What's in Store for Theatre Space

When I first entered the amateur theatre circuit in my local area, oh so many years ago, there were at best 4 or 5 groups in the city. Most of these groups were real "Mickey and Judy" type of community theatre troupes, as in: "Hey kids! Let's put on a show! We can use my Uncle's barn and my grandma can make some swell costumes!"

You know, that type of 'gung-ho, grin and show' community theatre.
All these years later, a dozen or more "new" theatre groups have emerged. Many of these new groups border on being classified as semi-professional troupes. That old mom n' pop community theatre spirit is a thing of the past. These new troupes wouldn't be caught dead producing old standards such as "Our Town", "Arsenic and Old Lace", "Blythe Spirit" or any other play that local high schools have long since worn holes in. No sir.
Most local productions now offer up Mamet, Sheppard, Albee, Durang and host of other plays written by contemporary playwrights. This trend is in fact bringing out a new audiences to live theatre as well as veteran audiences who have been numbed by a billion productions of "Bye Bye Birdie" and would love to see a play from this century.

But there's the Rub!

With so many groups springing up, the question of "space" has been an issue. One troupe may run for a season in church space only to loose it the next year. Some theatre troupes bounce from a coffee house to a school to a warehouse but never really planting roots in a given space. It's a tough existence.
At the same time, as a result of the recent economic hiccup, many local shopping malls flirted with the ambiance of "ghost towns". Vacant store after vacant store dotted the once vibrant, climate-controlled consumer landscape.
Somehow, the down trodden "Mall" collective and the Theatre group in search of a home, collided and found common ground. This common ground may have been where once people "Fell Into The Gap" but are now, filing in to see live theatre.
In fact, my own group is leasing a "store" space in a local mall and my new murder mystery play will premiere there. Yes, in the mall. Of course, they don't refer to these spaces as "mall", per se, no, they are "art spaces". Along with a host of live Theatre venues, other spaces feature Art work, pottery, photograph prints from local artists. So, yes it is an "Art Space".
In fact, another mall in a nearby suburb is also allowing Artists and Theatre groups to move into the vacant stores. Perhaps this idea will spread across the country and all the little orphaned theatre troupes will finally have a place to "play".
Mickey and Judy would be proud! Hey kids let's put on a show! We can use my Uncle's Mall!

Take a Look Behind the Scenes of "Murder Me Always"

A few years ago, Exit Theatre based in Croydon, UK. staged a brilliant production of my script "Murder Me Always". I'd seen a few photos from their version and even use some of them on Play-dead.com. From all appearances, Exit Theatre went all out with the play and I really wish I could have traveled across the pond and experienced it. But the next best thing is a series of videos they posted called 'Behind the Scenes at Murder Me Always'. They allow you the viewer to wander around backstage and get a... well, "Behind the Scenes" look. So let's look at the scenes that are.. behind Murder Me Always.

New Site For Playwrights

I've been building a new website called www.playedwell.com and it's time to get the news out. The basic idea came to me as various groups, colleges and High Schools all over the world would ask me if I knew where they could find a drama, children's play or funny one-act. I do know a few independent playwrights but not nearly enough to fill the need.

Therefore, I decided to create a new site that would host the works of any playwright who wanted to list his or her work and make them available to the theater world at large.

I know there are many "publishing" companies and websites out there, I found them when I had a bunch of plays I wanted to submit to the world, but I wanted to maintain my own control and be a bit more independent that's why I started my own site, www.play-dead.com. I want to offer the same control to other writers who which to remain independent but may not have time to maintain their own website and marketing.
If you are playwright and want to get your work out there,let me know.

Basic On Stage Survival Guide (part 3)

How Do I Learn Lines?

