[b]Leiko Hamada: Auditorium- Judging Panel[/b]

Noting that there was only two candidates left before the end, Leiko's eyes drifted to the last-but-one name on the sign up sheet. "Katsuro Sakuma", she pronounced aloud, her expression changing into a frown as the name rekindled some kind of memory in the back of her mind. Wasn't this the Sakuma person who always joked around during lessons? He had a reputation of being somewhat of a class clown, she believed, so it was strange to see his name appear for something like Drama Club. Unless...he was intent on making a mockery of the script?

Praying that this wasn't to be the case, Leiko's eyes lifted up to the stage as a tall, messy-haired male strode to the centre with an air of confidence. Comedy had its place in the arts, of course, but Leiko's excerpt held no room for such an approach. Watching with bated breath, Leiko prepared herself for the inevitable.

Not for the first time that afternoon however, Leiko found herself surprised by what followed. Unlike the other candidates, Katsuro chose to treat the script not as a monologue, but as part of a dialogue, sharing the space with some other invisible actor as he recited his lines to them with passion and love dripping from every uttered word. It was hard to discern any note of genuinety in his recital, but it was a straightforward performance and interpretation of the text, and an effective one at that. He finished his lines with a dramatic flair, and shortly after, the audience crackled into rumbling applause. 

Sinking into deep thought, Leiko turned to her fellow judges and conversed with them a bit before coming to a verdict on his performance. "Sakuma-san," she began, looking up at the fellow junior with her pen rolling in between her fingers. "I have to say...out of all of the auditions so far, this is the first one where I felt like I was watching a 'show' rather than an audition. You clearly established a character from the start, held a natural stage presence throughout, [i]and[/i] you persisted with the original context of the script, which was pleasant to watch." Leiko was almost surprised at herself that she was praising someone like Katsuro so highly, but it was truly quite difficult to fault. "All I would suggest in future performances is to engage with your audience a little more. Open up your body movements, allow us to absorb your facial expressions, tell [i]us[/i] what it means to be in love as well as Hermia." After a quick look at her notes to ensure there was nothing she had missed in her critique, she waved him off with an approving nod. "A very good audition, Sakuma-san."

[I]And thankfully, not a comical one[/i], Leiko added internally as she leafed through her notes, her eyes finally reaching the end of the list. Ah...she wondered how [i]he[/i] would tackle the script? Feeling her senses stir with anticipation, Leiko announced crisply, "And now, for our final audition of the day, please welcome [b]Kaminari Sutoraiki![/b]