1st Play

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Topic: 1st Play

Posted By: Point Blank
Subject: 1st Play
Date Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:58pm

Hi there. I was looking for help on deciding on a play to open my troupe with and stumbled across this little place. I hope you guys can help me. I just started up a troupe in my hometown and have had alot more success than i thought. I figured it would take a little longer for me to get things going, but i already have a solid crew of ppl, materials, and hopefully will have a place to perform by Saturday. I can get actors very quickly, so i hope to get this thing underway ASAP. Now, my only problem is that i need to decide on a script. I'm not sure how many ppl will be in, it depends on how many i want to include. But, i need something that would be a good way to start out my troupe. I've thought up some stuff, but nothing has hit me, as i've never been the person choosing a play. I've considered doing one big cast play or even more than one smaller cast one. I need something that can entertain ppl, have a fairly simple set, and be just fun to do. Comedy, serious, any genre. Thanks.

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Is a Dream A Lie If It Don't Come True, Or Is It Something Else?

Replies:

Posted By: ljstockham813
Date Posted: 4/29/05 at 1:25am

Dear Point Blank:

I have a few plays perfect for small theatre company/ensemble. I can send as email attachments. Breakdowns follow:

ONE-ACTS

Title: Crossing Bells

Logline: A former stripper owns and operates a small art gallery where no painting is for sale.

Genre: Contemporary surrealistic drama.

Characters: 3 female.

Set: 1, a rural train station converted into an art gallery.

Scenes: 1, continuous action.

Running Length: 10 minutes.

Crossing Bells. Shoestring Radio Theatre, San Francisco, California. KUSF Radio, Broadcast Services for the Blind, the Public Radio Satellite System, and their website ( http://www.shoestring.org/ - www.shoestring.org ). Russ Hickman, director. Monica Sullivan, producer. (Broadcasts: Bay Area May 18, 2005, and nationally May 20, 2005.) (World premiere.)

Title: Goddesses of the Western World

Logline: Six senior citizens reminiscence about their past.

Genre: Contemporary drama.

Characters: 6 female, 1 male.

Set: 1, sunroom.

Scenes: 1, continuous action.

Running Length: 35 minutes.

Production History: 1 radio production (KSFU-FM, San Francisco, California); 3 staged-reading (San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, and Palm Springs, California); and recent (2004) production in Perth, Australia (theatre company unknown)..

Publication: ScriptCircle, and an excerpt in Smith & Kraus? The Best Stage Scenes, 1998.

Available online at: http://www.scriptcircle.co.uk/index.php?pg=51&action=scr ipt&id=7

Title: Golden Elliott

Logline: A deeply troubled Vietnam War veteran must finally confront the truth about how the brutality of that war changed forever his idealized childhood friendship.

Genre: Contemporary drama.

Characters: 2 female, 1 male.

Set: 1, service porch.

Scenes: 1, continuous action.

Running Length: 35 minutes.

Production History: 3 stage productions (2 in Los Angeles, California, and 1 in Forfar, Scotland), workshop (Galway, Ireland), 1 radio production (KFSU-FM, San Francisco, California), 1 stage reading (San Bernardino, CA), and 1 theatre arts department student production (Conestoga College, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada).

Publication: ScriptCircle, and a monologue in Smith & Kraus? The Best Women?s Stage Monologues, 1997.

Available online at: http://www.scriptcircle.co.uk/index.php?pg=51&action=scr ipt&id=55

Title: The Victorian Traveler

Logline: A Victorian spinster defies convention.

Genre: Historic drama.

One-Act Version

Character: 1 female.

Set: 1, bare stage with scrims, with easel, canvas, and other sundry painting needs.

Scenes: 1, continuous action.

Running Length: 40 minutes.

Production History: 3 staged-readings (San Bernardino and Yucaipa, California).

Publication: Smith & Kraus? The Best Women?s Stage Monologues, 2000.

Royalty Fee: None for educational institutions, including outreach programs through art galleries and museums.