(Some Memory Tips and Tricks)

I am often asked "what is the best way to memorize lines?" I don't know if there is a "best" way but I can tell you what I do and what others do. But first, if you recall, under the subject of "highlighting" your lines, I mentioned it was a good idea to Highlight the lines or actions just before your lines. Case in point: I did a play with an amateur actor who highlighted all his lines and memorized them in advance (so we all could see how dedicated he was). The rehearsal began and our dedicated actor was completely lost. Why? Yes, he knew his lines, however he did not know "when" to say them his lines. He neglected to memorize his "cues". What's a cue? That is the line or action that prompts your line.

Example:

PERSON 1: How are you today?

PERSON 2: Just fine! Yourself?

If you are playing Person 2, it's kinda important to respond to Person 1. The only way to do that, is to know Person 1's line. Not only must you memorize your lines, but you must also know the lines that come before them because those lines are your cues. Hence my suggestion of highlighting your cues in another color. I suggest 'another color' to prevent you from accidentally reading those lines in rehearsals, because it will happen. I've done it.


Ready Set Action

Another Example:

The wind blows through the open window and extinguishes the burning candle.

PERSON IN THE DARK: Oh great! The candle went out!

Here you are "Person In The Dark" and as you can see, your cue is not another line that is spoken or any kind of sound you will hear. It will be something you will "see". It's a cue based on an action. One of the hardest things to remember is a cue from some type of action.

In most cases, the actual "wind blowing through the window extinguishing the candle" will not be actually 'happen' until the "Tech Rehearsals". Novice Note: "Tech Rehearsals" (Technical Rehearsals) are usually the final rehearsals one week before the play opens. This is where the all the Lighting/light cues, Sounds/sound cues and other Effects (wind and candles) are worked out.

Until you get to Tech Rehearsal, hopefully someone will follow along in the script and Read any action cues out loud. This is not always the case. I have spent what seemed like hours on stage in a rehearsal waiting for someone to say a line only to find out it was a visual cue. It's a good idea to be familiar with the line that comes just before the action. For instance, going back to the candle being blown out by the wind, if the line just before it is - "My! It sure looks windy out there!" You may want to be aware of it.

Hi, How Are You?

OK. Now that I've made you aware of what to memorize, let's get back to methods to help you memorize.

The first thing many actors do is the read the script a few times. Next step is to re-read the scenes in which you have lines -those will be the pages where your lines are highlighted in yellow. While you are re-reading these scenes, look for easy bits to remember such as responding to a question. Perhaps another character asks you something. "How are you today?" and your line is "Just fine." Or they ask "Where did you put the gun?" and your line is- "I threw the gun in the river" In lines such as these, your cue is a question and you simply respond. Responses are very easy to remember.


Mind Games

Another key is to pay attention to the subject of the lines just before your lines. Look for clues. In many cases, your line will contain a word or idea that relates.

Example:

SALLY: The trees look oh so lovely in fall.

DICK: Yes they do. I must get wood for the fire.

In this case, it's easy to see the cue for Dick's line is related to Sally's line. The subject of her line is "trees". Dick responds to her statement and then seems to begin a new subject about 'wood for the fire' , but in essence it's the idea of 'trees' that cue "wood for the fire". When lines contain what I refer to a "Cue -Clues" , (trees = wood) they are a cinch to remember.

Once you search your script for easy Question/Answer lines and Cue/Clues you can move on to other memory methods.

Picture List

In my early days on the stage, I was given a great technique that I still use today and it's very similar to the Cue/Clue example I sited above. I was a novice actor in a fairly large role, I was having trouble with a short monologue I had to deliver because the monologue had a "list" of things I had to rattle off. Lists are very hard to remember. One of the actors took me aside and suggested I tried to visualize each item in the "list" and connect or relate it with the next item.

Example:

GEORGE: When I was a kid I had a bicycle, a wagon, a dog and a purple umbrella.

The actor told me instead of thinking of the words as a list, one item after the next, to instead think of them, or picture them as one big item. Relate them to each other as one image. In the example above, the list has a bicycle, a wagon, a dog and a purple umbrella , so I pictured myself as a kid riding a Bicycle. And the bicycle was pulling a wagon. And in the wagon was a dog. And since I didn't want to ride too fast, there was a purple umbrella on the back of the wagon for a parachute. One big picture instead of little snap shots.

