ABSTRACT
I would come out of the building and then the problem started – that was it! All those days or weeks of preparation for a few minutes, during which time I might have shone, done OK or failed abysmally, being stopped a few lines in to what I was doing only to be told ‘Thank you, that’s all we need to hear today.’ All that anticipation and now what did I have to look forward to? A big void of nothing. It used to depress me, until I started thinking of ways to remedy this. I would make sure I always had something planned to do after every audition. Perhaps it would be meeting a friend for lunch (somewhere that allowed flexibility in case I was delayed because my casting overran and they would be waiting alone for hours); maybe a matinee in the theatre, a trip to the cinema, off back to my temp job or straight home to write letters for other auditions – anything that would take my mind off the empty feeling. One actress I know has an audition day ritual which involves heading straight to a top London department store for a glass of champagne and shopping spree. Another, more frugally, hot foots it to the nearest supermarket for an egg mayonnaise sandwich, banana and Diet Coke. You may develop your own, but whatever you do, it will help greatly to make auditions just a normal part of life – like cleaning the fridge or walking the dog – rather than the be all and end all of your week.