Two-Act Version

Characters: 13 female, 16 male, 1 Labrador Retriever (12 female, 16 male supporting roles and not all are speaking roles). 90% of the play focuses on the protagonist.

Scenes: The stage is divided into various parts, each section represented by a moveable platform. The platforms are of different heights and dimensions. All are wooden. Only two contain furniture and propos and they are on the D.S. platforms.

Running Length: 75-80 minutes.

WGAw Registration: 1012732, August 10, 2004.

Production History: Not yet produced

Royalty Fee: None for educational institutions, including outreach programs through art galleries and museums.

LONGER PLAYS

Title: Damnation!

Logline: A dying private eye makes a pact with the devil in order to learn the truth about an old unsolved murder.

Genre: Contemporary mystery.

Set: 1, office of a private detective.

Characters: 3 female, 3 male. (One male role is a non-speaking part.)

Running Length: 80 minutes.

Production History: 1 black box, student showcase production at CSUSB (San Bernardino, California) under the title of Heavy Shoes.

Title: Divorce Sale

Logline: A group of neighbors hold a s?ance to contact the deceased husband of a ditsy mother-in-law.

Genre: Contemporary comedy. (Ideal for community theatre and dinner theatre venues.)

Set: 1, double-car garage.

Characters: 7 female, 3 male.

Running Length: 90 minutes.

Production History: 2 stage productions (Dalby, Australia, and New York City, New York), and 2 staged-readings (San Bernardino, California). Play is also in circulation through the California branches of the American Association of University Women.

Will be availble online at: http://www.singlelane.com/proplay/divorcesale.html

Title: Perfect World

Logline: An unexpected New Year?s Eve caller disrupts the seemingly perfect life of a successful Broadway actress.

Genre: Contemporary drama.

Characters: 7 female, 4 male. (3 are teenagers.)

Set: 1 set, living room.

Running Length: 90 minutes.

Production History: 1 stage production (Los Angeles, California).

Publication: ProPlay, Canada, and Smith & Kraus? The Best Men?s Monologues, 1999.

Available online at: http://www.singlelane.com/proplay/perfectworld.html - http://www.singlelane.com/proplay/perfectworld.html

Linda Stockham

My abridged resume is online at:

http://www.phoenixtheatre.websyte.com.au/site.cfm?/phoenixtheatre/8/ - http://www.phoenixtheatre.websyte.com.au/site.cfm?/phoenixth eatre/8/

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Linda Stockham
Playwright/Cultural Anthropologist

Posted By: Point Blank
Date Posted: 4/29/05 at 9:23am

damn, thank you so much. I like alot of those and will definatly do one of them. Of, course, if anyone else has any good ideas, i'm still open. But, thank you. Those are some good ones. Leaning towards Divorce Sale to start off.

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Is a Dream A Lie If It Don't Come True, Or Is It Something Else?

Posted By: dougb
Date Posted: 4/29/05 at 11:27am

There are soooo many plays that it is hard to recommend one. Comedies seem more popular. I lean more towards comedy-drama's.

Here are my favorites:

To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday
Over the River and Through the Woods
Chapter Two
Tribute
Female version of the Odd Couple
The Lion In Winter
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Proof

For a thriller I would look at Wait Until Dark.

The 10 most popular plays, as reported by AACT (American Association of Community Theatre) members are:
1. Over the River and Through the Woods
2. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
3. The Odd Couple
4. Proof
5. Moon Over Buffalo
6. Arsenic and Old Lace
7. A Christmas Story
8. The Last Night of Ballyhoo
9. Noises Off
10. The Miracle Worker

I would stay away from Noises Off as a starter - too complex.

Neil Simon plays always draw a lot of people. Plays with great name recognition like Arsenic and Old Lace also draw particularly well.

Period pieces require costumes made for the production while contemporary plays are far easier to costume.

You also need to consider single set versus multiple set plays. Do you have off stage space to store additional sets? We don't, so most of the plays I have listed are single set plays.

