I'm sorry you've had frustrating times dealing with the publishing houses.  Speaking only for myself, I certainly respect the community theaters in this country and try to help them as best I can.  What you may be hearing in people's tone (and I'm sure I'm guilty of this as well at times) is simply a question of sometimes being overwhelmed. 

I did come to this site to be in touch with theater groups from around the country and see things "from your side of the fence," as you put it.  Here I ask you to see things from my side too.  The simple fact is that you have one or two people that you probably speak to at the three or four major play publishers.  We, however, have thousands upon thousands of theater groups contacting us about performance rights and other related questions.  At times the numbers of applications and phone calls can be overwhelming.  The publishers are not monoliths with huge staffs.  Dramatists has a staff of about 25 people, and we have a customer database of almost 60,000 names.

So, I know I try to treat everyone fairly, but, yes, there are times when I may be trying to get off the phone because there's another call coming in, or a mass of paper work to try and get done.   

This is not offered as an excuse or trying to take a whack at you, Mike, but it's important that both sides understand the other.  I can tell you that we hate (HATE) telling people they can't do a play.  And we especially hate the thankfully rare occassions when rights have to be withdrawn.  None of it is done capriciously. 

And to tie this back to the question of changing scripts, theater groups need to understand that the best way to approach this is to simply ask and be reasonable.  Remember that the play belongs to the person who wrote it, and respect their right to have their play and their expression performed in that way.

Okay, I'm off my soap box...

Craig Pospisil
Dramatists Play Service

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personally, I believe a big reason why lots of CT's, Schools, and other theaters don't ask permission to change things is because they figure 'Hey, we're a small group -- who's gonna care?"

On the other hand, if they take the initiative to contact the "Big, New York Publishing House" and ask permission (for ANYTHING) they will suddenly become "on the radar" and accountable -- for EVERYTHING.  (Is the title print large enough?  Did we clear the music properly?  Are we doing anything wrong?  Will we get fined? Shut-down? Arrested?)

Having Mr. Pospisil on this forum will hopefully minimize this anguish.  It is good to learn that the Publishing Houses have human beings working for them -- Just like the I.R.S.!

Although we're not in the same 'big league' as Craig at Dramatists, plus we're a UK-based organisation, I'd just like to add my comments to this venerable topic!

Without exception, all of our authors and composers are very happy to be asked if changes can be made to their work. This is probably because they are not 'big names', so it's in their interests to have their plays or musicals performed, and to achieve this they may be wiiling to come up with an alternative word, line or whatever. Also, as a smaller publishing house, we can generally find time to handle these requests without jeopardising other activities or customers.

With regard to finding out a) if unlicensed productions are being given and b) whether unapproved changes are being made, I would add the following.

The need for CT's to sell tickets and the increase in use of their website for this purpose has made it so much easier for us as rights-holders to find out when unlicensed productions take place - both before and afterwards. do we look on a regular basis? You bet we do. Fortunately, to date we have not had to take any legal action, but I've no doubt this will raise it's head in the future.

Unapproved changes present a different and more complex problem foir us. Our licensing T's and C's allow us to claim two complimentary tickets for a performance of our choice, and either we will visit ourselves, or we'll offer these tickets to the playwright. We quite often decide to visit performances, even those some distance away. For example, we went to the non-professional UK Premiere production of one of our musicals in a CT, and the composer came over from New Zealand as well. The production was way up in the north of England, a 350 mile road journey for us. Act One was superb, we all sat with the Director in the bar during the interval having a drink and saying how good the production was.

Act Two opened to a number which should have been sung entirely by the male chorus - it's called 'Working Men' and involves much swinging of pick axes and shovels. Imagine our suprise then when the curtain went up and there were four men standing at the back of the stage with 15 women singing the song sweeping with brooms! In discussions (politely carried out afterwards) we understood that they had had trouble in finding a large male chorus, so had decided to substitute women instead - but they hadn't asked us beforehand. Result - one very annoyed composer.

We also went to a production of one our two-act plays at Oxford University. When we got there it had been turned into a one-act play. No lines had been cut, but no interval. Was that a problem? Well, not really, and we were happy to report back to the author that his 'artistic integrity' had been retained. The show ent on to be performed as a one-act version at the Edinburgh Fringe this year an then in a fringe theatre in London, al with the authors approval - so it's not all bad!

Anyway enough rambling from me ...

regards

David
www.playsandmusicals.co.uk

We're getting a bit OT now (sorry Mike!), but ...

I think that this is similar in many ways to the discusion earlier about changing stage directions. Some authors will, in addition to the text, have thought about the structure of the performance to be given. So, just as stage directions specify how the actors should move and deliver lines, the Scene and Act changes specify how the performance as a whole should be delivered to the audience. Add the spoken word and the three facets of the production are shaped and ready exactly like the author saw in his/her mind's eye. Other authors may leave the entire staging decision to the Director, but that's not the question here.

The author will provide Scene changes to allow sets or props to be changed; to signify the passage of time, or for some other dramatic effect. They are supposed to be short, and should not affect the dramatic flow of the play or musical. Act changes on the other hand are definite pauses in the action - to leave the audience in suspense; to provide a breathing space after a particularly dramatic or emotional sequence, or just to give the cast and audience a rest!

Now, to answer falstaff29's question, whether the author expects an interval/intermission to take place in an Act change, is another matter. I would suspect that most do expect it and as mentioned above will construct their endings to each Act accordingly.

So, should you ask permission to remove (or insert) Scene or Act changes completely? Yes - because you are changing the intended flow of the play or musical.

Should you ask permission to have an Act change without an interval though? No - that's a matter for you and your Front of House Staff. My view is that as long as there is a definite pause in the action which lasts longer than a Scene change would (possibly with the House Lights up?) then that's OK. I suspect your Bar/Refreshments Manager will have something to say about lost revenue though.

regards

David
www.playsandmusicals.co.uk

 

Samuel French should have banned them from thier entire catalog for that.   And the director should be hung, drawn & quarterd, keel hauled and banned for life everywhere.    Ahhh if only we could bring back the days of public stoning.