How to Audition for Community Theater: A First-Timer’s Guide

You saw the poster in the coffee shop, or a friend sent you the link: auditions for the fall play at the local community theater, open to everyone. You read the notice three times. It mentions sides, a form, conflicts, and callbacks, and you’re not sure what half of it means, or whether you’re allowed to show up having never done this before.

You are. Community theater exists for exactly this. La Crosse Community Theatre in Wisconsin, for example, says on its audition FAQ that its auditions are open to all levels of experience, and it no longer requires photos or résumés. What theaters do expect is that you arrive having done your homework.

The short version: read the notice for what it asks you to prepare, because every theater and every show runs it a little differently. Read the play if you can get a copy. Fill out the audition form honestly, especially the conflicts. Expect to read from the script, prepared or cold, or to perform a monologue or song if the notice asks, and to take a note from the director. Then wait for the cast list or the theater’s email or call, rather than reading anything into a missing callback.

Read the audition notice like a checklist

The notice is the most useful thing you have, and first-timers tend to skim it. Read it slowly and pull out five things: the dates and times, how to sign up, what to prepare, the rehearsal and performance dates, and any role descriptions. If something isn’t there, check the theater’s website, social media, or newsletter, and then simply contact the theater and ask.

Look closely at how sign-up works and how many audition dates there are. Omaha Community Playhouse, for example, says it offers two to three audition dates for each production and that you need to attend only one of them to be considered. Pick the one where you can be rested and on time.

Then look for the script. Some community theaters will let you read one before auditions; Theatre in the Round Players asks you to contact its office. The Des Moines Playhouse audition FAQ says you can check out a script for a week at a time, and La Crosse Community Theatre offers perusal scripts for a small deposit. Reading the whole play is the single biggest edge a first-timer can give themselves. You’ll know who the characters are, what they want, and which roles you might fit.

Monologue, sides, or a cold read: which one you’ll get

This is the question most first-timers ask, and the honest answer is that it depends on the show. Theatre in the Round Players in Minneapolis says outright on its auditions page that the process varies from show to show, sometimes readings from the script and sometimes prepared monologues. Check the notice; if it doesn’t say, ask. Here’s what each one means.

If they ask for a monologue

A monologue is a short speech by one character that you choose, learn, and perform alone. If the notice asks for one, it may give a length, and you should stay under it. Pick a piece close to your own age and type, from a play rather than a film, and learn it well enough that nerves can’t knock it loose. Our guides to memorizing a monologue and cutting one to time walk through both steps, and you can browse classical monologues by length in our monologue library.

Auditions for plays often use readings from the script instead. If the notice doesn’t mention a monologue, ask before preparing one. Showing up with a speech nobody asked for mostly uses time the director planned for reading scenes.

If they post sides

Sides are short excerpts from the script that the director will use at the audition. Some theaters post them ahead of time. The Des Moines Playhouse FAQ says some of its directors post sides so you can prepare before your audition time, and one of its show pages asks actors to review sides without memorizing them. Know the scene well, hold the pages, and look up as much as you can.

Preparing sides means more than reading them over. Figure out who you’re talking to, what you want from them, and what changes in the scene. Our guide to breaking down audition sides has a step-by-step method, and sides vs. the full script covers how much of the play to read around them.

If it’s a cold read

A cold read means you’re handed pages at the audition and read them with little or no time to prepare. Several community theaters use them. La Crosse Community Theatre’s FAQ says cold readings are generally required for its plays, and a 2023 notice from the Little Theatre of Alexandria in Virginia said its auditions and callbacks would consist of cold readings from the script.

A cold read is not a reading test. The director knows you’ve just seen the words. What they’re watching is whether you can make the scene make sense, listen to the other person, and change when asked. Read the whole side once, decide what your character wants, and keep your eyes up at the ends of lines. Our guide on how to cold read for auditions breaks that minute down in detail.

If it’s a musical

Musicals often add a song, and sometimes a dance. The Des Moines Playhouse FAQ asks for 16 to 32 bars of a song in the style of the show. At Omaha Community Playhouse, one musical notice had actors sing and then learn a piece of choreography, with reading for roles saved for callbacks. Bring sheet music marked clearly for the pianist, and see our guide to building a musical theater audition book if you’re starting from nothing.

Fill out the audition form honestly

Expect an audition form, on paper at the door or online when you sign up. The American Association of Community Theatre publishes a template audition form: the front asks for your contact details, your stage experience, and your availability for rehearsals and performances, and the back is for the director’s notes. Fill in your side neatly. The director will be flipping through a stack of these at the end of the night.