If you can give us some idea of what you are looking for we can suggest additional plays.

Doug

Posted By: Point Blank
Date Posted: 4/29/05 at 1:55pm

well, i should have plenty area to change sets and what not. That's not a huge problem. I just need something that will draw well and give us a good name. I can put together an alright set. I would like to do maybe 2 plays, one dramatic, one comedic. I have enough ppl and i figure that would be a good way to get things going. I have alot of assets, very fortunate in that respect. Just needsomething to get it all started. Something that can really grab ppl. I'm also not intimidated to do any play, i've done some tough things. So, just something to kind of say "We're here to stay and come back." Most of that will be up to the entertainers, but i want a script that can measure up.

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Is a Dream A Lie If It Don't Come True, Or Is It Something Else?

Posted By: JCCTony
Date Posted: 4/29/05 at 2:06pm

wow, how tragic. I have a great show I wanna do but no assets.

Posted By: Colin
Date Posted: 4/29/05 at 4:33pm

You want an audience? Do a play with children in it. You'll attract their
family, extended and immediate, their friends and their classmates, as
well. Plus other households with children will want to bring their kids
to see the show, especially if it's a family play based on a popular
children's story. AND it's a great way to groom and train new actors for
your program, as well as building a family audience.

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Colin Douglas

Posted By: ljstockham813
Date Posted: 4/29/05 at 6:56pm

Dear Point Blank:

DIVORCE SALE is a fun play to do. It gives way to "over-acting." You'll need a very plump (a "John Candy" type) in the role of Ozzie. If you do it, let me have all the details: where it is produced, by whom, dates, or send me the program. Also, since you are just starting up, no royalties for you.

Oh, if you have some problem downloading it from the ProPlay website (some people have had problems), email me at mailto:ljstockham813@yahoo.com - ljstockham813@yahoo.com and I will send it to you as an email attachment (Word.doc or Rich.txt).

Good luck,

Linda

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Linda Stockham
Playwright/Cultural Anthropologist

Posted By: Shanahan
Date Posted: 5/04/05 at 11:37am

Point, you can check out my plays, including "One Before Forty" and the award-winning comedy, "Dinner for Several," at http://shanahan.netfirms.com/plays.htm - http://shanahan.netfirms.com/plays.htm . PDF excerpts are available on that page.

Posted By: casey05
Date Posted: 6/17/05 at 8:19am

If you're interested in doing a play that would suit families, following up on Colin's suggestion for a play with children in it, try The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Depending on your cast size and whether you want a straight play or musical, http://www.dramaticpublishing.com - Dramatic Publishing licenses several different plays based on the story.

A friend of mine directed this production and it went quite well, mainly attributed to the fact that it was a well-known title that had an appeal for all sorts of audiences (children, families, adults who had read the book).

But, if you're after an "adult" play, Butterflies are Free (by Leonard Gershe) is an excellent play. I'm not sure who licenses it, but do know that there was a movie based on it with Goldie Hawn in it.

Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 6/17/05 at 12:02pm

OMG
heh heh
I had forgotten about that play
I was in "Butterflies are Free" when I was in high school, about
a hundred and ten years ago.
Have you seen it recently? As I recall, it was very 'of the
moment' - and that it was presented as 'adorable' and 'free-
spirited' for the female lead to pretty much be a tramp. I'm not
sure in today's world she would be as appealing as she was
thirty years ago.

Geesh, LOL, it's fun to think back to that play LOL

Posted By: casey05
Date Posted: 6/18/05 at 1:07am

Well the local amateur theatre co. i'm involved with just staged it, and it went quite well (they chose to do it around mother's day, and offered a special offer for mothers). They got more publicity by having the students at the local TAFE who were studying theatre design the sets, sounds, lights, costumes etc. etc. etc. In itself, though, it went quite well - got a lot of tears in some parts from the audience.

In terms of staging it, I think it'd be a good show to start out with, mainly because of it's small cast, and unit setting.