Connect the Dots

I have used this method of "picturing" to help me memorize ever since. I use it to remember long monologues. Most monologues contain "ideas" such as Hamlet's monologue which begins "To be or not to be." The main idea is 'death' and Shakespeare uses different metaphors as ideas to express the characters question and they can be broken down into ideas.

I look for the ideas in a monologue or in a long passage of dialouge because each idea will lead to the next. In most long speeches, the character is talking about this idea which leads to that idea, which is like the example of the kid riding the bicycle (first idea) that's pulling a wagon (second idea).

Going back to Hamlet's "to be or not to be" - the very first idea is the whole question of "being" or "not being" which is leads to the idea of "suffering slings and arrows" or to "take arms against a sea of troubles" which leads to the idea of "not being" or "death" is being like the idea of "sleep" and on and on. Each idea leads to the next and it's easier to remember if you connect the ideas.

Pretzel Safe Diamond Peanuts

Sometimes, you may have ideas that are not connected. A scene between 2 or 3 people in which they seem to be talking about 2 or 3 different things. For instance - I was in a Neil Simon play called "Rumors". Near the beginning of the play, the characters of a husband and wife arrive at a their friends house. As the scene begins the wife is commenting about the furnishings of the house and the husband is talking about how hungry he is and is wondering if they have any snacks. At least two pages of dialogue between the husband and wife that had no real connection or ideas relating to each other. Two different subjects with no easy question/answers or Cue/Clues. I simply created mental images triggered by the other unrelated lines. I created my own Cue/Clues.

Example:

WIFE: I bet she keeps all her jewels in a safe!

HUSBAND: I can't get this pretzel bag open!

WIFE: She has a dozen real diamonds you know!

HUSBAND: These peanuts are unsalted! Who buys unsalted peanuts?!

Based on the Wife's line about "jewels in a safe" , I needed something to cue my line; "can't get this pretzel bag open" .

So, I thought about an image of "jewels in a safe" and connected it with "pretzels" in "bag".

The jewels are locked away in a safe and you cannot open a safe. The pretzels are in a bag. I can't open the bag.

For the next line, I visually connected "a dozen real diamonds " to "peanuts are unsalted!"

Diamonds are clear crystal objects. Salt is a clear crystal object. The simple association of "diamonds" and "salt" worked as a cue for my line.

Between The Lines

Another method I often use is a tape recorder. You can record yourself reading the cue lines followed by your own lines. And then listen to the tape over and over, while driving or working or whatever. Much in the same way you learn the words to a popular song or a commercial jingle from hearing it over and over. Repetition is the key. Repetition is the key. Personally, I only tape myself reading the "cue" lines and then I read my lines silently to myself, allowing the tape to be blank for the time where my line is spoken. I play the tape and say my lines out loud during the blank spaces.

Another method is to simply read the script and cover up your lines with a piece of paper. As you come to your cue line, (which is highlighted in a different color) say your line and then you can move the paper to see if you were close.

You're Out of Order

When I say "close", what I mean is - as you begin committing your lines to memory, initially you will remember the "gist" of the line. If the actual line is: "Joe and me are going out for awhile, I'll pick up the ransom money on the way back. I'll see you later." At first you will remember clumps of words, the key points of the line such as "going out", "picking up ransom money" and "see you later" . Seldom at first, will you recall the exact order of the line as it appears in the script. You may recite it from memory like this: " See you later. I'm going out for a while with Joe. On the way back, I'll pick up the ransom money."

Welcome to the wonderful world of paraphrasing. Don't worry, we all do it at first. But try not to make it a habit. Problems can occur when actors continue to paraphrase even during performances. The main problem is those lines are someone else's cue. In the above example, 'see you later' may be a cue line for another actor, but if it's the first thing the actor says instead of the last thing, it may cause a problem.

