Young actors on another year at the mercy of self-tape drama school auditions

With drama school audition season upon us, budding actors and actresses reflect on the perils of the unpopular covid-born self-tape audition process as it appears to be here to stay

Rohan Singh Photography: Lina Liana Kovács

Door closed, mess shoved into one corner, phone strategically balanced and nestled eye level within the bookshelf. Hannah breathes in and waits for her house to go silent – she begins: “Hello, my name is Hannah Crosby. I am 21 years old from The...”, her phone abruptly dives face-first off the shelf and onto the floor. This was ‘only’ her 35th attempt at the covid-rendition of the first stage to a drama school audition, known as a ‘self-tape’.

Almost two years on, and drama school applicants are still standing in their bedrooms, night after night, contending with dodgy camera quality, inventive amalgamations of lamps, torches and bedsheets, the almost unavoidable interruptions of family members and a real waning of motivation after attempt 326. The ensemble is exasperated by knowing that these somewhat patience-testing auditions cost them around £35 per school.

Before the pandemic, applicants paid between £40-60 per audition, but this included workshops and networking opportunities with the country’s most esteemed drama teachers and like-minded students. In addition, they received the unparalleled experience of auditioning in spaces scuffed and worn by some of the industry’s most acclaimed thespians. However, now, even though in-person socialising is resuming, they are missing out on all of those life-enriching benefits while still paying a sizeable fee.

“It used to be a wonderful experience, so regardless of whether you were accepted, it was much more worth the money”, says Hannah Crosby, 21, who recently finished a foundation course at Guildford School of Acting and is now in her fourth year of applying to drama schools. She tells us: “You’re now basically paying to have the privilege of sending schools a self-tape that you've recorded in your own space for them.”

“You’re now basically paying to have the privilege of sending schools a self-tape that you've recorded in your own space for them.” — Hannah

Hannah Crosby staring as Kalonike in ‘Lysistrata’, Guildford School of Acting Photography: GSA Theatre Technology students

Most students will apply to more than one school, some to as many as 10. Hannah, along with many others, has now spent around £600 sending off self-tapes, not including the additional costs of equipment, tutoring or monologue scripts. To add to the disappointment, the schools no longer give students feedback on their self-taped audition performances either.

In a statement, Guildhall School points out: “Audition panellists consist of industry professionals and usually see over 2,600 applicants on a panel-to-one basis.” However, many argue that the workforce needed would now be almost equal to that of other university admissions, which also require highly skilled professionals but don’t charge students a fee.

Deprived of the long-awaited opportunities, students have spoken up and campaigned to reduce audition fees. Max Beken, 21, now a LAMDA graduate, is part of the movement that successfully lowered the school's application fee by 75 per cent. He says: “I think most people within the school agreed with us and could see how unfair it was. You work so hard to get to that moment, and then the reality of it is [auditioning] in your bedroom… we had to speak up and do at least something for the future years.”

Max Beken in a LAMDA acting class Photography: George Hart

This step may have largely prompted competing institutions in the same direction. Gradually drama schools are finding ways of making the application process more feasible to young people while maintaining self-tapes for the first stage. Oxford School of Drama have recently “introduced a 2 tier payment for auditions. The first round is £15, and only if you are recalled there is a further fee of £30”, explains Louise Coker-Taney, a spokesperson for the school.

While financial adjustments are being made for the compromised situation, many students feel other considerations are going a miss. For example, Guildhall School asks students to try filming their auditions in “a room that has privacy, some space to move and very little or no background noise”. However, for those living in small homes with unaccommodating family members, this is a big ask.

Rohan Singh, 18, is in his final year at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology and is currently amidst his first year of self-tape auditions. As he joins the club of tripod-less book-stackers, bedsheet-set designers and self-taught bedroom lighting technicians, he shares a thought for those without the luxury of even contending with these minor inconveniences: “I know with being at a large, free school that there’s quite a lot of people who will struggle. They’re thinking: ‘What if I don’t manage to get [a] bursary? What if I can’t meet [the drama school’s] at-home filming requirements?’ Then this will limit them.”

While, in a statement, Jo Hutchinson, the Deputy Director of Advancement at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, tells us: “Guildhall School is happy to provide additional guidance and assist, wherever possible, to any potential applicant who may be precluded from submitting a recorded first-round audition due to lack of access to suitable space or equipment” – it is still unclear exactly what this entails.

Even for those with the equipment and years of experience under their belts, it doesn’t seem to get much easier. Edie Whitehead, 19, has been screen-acting since she was nine. She tells us: “Doing a monologue in your bedroom to a camera is just the least inspiring thing possible, especially when you're on your hundredth attempt. I’ve always had more success when I'm actually with people… you can feed off that nervous energy knowing it’s your one shot to impress them.”

“Doing a monologue in your bedroom to a camera is just the least inspiring thing possible.” — Edie

While students are already feeling the pressure, well aware that they are competing with 3000 applicants for a place only available to 30, “having too much time and too much freedom makes it really hard”, explains Edie. “Before you know it you’ve spent four hours taping the same thing, and you can't choose between them.”

However problematic self-tape auditions seem to be, Max spins a more positive light on their existence. He hopes that their eradication of travel expenses and new precedent of lower admission fees will be opening up the opportunity for a far more diverse range of people to apply, potentially benefiting the industry in the long run - plus, the outtakes are providing us with some real comedy gold.