, before the official start of the play, actors and directors alike must endure one of the most entertaining and anxiety provoking experiences of theater –auditions.
In order to assemble a cast of the best equipped individuals for each role, the directors require that each thespian interested in being a part of the play (new or old) must first complete a comedic monologue for them.
Now, it is no secret that public speaking is one of the common fears of everyday people (especially teenagers). Now, imagine that, but memorizing something much longer and performing as a character that’s not yourself in front of people judging your every move and that’s what auditions are like.
With this level of pressure, It is common for even the most experienced performers to get nervous before their big moment. Most performers are able to move past that anxiety and perform their monologue in front of the directors with flying colors. However, with so much tension in the air, the fight for parts becomes a dogfight. Each actor tries to outdo each other with just one more word, one more character choice, or one more accent in hopes that they will receive the part they yearn for.
Fortunately, no matter how good or bad one may do at their monologue, at the end of the day it matters very little in the director’s decision. Most of the nitty gritty when it comes to casting is already made up before a single performer reads their monologue and that’s just the way it is.
With all that out in the open, I encourage you (as a member of the THeSpians myself) to just go ahead and audition for the play. You can be part of an incredible experience both on and off the stage, and the skills that actors (and just students in general) stand to gain from the public speaking involved in theater can greatly help them in other areas of their life as well.
Get out of your comfort zone, face your fears, and put yourself out there in one of the biggest theater programs in Connecticut. The interest meeting is 8/28 in A30 for all who are interested, and the auditions themselves are September 3rd through the 6th. We hope to see you there!!