One of my favorite personal examples of the "paraphrase fallout" came during a live performance of "You Can't Take It With You". The actress playing the part of a Russian Countess never said her lines the same way twice. The other actor who relied on her lines to cue him, finally developed a strategy to wait till she stopped speaking to say his one big line: "I'll make sure you're on time, your Highness."

He would say his line regardless of what she said, because he knew it came directly after her it and when he heard a reasonable amount of silence, he knew she was done. One night, for some strange reason, the actress said her line exactly as it was written. Hearing his cue as it was meant to be, caused some type of malfunction in the actors mind, there was a slight pause and finally his line came out; "I'll make sure you're on Hime your Tiness". Realizing what he just said, his eyes got very wide and literally his body jerked with a shock. Some day I may write a chapter on how to suppress laughter on stage.

The Write Thing

I know an actor who approaches memorization, like studying for a final exam. He will sit at a table and read his lines over and over. He will then test himself by closing his script, taking a piece of paper and pen and writing his lines down from memory. He will then check the script to see if he made any mistakes . He does it over and over until it sinks into his memory. Rarely does he paraphrase.

Read To Me

A common method which is probably the most popular, is to find someone willing to to follow along in the script and feed you your cue lines. They read from the script while you squirm and struggle to recall your lines uttering phrases such as: "No don't tell me! I know this! This is where I say something about the thing..... OK! How does the line go?" Having a somewhat impartial person to help you can... well, help you. If you say your line incorrectly or paraphrase they will more than willing to correct you.

Pause Turn Page

Some actors I've known simply memorize their script with no special methods or outside help except a photographic memory. They can actually visualize pages of the script in their mind. I knew one such actress who during her performance would pause at odd times. Right in the middle of a line she place a beat (novice note: Beat - pause of about one second) for no real reason. I found out that each pause she took corresponded to a place where her line was continued on the next page essentially she would pause, as she mentally turned the page.

Memory Cement Blocks

Allow me to tie this all back into the process of rehearsal because this is where your memory will be tested. You can listen to your lines on tape or recite them with a friend but it is not until you're in rehearsal that all your work finally develops and begins to click and stick into place. In a rehearsal, you are hearing your cue lines from the actual actors who be saying them. Also as you rehearse you will be moving around the stage with your blocking which can really cement the lines to your memory .

Move Speak Move

You will discover that your movement/blocking will attach itself to your memorized lines. I discovered how deep this "movement = line" connection was during a line blitz. Novice Note: A "Line Blitz" or "line rehearsal" is usually a panic session the director calls for when play is about to open. The actors sit around and simply run all the lines from the play, no acting, no blocking, just dialogue. Sometimes, you are asked to run all the lines as quickly as possible. Extra Trivial Note: I've also heard this referred to as a "Rain Rehearsal". The story goes that if there was bad weather during a performance, there may be a chance the power would go out. If the power went out, the audience would want their money back. But, technically, if the play was beyond the half-way point, the theater did NOT have to issue refunds since the audience saw more than half of the show. To prepare for this, actors would have "Rain Rehearsals" which was a 'speed metal' version of the play.

So anyway, during a line rehearsal, line blitz, rain rehearsal, whatever, we were sitting around running our lines and I noticed I was having a hard time recalling my lines. In frustration, I got up and began walking around and as I paced around the room it suddenly dawned on me. My blocking! I realized how much of my memory was embedded in my blocking. When I say this line, I'm standing by the door. And for that line, I'm walking to the table. Not only can a someone else's line prompt you, but so can a movement or location on the stage.

The Basic On Stage Survival Guide - (part two)

Here is a continuation of The Basic On Stage Survival Guide:

The Basic Rehearsal Process
(training wheels)
The Basic Rehearsal Process
(a few guidelines and rules)

One of the first things you will do in rehearsal is called a "read through" . A read through is just that, everyone sits around and reads the play out-loud. This will be one of the first times and maybe only time, you will hear the play from start to finish as it was written. It is during the ''read through" that you will get a sense of how your fellow actors are going to play their roles. If the play is a comedy, you will get a good idea where the laughs will be, if it's a drama, you will learn where the "dramatic" moments are. And it's during the read through you will get a sense of the flow of the play. You may not get a sense of it again until the final rehearsal or the first performance. But don't worry about that now, because now you must work toward performing your role* without training wheels which is the written script.

