How do you cope with?

Question

How do you cope with being rejected from a play? It's though on morale, and I have trouble coping.

Answer 1

You need to turn this into a positive!  After all, when life hands you lemons, you need to turn around and spit lemon seeds at passing cars.

In all seriousness, use this experience.  Remember this emotion you feel right now.  Take detailed notes about how you feel, how you walk, how your face looks, how your voice breaks, any hand motions that you have.  The next time an audition arises, use this feeling in the audition.

For example:

If you feel rage, audition for Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

If you feel scheming, audition for Lady MacBeth

If you feel humiliated, audition for Carrie in the Stephen King adaption

If you feel insanity, audition for Annie Wilkes in Misery

If you feel pure evil, audition for the Wicked Witch of the West

Then, before your next audition, start getting into character.  For example, if you wanted to audition for Annie Wilkes, start eating until you put on 20 extra pounds, start calling all your friends "dirty birdies", and threaten to sledgehammer your teachers' legs if they keep calling on you in class.

Answer 2

i have trouble with it too. :( i sometimes still get sore about something that happened in the first grade, and i'm eighteen now. ha.

the best advice i have is to just accept it. that's all you really can do. even though you were rejected, it doesn't mean that you don't have talent. you just weren't what they were looking for. but that's okie, because a bigger and better role will come your way! just keep telling yourself that it was for the better, and that there was obviously a reason behind it. i always think of rejection as the time to prove everyone wrong. don't give up, and keep going. :)

while bad talking the person who got the role over you may seem like the fastest way to diminish your pain, it's really not going to do anything in the long run. it will also damage your reputation, and then people won't want to be around you, let alone act with you. though some theatre people are unfortunately catty, you don't have to be like that. fellow actors will like working with you more if you're chill. trash talking also can't take back the fact that the role isn't yours.

you could always offer to do some backstage work, but if you'd rather be on the stage - audition for another show. even if you don't get the part you want, stay involved. keep getting experience, and one day you'll explode! :D

and most of all, feel better. there's no shame in being upset, just don't let it affect everything. <3 :)