(Featured Image : James McAvoy graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2000)
Hey Auditionhackers ! Today we are going to demystify the first round of the BA Acting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (aka known as RCS). I did the audition myself and I was lucky enough to get a recall, so I am personally going to run you through their first round audition process !
Note : The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is regarded as one of the best drama schools in the United Kingdom and as one of the best in the world. Graduates include Ncuti Gatwa starring in Sex Education, Richard Madden starring in Bodyguard and many more.
How does the RCS BA Acting audition starts ?
When you arrive, they will make you wait in a space where you can chat with the other candidates. Expect a group of around 10 people. Take that time to relax as much as you can, would it be by having a chat with the other candidates or by being quiet and focusing on what is to come. You will probably have to quickly fill in a form where all candidates put some basic information about themselves. Has the panel called you ? It’s time to go then !
What happens in the RCS Audition Room ?
The first round audition is divided in two parts : a group workshop, followed by the individual audition. The below information is taken from the audition I did in 2019. It can vary from one year to the other but at least you will have an understanding of what kind of exercises they are doing !
The Group Workshop
The Group workshop is for the panel – usually composed by a former student and someone working at the school – the opportunity to help you relax and also to discover how do you behave in a group situation. First they made us stand in a circle and they explained how the morning was about to enfold. Then we had to do two different group exercises :
- For the first exercise we had to be in group of about four people and create 3 “still images” of a story we wanted to tell, with our bodies adopting postures in the space. We had roughly 5 minutes to prepare this and each group would show their stories to the other groups. The other groups would comment on that and tell what they think the story is about.
- For the second exercise it was very similar except we had to do create the story that led up to what we were showing just before.
After that, they made us do quite a few different little exercises including :
- One where we had to use our voice and energy to speak the first line of one of our monologues over a gigantic wall, so that a friend behind that wall would hear it.
- One where we had to send our monologue from one imaginary mountaintop to another imaginary mountaintop where there was a friend.
Once that is finished, you will have the opportunity to ask any question you have to the panel. You will then come back to the space you were waiting in, and get ready for your individual audition.
The Individual Audition
In the individual audition, you will have the possibility of either doing two modern monologues or one modern monologue and one classical monologue.
I decided to do my two modern monologues, and then they decided to redirect one of them. They asked me to do it as if I was being interviewed by a journalist. When I finished, they then asked me a few questions, including :
- Why do you want to train at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ?
- Why do you want to become an actor ?
- What do you think the RCS can bring to you ?
- What can you offer to the RCS ?
- Do you have any question for us ?
Once you have asked them a few questions, you are done ! Now you just have to wait for the result, and you will have to be patient, as it can take up to 5 weeks to hear back. Best of luck to you Auditionhacker !
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