High School Theatre Students, It’s Not a Bad Idea to Use Summer to Get Ready

by Chris Peterson

For high school theatre students, summer can feel like the one time of year when everything finally slows down.

No rehearsals after school. No tech week. No homework piled on top of memorizing lines.

And honestly, students should enjoy that break.

But summer is also a great opportunity to get ready for whatever auditions, rehearsals, and productions are coming in the school year. Not in a stressful, “you must train every waking second” kind of way. More like giving yourself a head start so that when the audition notice goes up, you are not starting from zero.

The first thing students can do is read/listen to more plays and musicals. Not just the ones they already know. The more you read, the better you understand how characters are built, how scenes move, and what kinds of roles might actually fit you.

Summer is also a good time to update audition materials. Find a few monologues that feel age-appropriate, active, and specific. Look for songs that show who you are now, not who you were two years ago. Do not wait until the night before auditions to realize you hate everything in your binder.

If you are a performer, keep your body and voice active. That does not mean overworking yourself. It means singing regularly, warming up properly, moving, stretching, and staying in practice. A voice that has been ignored all summer is not going to magically be ready for auditions in September.

If you are interested in tech, design, stage management, writing, directing, or production, summer is just as valuable. Sketch ideas. Learn a design program. Watch productions and pay attention to lighting, sound, costumes, transitions, and staging. Volunteer somewhere if you can. The students who come into the year with curiosity and initiative often stand out quickly.

Another suggestion: go see theatre. Professional theatre, community theatre, college theatre, outdoor Shakespeare, whatever is available. Watching other people perform is one of the best ways to learn.

And perhaps most importantly, use the summer to grow as a person. Read books. Watch films. Get a summer job. Travel if you can. Spend time with people who are different from you. Live a little. All of that makes you a better artist.

The goal is not to turn summer into one long rehearsal. Students need rest. They need space. They need to be teenagers.

But when the school year begins, the students who have done even a little bit of preparation will feel the difference.

So enjoy the summer. Sleep in a little. Go outside. See your friends. Just maybe keep a monologue nearby.