Small Stage Plays
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Play Suggestions
Forum Discription: Need help finding a show that's right for your theater? Ask here.
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3909
Printed Date: 11/22/24 at 11:51pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Small Stage Plays
Posted By: brianwolters
Subject: Small Stage Plays
Date Posted: 3/30/09 at 1:50pm
|
We are a new, small but growing theatre. We have a rather small stage and a small pool of actors so far. We are planning out our next season and need suggestions on plays that have smaller casts and little to no set as we still don't have a lot of resources to design or build sets.
We have produced two of the three Smoke on the Mountain shows, The Diaries of Adam and Eve, Steel Magnolia's and School House Rock Live!
Thanks,
Brian Wolters
Artistis Director - Cabot Community Theatre
http://www.cabotcommunitytheatre.org - www.cabotcommunitytheatre.org
|
Replies:
Posted By: belle
Date Posted: 3/30/09 at 2:35pm
|
All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
Kids Say the Darndest Things
If you can build a room set, Bad Year for Tomatoes, You Can't There from Here.
|
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 3/30/09 at 3:22pm
Who's Happy Now? (my favorite play)
Crimes of the Heart
Pillow Man
Ravenscroft
|
Posted By: greenphoenix
Date Posted: 3/30/09 at 10:18pm
|
"Love Letters" requires almost nothing except two good actors.
|
Posted By: janetk
Date Posted: 4/01/09 at 12:41pm
|
Kitchen Witches has a small cast and the set is a tv cooking show
|
Posted By: SavTD
Date Posted: 4/01/09 at 2:48pm
"The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)" just requires 3 guys and a lot of props
"2 Rooms" just requires 3 or 4, I believe, and a very minimal set
|
Posted By: GElliott
Date Posted: 4/01/09 at 5:04pm
We are looking at "Catfish Moon", by Laddy Sartin. 4 person cast and supposed to be a good show, I haven't read it yet, but one of our members really likes it.
Here's the synopsis from Dramatists Play Service:
THE STORY: The old fishing pier out on the end of Cypress Lake
has just fallen under the magic of another Catfish Moon. It was the
favorite hangout for three best friends when they were kids—skipping
school, skinny dipping and even experiencing the mysteries of kissing
girls. Now Curley, Gordon and Frog are older, and they have tasted the
bitterness of life as well as the sweetness, and the pressures and
problems that come with middle age have eroded the closeness between
Frog and Gordon. The final straw comes when Frog discovers that Gordon
is dating his ex-wife. Curley, the "big brother" of the bunch, in an
attempt to recapture the friendship and settle all disputes, convinces
Frog and Gordon to go on an overnight fishing trip like old times. On
the pier, the weight of adulthood is lifted by laughter and their love
of fishing, and the three guys discover that their friendship was never
really lost. However, in the midst of catching the biggest fish of all
time, life brings them back to a painful reality. The poignant
resolution of the play brings Gordon and Frog to the realization that
life is too precious and too short to let true friendship get away.
|
Posted By: Dough Boy
Date Posted: 4/02/09 at 9:35am
|
Just saw the Fantasticks again. No set to speak of. I was afraid it would be dated, but my 16 year old daughter loved it, and went out and bought the soundtrack.
|
Posted By: theatremonkey
Date Posted: 4/06/09 at 11:50pm
Sylvia, The Fantasticks, Buddy Holly Story, There Goes the Bride (if you are able to do interior room sets), or (for the wee ones) The Reluctant Dragon!
-------------
theatre monkey
|
Posted By: doubleirish
Date Posted: 4/11/09 at 10:24pm
|
Our theatre just did James and The Giant Peach. The play presented us with a lot of challenges and we didn't want a complex set either, but we pushed three sets of stairs together and formed our "peach" and painted a big peach on the backdrop and used peach lighting for the other set demands. Anyway, it was nerve-wracking at times but once we figured out how to do everything, it came together beautifully and it was very successful for us.
|
Posted By: JeDeMi
Date Posted: 4/29/09 at 12:45pm
Small shows that we've done with low production needs:
- Murder at the Howard Johnsons (requires a motel room set)
- The Man with the Plastic Sandwich
- Rounding Third
- Soccer Moms
- The Guys
- Musical revues
- I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
- Golf: The Musical
- Married Alive!
- Five Course Love
|
Posted By: John Luzaich
Date Posted: 4/29/09 at 1:23pm
I second Murder at the Howard Johnson's. Very, very funny with two males and one female.
-------------
John
cfct@cfu.net
http://www.osterregent.org
http://www.facebook.com/osterregent
|
Posted By: DaedalusAZ
Date Posted: 7/02/09 at 4:04am
Two shows come to mind:
1st: And Then They Came for me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank written by James Still. We did it with nine, but it can be done with 6 by doubling. I think the Broadway show had just 6.
It is a very, very dramatic show; It will grip both your actors and your audience from the opening sequence to the end. It is a multi-media show in that in addition to the live actors on stage, you also have two of them on a projection screen or on TV screens on each side of the stage. We used the large drop down screen at the back of our small stage with a couple of simple wall units painted black on each side.
The video will show two friends of Anne Frank being interviewed as well as many video images of life in Germany and Holland from during the war. In addition there is an audio track.
Be forewarned; this is a very demanding show. Due to it's back and forth between live action and video, timing and rehearsal is everything. In all my years I have never seen a more demanding yet delightful script!
My season ticket holders still talk about it. it was the first play I put on when I came to this school. They had not had a theatre program in over 35 years. So I chose the most demanding, most unforgiving play to challenge my kids and at the same time let the community know we were serious about doing great theatre!
On a side note to dramatize the ending we added one little bit to our non-curtain call...we played that haunting violin solo from Schindlers List. It brought many of our audience members to tears.
The other play I would highly recommend is Neil Simons comedy, The Odd Couple. Only we did the FEMALE version. It is newer and very tightly You need 6 women and 2 men. It is Simon and that pretty much says it all.
|
Posted By: brianwolters
Date Posted: 7/02/09 at 11:24am
|
We decided on The Kitchen Witches...easy to do (now that we have the props!)
|
Posted By: SpenceKenzer
Date Posted: 7/23/09 at 1:45pm
The Foursome by Norm Foster
Four college buddies at a reunion have a revealing round of golf.
One set = the tee off for each hole of the golf course - the set doesn't change at all or much from hole to hole.
Four great character roles for men aged late 30's to mid 40's.
-------------
--------------------<*>
Saludos, my dahlinks, and you know who you are ... !
|
Posted By: Jo Norland
Date Posted: 7/24/09 at 12:42pm
|
Good luck with your new company!
My one-act, 'Mothers Have Nine Lives'--linked monologues about motherhood--requires little more than a toy box & a few props, and can accommodate 3-12 female actors (works beautifully with a cast of three).
It can be read for free on the following website:
http://www.singlelane.com/proplay/mothers.html - http://www.singlelane.com/proplay/mothers.html
Good luck! Joanna
|
Posted By: musikman1
Date Posted: 8/04/09 at 3:42pm
|
How about Romance, Romance, from MTI?
Cast can be from 4-8, one single set for act 1 (1890) one for act II (1990).
Small pit, full size is seven pieces. Great music, great themes.
(If you do it, call me to come piano-conduct, I LOVE the show!)
-------------
Rick
http://www.bway2.com/tracks
|
|