I am now just a handful of days away from auditions for my production of Shadow Box. As everyone is my theatre class is busy working on their surrealist pieces, I am trying to place any and all of them in Shadow Box. If you step foot in this class – even if it is just to deliver a note from you the dean – you ARE in consideration. I am really struck by how much I am relying on my eyes to find actors who LOOK like the characters in my mind. Of all the teenage boys in the room, I can identify those who seem a bit older than their teenage years or have a body that speaks less of a boy and more of a man. It used to be that I could go by facial hair – -but now in an age of special fluoride or something in the water it seems like most teenage boys can sprout fully formed beards in days. Some present themselves as more of an older spirit – but I am not sure how that will translate on stage. Do I need to limit my search for the men in this play to the boys with the least boyish looks – – or can one of my baby faces so play their objective, circumstances, and relationships to others that THEY will make more sense of the role?
If only I had flunked a few talented students repeatedly – – well past their teenage years – say into their thirties – then I might have a much identifiable cast. Of course then I would have to deal with a bunch of middle aged men and women STILL living at home and STILL trying to graduate high school. I am SURE the parents would be calling on that one. Drats!
Of course, during auditions, I will actually try to find the TALENT needed. It should always be, “talent over type.” I will ignore the fact that puberty for most was as recent as lunch – – and watch them handle the text and each other. I will see who is most available to the moment – who trusts the silences – who is more alive quiet then talking – who can bring themselves fully to the plate and invite the “suffering” that is part and parcel with acting. I will certainly value talent over type – – but after years and years of discounting type – I’d love to find some exceptions.