Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Intermission or intermissions

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GoldCanyonLady
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Topic: Intermission or intermissions
Posted: 1/22/09 at 11:22pm

Our play this year, Busybody by Jack Popplewell, is looking like it will be 2 hours long. I didn't realize it would be so long until we got into it. We are still on book and getting the blocking set and I hope it will go faster but....

Anyway the play is set up like this.

Act l
Scene 1 night (1 page---very short)
Scene 2 15 minutes later (12 pages)
Scene 3 The following morning (15 pages)

Act ll
The following evening (25 pages)

Act lll
The next afternoon (21 pages)

My Question is where should the intermission be or should there be two short breaks?

Thanks in advance. I am working on the program and want to get it in there.

Barb Hofmeister,
MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.

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pdavis69
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Posted: 1/23/09 at 9:40am

We have run into situations much like this with other plays and have opted to create a break in the middle of the second act. We just look for a spot where the action can break without ruining the flow.

Patrick L. Davis
Fort Findlay Playhouse

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KEB54
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Posted: 1/23/09 at 10:35am

Good luck. Let us know what you decide.

That is a tough one. I don't know the show, how you're staging it, or what your set is like, but three acts are tough to make that decission. Personally I would try to do just one intermission, but the playwright wrote the play in three acts for a reason. I think you need to have the intermission between Acts and not break in the middle of an Act.

With the lengths of those Acts it doesn't seem realistic to do just one break. It's much easier when Acts II and III together are the same length as Act I for instance. I hate to have the audience remain in their seats for an extended period, especially if there is an extend "scene change" associate with Act changes.

From the little I know, my instinct is that you need to have two intermissions

KEB

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dboris
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Posted: 1/23/09 at 12:45pm

As others have said, Intermissions on three act plays can be a little tricky to handle. What my group has done in situations like this is to do one "full" intermission where refreshments are served, raffle tickets sold, etc, and a second short intermission trying to keep it to 10 minutes at the most.

I would probably put the long break after Act I since you need to figure in the fact the the audiance has been sitting in thier seats for up to 30 minutes before the show even started.

Dan

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GoldCanyonLady
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Posted: 1/23/09 at 2:29pm

Thank you all. Let me clarify a couple of things. First of all our seats are reserved seats so people don't come that early. Our set is very simple. The play takes place in an office. The scene changes will only take a few minutes---the time it takes to take one chair off, remove the cleaning supplies or put them on stage, open or close the blinds and move another chair. That is it so we don't need a lot of time for that.

With your help which I appreciate and knowing my senior audience of 200 they will need a break at the end of act 1. I will do 15 minutes with refreshments (we have coffee, lemonade and cookies that we furnish---no selling) At the end of Act 2, I will throw in a 5 minute stretch and let it go longer if I see people still in the bathroom. How does that sound?

Barb Hofmeister,
MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.

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SweeneyBob
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Posted: 1/24/09 at 4:36am

When we did Take Me Out, we had a full intermission after the first act and then did a "Seventh Inning Stretch" after the second act.

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B-M-D
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Posted: 1/28/09 at 7:32pm

I would do an intermission after each act. It used to be that the 3 or 4 act play was the norm. More contemporary plays now seem to opt for two acts. I'm sure it has something to with the economics of professional theater.

"Dying is easy, comedy is hard."

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Directing
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Directing

Author	Message
GoldCanyonLady Celebrity Joined: 2/05/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 172	Topic: Intermission or intermissions Posted: 1/22/09 at 11:22pm
	Our play this year, Busybody by Jack Popplewell, is looking like it will be 2 hours long. I didn't realize it would be so long until we got into it. We are still on book and getting the blocking set and I hope it will go faster but.... Anyway the play is set up like this. Act l Scene 1 night (1 page---very short) Scene 2 15 minutes later (12 pages) Scene 3 The following morning (15 pages) Act ll The following evening (25 pages) Act lll The next afternoon (21 pages) My Question is where should the intermission be or should there be two short breaks? Thanks in advance. I am working on the program and want to get it in there.
	Barb Hofmeister, MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.

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pdavis69 Celebrity Joined: 3/26/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 437	Posted: 1/23/09 at 9:40am
	We have run into situations much like this with other plays and have opted to create a break in the middle of the second act. We just look for a spot where the action can break without ruining the flow.
	Patrick L. Davis Fort Findlay Playhouse
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KEB54 Celebrity Joined: 7/24/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 227	Posted: 1/23/09 at 10:35am
	Good luck. Let us know what you decide. That is a tough one. I don't know the show, how you're staging it, or what your set is like, but three acts are tough to make that decission. Personally I would try to do just one intermission, but the playwright wrote the play in three acts for a reason. I think you need to have the intermission between Acts and not break in the middle of an Act. With the lengths of those Acts it doesn't seem realistic to do just one break. It's much easier when Acts II and III together are the same length as Act I for instance. I hate to have the audience remain in their seats for an extended period, especially if there is an extend "scene change" associate with Act changes. From the little I know, my instinct is that you need to have two intermissions
	KEB
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dboris Celebrity Joined: 2/10/04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 124	Posted: 1/23/09 at 12:45pm
	As others have said, Intermissions on three act plays can be a little tricky to handle. What my group has done in situations like this is to do one "full" intermission where refreshments are served, raffle tickets sold, etc, and a second short intermission trying to keep it to 10 minutes at the most. I would probably put the long break after Act I since you need to figure in the fact the the audiance has been sitting in thier seats for up to 30 minutes before the show even started. Dan
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GoldCanyonLady Celebrity Joined: 2/05/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 172	Posted: 1/23/09 at 2:29pm
	Thank you all. Let me clarify a couple of things. First of all our seats are reserved seats so people don't come that early. Our set is very simple. The play takes place in an office. The scene changes will only take a few minutes---the time it takes to take one chair off, remove the cleaning supplies or put them on stage, open or close the blinds and move another chair. That is it so we don't need a lot of time for that. With your help which I appreciate and knowing my senior audience of 200 they will need a break at the end of act 1. I will do 15 minutes with refreshments (we have coffee, lemonade and cookies that we furnish---no selling) At the end of Act 2, I will throw in a 5 minute stretch and let it go longer if I see people still in the bathroom. How does that sound?
	Barb Hofmeister, MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.
	IP Logged

SweeneyBob Player Joined: 9/14/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 20	Posted: 1/24/09 at 4:36am
	When we did Take Me Out, we had a full intermission after the first act and then did a "Seventh Inning Stretch" after the second act.
	IP Logged

B-M-D Celebrity Joined: 11/03/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 346	Posted: 1/28/09 at 7:32pm
	I would do an intermission after each act. It used to be that the 3 or 4 act play was the norm. More contemporary plays now seem to opt for two acts. I'm sure it has something to with the economics of professional theater.
	BD "Dying is easy, comedy is hard."
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Topic: Intermission or intermissions( Topic Closed)