(*A bit of Trivia on the the term "role" -meaning the character you play. In the very early days of theater, they did not have a fancy published script for every actor, instead they would hand out a rolled up parchment or paper that contained the actors lines in a given scene. So, an actor was given a 'role' of paper instead of a full script. That is where the term "role" comes from.)


Yellow Line Guide line

One of the first things actors do when they first get the script is Highlight their lines. Yellow is the most common color used for this practice. Highlighting makes your lines easier to find on the page: example- if your attention is diverted away, you can quickly glance back at the script and find your place. Having your lines jump out at you in yellow from a black and white page, helps draw your eye to the correct spot. Believe me, there is nothing more frustrating than waiting for an actor to find his place in the script. Another fact about highlighting is that you can easily flip through the pages of the script and see which pages you have lines and those you don't. An important guideline I will suggest here and explain in detail later, as you highlight your lines on each page, also highlight (in a different color) the last few words of the line (or action) just before it. Knowing where and when to say your line is important.


Blocking and the pencil Rule

After the Read Through, the first rehearsals will consist of "staging" your movement; where you stand, what direction you should walk, when you enter and when you exit. Movement on a stage is commonly referred to as "blocking." The script will have "suggested" blocking that will appear in italics such as "walks Upstage and exits" but the suggested movement is only that, a suggestion. Your actual movements will be given to you by the director. The rule is that you write these directions in the margins of your script using a pencil. Yes pencil. Why? Because directors tend to change their minds and it's very hard to erase pen.


One quick bit of stage direction trivia I learned from a Theater History major was the origin of common stage directions: such as upstage and downstage. In the early days of theater, the audience sat on a flat, level area which made it difficult to see all the action on the stage. To compensate, the stage was built on a slight angle that went up toward the back. Any actor standing at the very back of the stage, was slightly higher "up" than anyone at the front of the stage. This made it easier for the audience to see everything and everyone on the stage. Hence we have the terms UPSTAGE - which means the back area and DOWNSTAGE which means the front area. To move "upstage" an actor was walking "up the stage" to the higher area in back and walking "down the stage" or Downstage to the front. This bit of information made it much easier for me to remember the ups and downs of directions. Of course, somewhere along the line, they decided to change this and have the audience seated on an incline and make the stage a flat surface.

Novice Note: Stage Right and Stage Left are from the actors point of view. No trivia is provided for right and left. I will assume you can figure that out.


Rule: Don't Upstage

There is also a term called "upstaging" which means to steal focus from another actor. If you stand directly in front of another actor, blocking the audience's view of that actor, you are "upstaging."

If another actor is speaking lines on the stage and you suddenly begin jumping up and down and screaming, you will cause the audience to pay attention to you and you are upstaging.

Basically any time you draw the audience's attention away from where it should be, you are upstaging.

Initial Direction Details

You may have a detailed director and find yourself writing many directions in the margin of your script, so it's helpful to abbreviate the directions such as "cross upstage left" or "walk downstage right" with "cross UL" or "walk DR". Here you just note the first letter of the area - U-upstage, D-downstage, C-centerstage, R-right and L-left. I even know a few actors who use "X" to signify "cross" and even others who use arrows point up or down.

That's Cheating!

Another term and rule you will learn during blocking is Cheating. This does not mean copying your stage directions from another actors script, it means "turning slightly toward the audience." There will be scenes where your character will be talking to another character and in real life, humans tend to face one another when involved in a conversation, however, on the stage it is frowned upon turn away from the audience. If you act like a normal human and turn toward the person you are speaking to, the audience will only see your profile. Not good enough. The audience will be insulted because you are ignoring them. OK, that rule isn't totally true but most directors may tell you that, therefore they will ask you to "cheat" toward the audience.


