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Theatre
Theatre

Theatre students will explore up to twenty topics in the discipline including all facets of Stagecraft and Scene Design, Directing, Makeup, Auditioning and more.

Printable Audition Requirements

We are thrilled you are auditioning for The Chicago Academy for the Arts. Please remember: our number one goal is for you to be successful. That means that when you have questions, please ask them! You can email Department Chair Ben Dicke at any time for more clarification.

Preliminary Audition Requirements:

Applicants must create an Online Application to submit their preliminary audition.

1. Student Introduction Video: (30 seconds - 1 minute)

  • Name, Grade, Current School. 

  • Why are you applying to The Chicago Academy for the Arts?

  • Brief explanation of previous artistic experience.

2. Resume with Headshot

  • List of your performance experience and training in PDF format.

3. Video Essay Response
Respond to one of the following prompts in a verbal video. Your response should be 1 - 3 minutes in length.

  • Describe a significant experience, an achievement, or failure in your life and its effect on you. What did you learn from the experience?

  • A strong community is one of our most important values. In theatre, we call this community “ensemble.” Of greatest importance to the building of our ensemble is fostering a culture of inclusion and diversity. What are the qualities or characteristics you possess that will contribute to the Theatre Department culture?


Live Audition Requirements:

Applicants who pass their preliminary audition are invited to attend a live audition. The material you choose should be well-prepared. Proper preparation means an understanding of the piece, the play it is from, as well as fully memorizing the material.

  1. One Contemporary Acting Text (1 - 2 minutes in length)
    You have two options for choosing your contemporary acting piece. The first is to choose a selection from Everybody by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. It’s a contemporary play adapted from the one of the oldest surviving English language plays called Everyman. We highly recommend giving it a read. We’ve chosen four monologues from the play for you to choose from and linked the pdf here. Go through them and pick one with which you really connect. The second option is to choose from this pdf of Suggested Audition Monologues. Plays for each of these pieces are readily found for purchase online or at your local public library.

  2. One Piece of Your Choosing (1 - 2 minutes in length)
    This portion of the audition is where you get to make some strong choices to help tell the faculty about who you are as an artist. For this portion of the audition, you have quite a few options. You could choose to perform a second monologue from the lists above, memorize and interpret a favorite poem, choose the lyrics from a favorite song and sing it acapella with a recorded track, or interpret it as spoken word, perform a poem or song or spoken-word piece that you wrote, or memorize and interpret a monologue or sonnet from Shakespeare. Our faculty is excited to hear from you about your artistic passions so, if you have another idea, don’t hesitate to ask us. It’s likely that it will be just what we’re looking for.

Here are a few other audition tips from the Theatre Chair to keep in mind as you prepare. Again, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. 

See you soon and break a leg!

Ben Dicke
Theatre Department Chair
bdicke@chicagoartsacademy.org