ON ACTING: To Audition

In Webster's Third Unabridged Dictionary, "audition" is defined as "a trial performance to appraise an entertainer's merits."

The root word of audition is "to audit," which the same dictionary defines as "to examine and verify"; with the word "verify" is defined as "to serve as conclusive proof."

Therefore the actor must see an audition as a form of final performance where the auditor (the prospective employer, or his surrogate, the casting director) examines the actor's work to discover conclusive proof that the actor can do the job. Thus, the actor in an audition cannot just promise to be good in the role, or imply that she will be a good actor when hired, but to substantiate fully that she is good. Her audition must be conclusive proof.