Rule: Cheat Toward The Audience
To "cheat" means to keep your body toward the audience and slightly turn your head toward the person to whom you are speaking. It will feel awkward and unnatural but it will make your director and the audience happy.

Another awkward cheat is delivering your lines to a character who is behind you. If you think the audience gets insulted when you turn sideways, imagine how enraged they would be if you turned your back on them

Rule: Never turn your back on the audience.

Why? Well, if they throw something at you, you won't see it coming. O.K. not totally true. But most directors will have a cow if your turn your back to deliver your lines. Now, there are always exceptions - sometimes a director will have you turn your back or face sideways for dramatic effect.

But most of the time, if you are standing downstage and someone enters upstage, which will be behind you, you must "cheat" by delivering your lines either slightly turned or facing straight ahead.


All kidding aside, the main reason that actors must cheat toward the audience has to do with sound, that is the sound of your voice. When you are facing the audience and speaking, the crowd should have no problem hearing you because the sound of your voice, or your sound waves, are pointed right at them. If you were to turn to the side or completely around, your voice (sound waves) are pointed away from the audience your sound waves bounce around the stage before finding their way out into the theater. This bouncing effect brings your volume down a few notches and makes it harder to hear you .


Sound Advice
Which leads me to another term you will hear and rule you must follow: "projection!". Projection means tpo speak louder. Let's go back to being a normal human, when you are talking to someone who is standing relatively close to you, you will be speaking in a normal tone. If a third person is twenty or more feet away from you, chances are they will have a hard time hearing your conversation. When you're an actor on a stage, (not a normal human) the audience will be that third person twenty or more feet away from you and it's important they hear you, so you must Project!

Rule: Project

To a first time actor, you will feel like you are shouting but trust me, by the time your voice (sound waves) reach the ears of people sitting twenty feet or more away, it will sound normal. Only to someone standing right next to you, will it sound like shouting and anyway, you are not shouting, you are "projecting."

You may also a director say, "project from your diaphragm." This means instead of speaking from your throat - as you do when speak normally, "from your diaphragm" is when you push air to your voice from your stomach region - which is like turning your volume up to 11. Singers know all about projecting from the diaphragm, so if you know a singer they can teach you how to do it.

I have known many actors who couldn't get the hang of projecting from the diaphragm. One actor I knew who was having a hard time with the concept was also a big fan of Pee Wee Herman and he he loved imitating Pee Wee's laugh. (if you are not familiar with Pee Wee Herman you can ask someone or find a clip on Youtube)

As you may know, Pee Wee's laugh was very distinctive and very deep and loud. The reason it was loud, is because it came from the diaphragm. I said to the actor, "You know, every time you do the Pee Wee laugh, you are using your diaphragm to project it. Just figure out what you are doing to project that laugh and use it to project your lines." I could see the light bulb go off.


Pretty Pictures
Allow me to turn the topic back to "blocking". One stead fast rule that a director follows when designing "blocking" for the stage, is that they try to create interesting pictures for the audience to see. Example: If there's a scene with 3 or 4 actors on the stage and they're all standing in straight line, like a chorus line or police line up, it's not very interesting. In fact, it's downright dull.

Most directors use the triangle theory. The triangle theory states that if there are 3 actors on stage, they must be spaced to form a triangle. One actor maybe standing a few feet upstage and the second a foot downstage and so forth. If you were on the ceiling of the stage looking straight down, they would form a triangle.
The basic idea is to have actors spaced at different depths on the stage and not standing in a line. It's much more interesting to look at from the audience's perspective. The stage is 3-D after all. A director may also ask you to "counter."

Rule: Counter to create depth

If you are standing on the stage and one or two others actors move toward you in a scene, you should "counter," which means take a step back or forward to create a triangle. Even after weeks of rehearsal, some actors may forget and stand right next to on the stage and you should take a step to counter.
Finally, once all of your blocking is set, your cheating is done and your volume is adjusted, you will begin running through the play over and over.

