As the nation’s drama schools prepare to open applications for their 2025 intake, acting teacher and actress Glenda Linscott returns to South Australia’s Flinders University next week to offer budding stars the opportunity for intensive training in auditioning.
Every year, the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), the Victorian College of the Arts and SA’s own Flinders Drama Centre attract high school students eager for a career in performance to face the daunting prospect of preparing audition pieces.
But with only a limited number of places available and hundreds of students vying for a spot, SA students have the chance to gain an edge, with Flinders Drama Centre presenting their inaugural Audition Bootcamp during the school holidays, from July 15 to 19.
The workshop is delivered across five half-days and aims to help young people thrive in the high-pressure audition environment, the Audition Bootcamp will be a fun-filled and comprehensive way to find out tips and skills to help overcome nerves, build confidence, and practice techniques to help the budding actors perform at their very best on the day.
Students will receive expert guidance from Linscott, who recently stepped down as Head of Acting at WAAPA. She will be joined by SA actor and Flinders Drama Centre lecturer Renato Musolino.
Linscott, who first came to fame as the notorious Rita ‘The Beater’ Connors on the TV drama, Prisoner, came to Flinders in 2023 to direct the anthology performance Coming of Age in the Twenty First Century. She has since joined full-time as a PhD candidate, researching the contemporary history of Australian actor training techniques.
“Over many years as a working actor and acting teacher, I have participated in hundreds of auditions, and I know how terrifying auditioning can be, but I’ve also learned how to succeed in that high-pressure situation,” Linscott says.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to help people from my home town to not only meet, but find ways to thrive in an audition, and feel an enormous sense of accomplishment!”
Preparing for performing arts degrees
In 2024, Flinders Drama Centre introduced the new Bachelor of Performance degrees: Acting, Directing, and Theatre-making, with prospective students of both the acting and directing degrees required to participate in the acting audition.
In recognition of Flinders’ commitment to equality of access to such a unique opportunity, up to two places in the Audition Bootcamp will be available fee-free to students from families holding a 2024 School Card.
Dr Christopher Hurrell is the Flinders Drama Centre manager and says training in performance is culturally empowering and is something all students should have the opportunity to access.
“At the Drama Centre, we take time to make the audition itself a learning experience for everyone who attends. By providing fee-free places on Glenda’ Audition Bootcamp, we hope to ensure that all students can make the most of the audition experience,” he says.
“Flinders Drama Centre is a national centre of excellence in performance training and Glenda’s choice to continue her life-long journey of creative discovery with us is a testament to this.”
“Our new performance degrees span acting, directing and theatre making, and have been designed in consultation with industry to retain, revive and secure Flinders’ unique research-and-professional-practice approach, which has already benefited generations of South Australian artists.”
