Play/Season Suggestion (Royalty Free?)
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=5263
Printed Date: 10/31/25 at 2:02pm
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Topic: Play/Season Suggestion (Royalty Free?)
Posted By: JSerio
Subject: Play/Season Suggestion (Royalty Free?)
Date Posted: 2/11/12 at 11:08pm
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Hello,
So we are in the middle of picking shows for our 2012-2013 season. We do 4 straight shows a year, 2 comedies and 2 dramas. Right now we have one of each. We have decided on An Inspector Calls and Laughter on The 23rd Floor. These will be the last two shows. With Inspector closing the season. So we need to decide on our two first shows. I would really like an opinion on what other two shows to pick. Because these are the first two we try to do them with little and technical aspects so we can make some money to put into the final two shows. So I would love to have a royalty free show, preferably a comedy. Below are some shows were thinking about... - ART -Laramie Project -The Importance of Being Earnest -Lend Me a Tenor -Fuddy Mears Thanks for all your help!!! Jack www.bostonteenactingtroupe.com |
Replies:
Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 2/12/12 at 11:09am
| I'm not sure if I'm understanding you correctly. The impression I got is that the shows you listed at the end of your post are the "non-royalty" shows you're considering??? - Sorry to break the bad news, but all of those shows, with the exception of The Importance of Being Earnest are royalty shows. You're only going to get non-royalty shows from the "Classics" section of your library, e.g. Shakespeare, Fletcher, Marlowe, possibly Ibsen and Shaw, Wilde, etc. You may find a selection of "Non-Royalty Plays for Community Theatre". I'm not sure, but I think Gilbert and Sullivan are public domain now. Or, there's the final sure-fire non-royalty play - the one you write yourself. |
Posted By: jonplaywright
Date Posted: 2/13/12 at 11:58am
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Yes, I had the same reaction. Any play that's not in the public domain (unless you devise it yourself) is subject to royalty. That's how playwrights like me make their living. ------------- Co-Chair, Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights Resident Playwright, Final Draft YouthPLAYS, plays for young actors and audiences http://www.youthplays.com - www.youthplays.com |
Posted By: JSerio
Date Posted: 2/13/12 at 10:36pm
| Sorry if I was not clear. I am fully aware that those shows require royalties. I am looking for 2 more shows to complete the season (a dram and a comedy) one of those shows I would like to be royalty free. The shows I had listed were just ideas. |
Posted By: drose
Date Posted: 2/15/12 at 1:41pm
| "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a great show, and it can be done very elaborately or very simply. I saw one production that set the whole show in a playground/park with a teeter totter, swingset, and one of those spinning things (like a merry go round). It was quite delightful - a little bizarre, but quite delightful. I also love "A Midsummer Night's Dream." There are dozens of variations you can play with: I set the show in contemporary times and instead of being in Athens, Greece, we were on "The Athens" a ritzy golf club. The Mechanicals (Quince & Co.) were caddies and the fairies were goth/punk magical transients living in the back 40. It was a ton of fun and had a great audience response. Both shows can be done royalty free - check with Dover publications. They have inexpensive public domain scripts available. |
Posted By: Jim_L
Date Posted: 2/28/12 at 3:18pm
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My musical comedy, The Tavern & The Storyteller is royalty free. Please have a look at: http://home.comcast.net/~castle.walls/tavern/index.html - http://home.comcast.net/~castle.walls/tavern/index.html -Jim ------------- 
http://home.comcast.net/~castle.walls/tavern/ |