Auditions are not entertainment

Published Monday 21 May 2007 at 14:30

In response to Dan Smith’s letter “Any dreamer won’t do” (May 17) in which he correctly points out that while amateurs are auditioning in these TV auditions, Connie Fisher and all are in fact professionally trained actor/singer/dancers. The same can be said for those actors who made up the family in Emmerdale a few years ago.

I believe that these shows harm our industry through the public display of television job interviews (which is, after all, what the programmes are doing). Apart from the harm it may do to a trained professional who is perhaps not quite ready for such an audition, and who then goes on to make a fool of themselves, the very fact amateurs can audition alongside trained performers who have put in a lot of time, effort and money to gain a professional standing, surely demeans their status and indeed the status of every professional actor who the public now considers can be usurped by any old Tom, Dick or Harry.

This charade is not the same as the open audition process by which many ensemble (not lead) roles are cast. Open auditions are professional auditions for the more minor roles and conducted in a much more private way.

Perhaps next time the BBC is looking for a new executive it might consider televising the interviews, and maybe during the selection process slip in one or two bus drivers and road sweepers to represent Joe Public.

Ron O’Brien

Castcall

Wilsden Avenue

Luton