Auditions

* The following was written on 6th May 2012*

Re-reading the previous instalment, I realise I neglected to mention which cast member will not be returning this time around. It is Neon Fringe regular Andrew Deering. Which means we have a Fats-Rothstein-shaped hole to fill. And fill it we have! But more on that later…

Last time I bemoaned the process of auditioning. And having just completed it once more, my opinion has not changed. This time around, though, wasn’t quite as bad as when we were casting Love in the Time of Social Networking. Back in 2010, we held open auditions and suffered because of it – not creatively (that cast was a joy to work with and truly delivered) but administratively. Over the course of three hours we saw a lot of people. But we didn’t have a structure in place – one minute we had a group of eleven, the next a group of three. It was a mess. But it taught us a valuable lesson. This time around we were prepared.

First off, we asked actors to express an interest in auditioning and submit a headshot and CV. From this we narrowed down the list to those we wanted to meet face-to-face. We had a number of criteria: looks (Fats is an older character), theatrical experience and, perhaps surprisingly, grammar and presentation. This may seem harsh but if someone cannot correctly format their own CV then I would question their dedication and work ethic. If that makes me a bastard, so be it. As I said before, personality counts. So does grammar.

But I digress. We narrowed it down to ten potentials and called them in to audition. Naturally, there were one or two no-shows (automatically bridge-burning offence) but otherwise things ran pretty smoothly. Auditions ranged from bad to excellent and there was healthy discussion as to who would be best for the role. In the end it was a unanimously agreed that the role of Fats Rothstein would be played in this production by Killian Sheridan. He joins the returning cast of Sorcha Ní Chléirigh, Matthew O’Brien, James Barry and Margot Doherty. So no pressure!

Lastly, a note on the casting decision. I mentioned that it was unanimously agreed upon. You will also have noticed that I have used the word ‘we’ a lot in this piece. This is not a ‘Royal We’. It is a first person plural we. The auditioning was a collaborative effort. I firmly believe that casting should never be undertaken by one person alone. Yes, the director has final say but he should not underestimate the advantage of extra opinions. It is all too easy to get caught up in the audition of one actor and a team approach can help ensure that the director stays grounded. Of course, the opposite can be true and casting by committee can be equally disastrous. But a few choice collaborators can, and do, make all the difference. I guess time will tell…