Depending upon your rehearsal schedule, you may get to run through the play numerous times with the script in your hand but there will come a time when the director will want you to be "Off Book". Novice Note: Off book means you have memorized all of your lines and blocking.

I can't stress this enough, the faster you get 'off book' the better, because the more chances you have to speak your lines from memory, the deeper your concentration will become. But first let's get you Off Book.


Next post: How To Memorize Lines

The Basic On Stage Survival Guide (Part One)

I've decided to try my hand at writing something other than a Murder Mystery play. Being involved in theater for the past 20 plus years, I have learned many things about being on-stage and I realized that many of the lessons and things I learned were by being on the stage and not in a classroom or book.

The motivations for writing "Basic On Stage Survival Guide" is two-fold. The first motivation came from a series of uncomfortable moments I recently experienced on the stage. Granted, this was an amateur production but most of the actors had phone-book-thick resumes of stage experience, therefore I assumed they would know what to do when someone went blank or missed an entrance.


My other motivation was that I am one of those phone-book-thick résumé actors and most new actors seek my advice such as "What's the best way to memorize lines? What do I do if someone misses an entrance ? What do I do with my hands? What are the rules?"


As I thought about it, I realized that I was never taught any rules of the stage, instead I learned from experience and the advice of other actors .

The Basic On Stage Survival Guide is a collection of traditional rules and guidelines for the stage. The guidelines are not rules in the sense of laws. If you break one, chances are you will not be arrested but you may get an earful from another actor.

I will approach this guide as if you have never set foot on stage before in your life and introduce the rules over time. I will also introduce various terms you should know and in some cases the trivia behind the terms. One of the first rules is that before you stand on the stage, you must audition.

Audition
An audition is a process where a director or others, select from a group actors that best fit the characters in the play. If the play is about a group of teenagers struggling with peer pressure it is doubtful they would cast middle age actors into the parts, therefore you may want to research the play first. In most cases, audition notices in the paper will tell you exactly what age range they are looking for and even what kind of auditions they will be. Most auditions will be simple "cold readings" from the script. A cold reading means you will read from the script without much time to prepare. You may have a few minutes to read the scene to yourself and get familiar with it or you may even be familiar with play, in that case it will be a Luke warm reading. A good director will describe the scene for you before you begin reading, but the idea is that you are approaching the material cold. Try picking up a book, turning to any page and just start reading out loud, you'll get the idea.

Helpful Tip for New Actors at your first cold reading: I have seen many new actors get passed over at auditions because they make common mistakes and end up in the "no experience" pile. The first mistake inexperienced actors make is reading from a script as if they are reading poetry. Some new actors think that "acting" means speaking in an iambic pentameter rhythm which is fine if you are auditioning for Shakespeare, but not every play was written by Shakespeare. When you are reading straight dialogue, the idea is to make it sound natural and conversational. Stay away from the sing-songy style of reading.
I have also witnessed a few actors suddenly become British when they read from a script, I'm not sure why, the play was set in the American South.
If you want to audition for the first time, be careful of any set ideas you have about acting. The First Rule is that "acting" doesn't mean every part is Hamlet. Also don't believe that to sound like you're acting you must sound British. These tips will keep you out of the "no experience" pile.

Other auditions may have you prepare a short monologue and perform it from memory prior to cold readings. Not every great actor is a great cold reader and performing something such as a monologue gives the director a good idea of your talent.
Musical auditions will have you prepare a song to sing at the audition. One audition I attended, the director handed out copies of a short monologue and gave everyone about 15 minutes to memorize it. This gives the director a fair idea of how quickly you can memorize. Some auditions may have you participate in improvisational games which demonstrates how quickly you think on your feet.

All of these methods help the director discover the best actor for the role. Hopefully it will be you. And if it is - welcome to rehearsals.