Redirection Acting - Solo Competition: What It Is, Where It's Run and How It's Judged

A solo acting class in which a prepared piece is performed from memory, the adjudicator gives live notes, and the actor performs it again, with marks for both the first performance and how well the redirection is taken.

Redirection Acting - Solo is a class in which one actor performs a prepared piece twice. The first time it is played as rehearsed. The adjudicator then gives notes in front of the room and asks for a change, and the actor performs the scene again. It is closer to a workshop than a recital, because the audience watches the same actor take direction and apply it in real time.

In the festival syllabus this class is built from, the actor performs a prepared scene from memory, the adjudicator gives notes and redirects the scene, and the scene is then performed again. Marks are awarded for the original performance and also for how well the actor responds to the redirection. The same syllabus keeps these classes separate from its ordinary acting classes and says a performer may enter both, but must not use the same monologue or scene in both.

An entry on paper is one named performer, the title and author of the piece, and the school year or tier. That syllabus offers the solo class at three tiers only - Year 7 & 8, Year 9, 10 & 11, and Open - and applies one flat time limit of three minutes per entry across its drama classes. Entry is for boys and girls together, in English. The scoring in eTalenter's template uses a nominal ten-point scale, because the syllabus prints mark bands (Developing through Exceptional) rather than a points table.

Organisers run it because it rewards what ordinary acting classes cannot easily show: whether a young actor can listen, adjust and stay in character under instruction. It suits drama teachers who want pupils to treat feedback as part of the performance, and it gives the audience a short lesson in how a scene can change when a single choice - pace, objective, status, volume - is altered.

Where Redirection Acting - Solo is run

In eTalenter's data Redirection Acting - Solo appears on one template, the acting section of an English town arts festival in the south-west of England, alongside a matching Duo class. It is a less common class than Solo Acting, so check the syllabus of any event you are entering before assuming the format.

• United Kingdom - England (competitive festival acting sections)

Key facts

• Individual entry: one actor, boys and girls together, performed in English.
• Two performances of the same prepared piece: the original, then a second after the adjudicator's notes.
• Marks cover both the original scene and the response to the redirection.
• Source syllabus tiers: Year 7 & 8, Year 9, 10 & 11, and Open; no younger or Sixth Form tier in this class.
• Flat maximum of 3 minutes per entry in the source syllabus; the same piece may not also be entered in the ordinary acting classes.
• Idea starters, not rules: a short monologue where the speaker is first calm then desperate, a goodbye scene played first as relief and then as anger, or a shop-counter speech first confident and then shy.

On eTalenter, Redirection Acting - Solo is filed under Action and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Redirection Acting - Solo is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 10, commonly time-limited to around 3 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Redirection Acting - Solo

What a Redirection Acting - Solo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• The original performance: a secure, memorised piece with clear character, voice and purpose, since it is marked before any redirection happens.
• Response to redirection: how fully the second performance shows a real change, not a slightly louder copy of the first.
• Listening: attentive posture and a quick, calm understanding of the adjudicator's notes, without arguing, over-explaining or freezing.
• Flexibility within character: staying truthful to the role while changing the pace, intention, volume or physical choice that was asked for.
• Discipline: finishing both performances within the time limit and making a clean start for the second.

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Redirection Acting - Solo under Scoring Setup, or start from the full drama & skit judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Redirection Acting - Solo

How entrants and their teachers usually get Redirection Acting - Solo right on the day:

• Choose a piece that can be played in more than one way; a one-note monologue gives the adjudicator nothing to redirect.
• Learn the lines thoroughly, because the second performance needs attention for the new instruction rather than for remembering the words.
• Rehearse with a teacher or friend who gives a single note - slower, angrier, quieter - and replay the piece at once.
• Practise changing one thing at a time: objective, pace, status, volume or movement.
• Time both runs so the whole entry stays inside the limit, leaving a little room for the notes.
• Keep the piece different from the one entered in ordinary acting classes, as the syllabus does not allow the same piece in both.
• If the first note feels odd, try it fully anyway; judges mark the willingness to change.
• After a loss, ask whether marks went on the first performance or the change, and drill the weaker half.

Frequently asked questions

Is Redirection Acting - Solo judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

What happens in a Redirection Acting class?

In the syllabus we build from, the actor performs a prepared scene from memory, the adjudicator gives notes and redirects it, and the scene is performed again. Marks are given for the original and for the response.

Can I use the same piece in Solo Acting and Redirection Acting?

The source syllabus says performers may enter both kinds of class but must not perform the same monologue, duologue or scene in both. Check your own event's rules.

How long is a Redirection Acting entry?

The source syllabus sets a maximum of three minutes per entry for its drama classes. Other events may differ, so read the rules before preparing.

Is Redirection Acting the same as Solo Acting?

No. Solo Acting is a single prepared performance; Redirection adds adjudicator notes and a second performance, and marks the response as well.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full drama & skit judging criteria guide, or browse every action competition item.

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