Don’t panic about the experience section. If you’ve never been in a play, say so, and list anything nearby: a school show, choir, a public-speaking class. Community theaters are used to first-timers, and a short, honest form reads better than a padded one.

The conflicts section is the one that matters

A conflict is any rehearsal or performance date you can’t make: a work trip, a wedding, a kid’s recital, a regular night shift. Theatre in the Round Players explains that directors need to know all conflicts before they can cast a show, and asks actors to list every one on the form. The Little Theatre of Alexandria’s auditions page asks you to bring an accurate list of rehearsal conflicts with you.

Bring your calendar and be complete. Directors build the rehearsal schedule around these lists. A conflict that turns up after casting means reworking that schedule for everyone, so being upfront is the safer bet.

If you can’t make a performance, say so on the form and let the director decide.

What happens on the day

Arrive early, check in, and fill out the form if you haven’t already. Then you’ll usually wait. At community auditions you may read in a group, taking turns with other actors on different scenes and different roles. That’s normal. Listen when it isn’t your turn: you’ll learn the scene, and directors notice who pays attention.

When it’s your turn, read the scene with whoever is across from you, whether that’s another auditioner, a stage manager, or the director. If the director gives you a note (“try it angrier,” “this time she’s hiding something”), take it and do something clearly different. That’s often the moment that matters most, because it shows you can be directed. For the rest of the room’s unwritten rules, from where to stand to how to leave, see our guide to audition room etiquette.

A few things help first-timers more than any acting tip:

• Tell the person checking you in that it’s your first audition. They can usually tell you what happens next.
• Say yes if they ask whether you’d accept another role. Being open to the ensemble or a smaller part is a common way in.
• Bring water, a pencil, and your calendar, and silence your phone before you walk in.
• If you stumble on a word, keep going. The director cares about the scene, not a perfect read.

Callbacks, the cast list, and what silence means

A callback is a second round for actors the director wants to see again, usually reading specific roles or with specific scene partners. At some theaters it’s by invitation only. La Crosse Community Theatre’s FAQ says callbacks often focus on chemistry between actors, and it makes a point first-timers need to hear: not being called back doesn’t mean you weren’t cast. The director may already have decided some roles from the first auditions.

So don’t take a missing callback email as a no. Wait for the cast list. Theaters handle that differently: La Crosse says to expect an email or phone call within a week of auditions, and for at least one show the Des Moines Playhouse said everyone who auditioned would get an email about final casting, cast or not. If the notice doesn’t say how you’ll hear, it’s fine to ask when you check in.

If you’re called back, prepare the way you would for sides: read the scenes you’re given, know who your character is in the whole play, and be ready for more direction. Our guide on how to prepare for a callback goes deeper.

And if you’re not cast this time, ask for feedback. La Crosse Community Theatre says it will pass on whatever notes the director, music director, and choreographer are able to give. Then audition for the next show. Ask whether the theater needs volunteer crew; crew work is a good way to learn how a production works from the inside.

Practice reading with another voice before the day

The hardest part of preparing sides alone is that a scene has two people in it. Reading both parts in your head doesn’t teach you to listen and answer, which is exactly what a cold read or a group reading asks of you.

Offbook fills in the other voice. The video below shows the whole thing: you upload your sides or a PDF of the script, pick your part, and realistic voices read every other line out loud, then wait for yours. Offbook listens through your microphone while you speak and plays the next cue when you finish, so you practice answering a partner instead of reading to yourself.

It’s also good practice for the moment a director hands you new pages. Upload a scene you’ve never read, run it once, and work on looking up from the page at the ends of your lines. Our plays pages show line counts, word counts, and stage time for every role in classic plays, which helps you size up a part, and our free acting tools are there when you need them.

Questions actors ask

Do I need experience to audition for community theater?

No. Theaters such as La Crosse Community Theatre and Theatre in the Round Players say their auditions are open to everyone. If you’ve never acted, say so on the form and read the play before you go.

Do I need a headshot and résumé for a community theater audition?

It depends on the theater. Some community theaters, like La Crosse Community Theatre, no longer require photos or résumés, though others still ask for a headshot and résumé if you have one. If the notice asks for one, a clear, recent photo and a short list of anything you’ve done is fine. Our guide to writing a résumé with no experience can help.

Should I memorize the sides?

Only if the notice says to. Some theaters, like the Des Moines Playhouse, have asked actors to review sides but not memorize them. Know the scene well enough to look up often, and keep the pages in your hand so you never lose your place.

How long does a community theater audition take?

It varies by theater and by show. La Crosse Community Theatre says a musical audition there takes about an hour. Group readings for a play can run longer if many people turn up, so leave your evening free.