Writing a Play for the Amateur Stage (Community Theatre)

Writing a Play for Writing a Play for Writing a Play for the Amateur Stagethe Amateur Stagethe Amateur Stage

by Damian Traslerby Damian Traslerby Damian Trasler

With the invaluable information contained in the guidebook, Walter

was one step closer to his dream of becoming a playwright.

Now all he needed was the big idea...

2

WRITING A PLAY FOR THE AMATEUR STAGE

© 2010 TLC Creative

Inspiration always struck Allan at the least convenient moment...

Writing a Play for the Amateur Stage

Written by Damian Trasler

First Edition published June 2010

With graphical and editorial assistance

from David Lovesy and Steve Clark

Contributions from Stuart Ardern, Lazy Bee Scripts

This PDF purchase allows for one printed copy;

multiple printouts of the purchased fi le are not allowed

without prior written consent of the author.

9www.tlc-creative.co.uk

CHAPTER TWO: COMMON MISTAKES

Common Mistakes

After a few years of being published, I took on the job of Script Reader for

my publisher, Lazy Bee Scripts. The company was being inundated with

scripts, and they needed someone to help with the initial sorting of the

new arrivals. This gave me a chance to review and report on hundreds of

scripts from a huge variety of writers. Scripts are sent to Lazy Bee from all

around the world, by people who have been writing for years, people just

starting out, and people trying stage writing after success in some other

form. Before long it became obvious that the same mistakes were being

made over and over again.

The Biggest MistakeWriting a screenplay for the stage. I’m never sure if this mistake is made

because the authors have never visited the theatre, or because they wrote

the idea as a screenplay fi rst then attempted to convert it to the stage. Since

the primary market I was reading for was concerned with the amateur

stage, where resources and stage space tend to be limited, there is little

point is saying “but I’ve seen some pretty spectacular things on the West

End stage”. Yes, I know you can see ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ fl y out over

the audience in some theatres, but you’re not likely to see that done in

your local village hall or school production. Time after time I read plays

that open in a living room, described in perfect detail. Five minutes later

the action moves to a second, equally detailed location for just a few lines

of dialogue, and then another change. If the play is to be performed on a

regular small stage, the only options are to have a subdivided stage with

many sets permanently erected and the action moving between them, or

to have a minimalist stage with movable furniture to signify the various

locations. I used a combination of these devices in ‘A Time for Farewells’,

with one half of the stage permanently set as a bedroom, and the other half

different arrangements of three stage blocks that became a bar, a hospital

room, a lounge.

This is entirely possible, but the important thing is that YOU are the one who

should decide that this is the way the play should be performed. There’s no

point in writing an epic masterpiece that includes horse races, the sinking

of the Titanic and an aerial dogfi ght and then saying “It’s up to the director

to work out how to stage it.” If you’re looking for the best of all possible

worlds, you’ll end up with a script that doesn’t depend on a trapdoor in

the stage or some other technical device (like fl ying wires, back projection

or giant infl atable gorillas) for a successful production. You can certainly

suggest that these elements would make the production better, that they

were part of your original vision, but allow for the fact that not every group

will have these things at their disposal. When the prospective director reads

your script, they should be able to see the play being performed on their

stage in their mind’s eye. Which leads into point number two:

When the prospective director reads your

script, they should be able to see the play being performed on their stage in their

mind’s eye.

Read ‘A Time for Farewells’ online at:http://tinyurl.com/

tlc-farewells

10



The last page was written... the play was ready. Now all Celia needed

was a thousand zombie costumes and a holographic werewolf.

Incomplete or Unhelpful InstructionsI reviewed a play once that had a character coming onstage carrying a large

box. Halfway through the scene, a second character pops out of the box

(which is still being held by character number one) and delivers a speech. I

couldn’t see how this would be possible unless one character was incredibly

strong, or the bottom of the box was open and character two’s legs were

screened by some handy scenery. As it turned out, some unenclosed

production notes would have told me which characters were to be played

by puppets – that information would have put a different spin on things.

If you’re planning on having a character disappear into a magic cabinet,

it would be kind to indicate how you imagine this being done: “The back

of the cabinet is screened by the mangle, and Aladdin climbs out the

concealed fl ap in the false back...” You don’t need to include a diagram with

numbered and labelled parts, but your director needs to have a clue what

you’re thinking about. This is particularly important in British pantomime

transformation scenes, like Cinders’ “Rags to Ball Gown” or “Pumpkin to

Coach” moments. It’s all very well writing “There is a fl ash and a bang

and the pumpkin is replaced by a shimmering coach...” but that’s leaving it

all to the director. A little research will show you there are many ways of

accomplishing this effect – bringing lights up behind a gauze, unfolding a

special piece of scenery... Again, read a few scripts, see some shows, talk

to some experienced dramatists. Then put your own spin on the process.


CHAPTER TWO: COMMON MISTAKES

Grammar, Punctuation and SpellingI know, I know, it seems really petty to complain about mistakes like this.

Who cares about full stops and question marks? It’s the content that’s

important, isn’t it? Language is a constantly evolving thing, textspeak is

becoming a valid form of grammar, blah, blah, blah! Well yes, language

does evolve, but at the moment there are still guidelines and rules about

grammar, spelling and punctuation, and you can be pretty sure that nothing

much has changed in the way English is written since you were at school.

Delivering a script for your publisher, or even simply turning one out for

your local theatre group, should still be treated with the care and attention

to detail you would give a job application letter.

Grammar exists to make the written language easy to hear in your head.

Commas give pauses in the sentence, full stops indicate when one idea

stops and the next begins. These things are important for your words to

be understood, and if people can’t comfortably read what you’ve written,

they’re not going to enjoy the content. They’re not going to understand

the content. They’re certainly not going to buy or perform your play. Also,

if you’re not careful enough to spot errors that are highlighted for you on

the spell checker of the word processor you wrote this on, how can any

customer be sure you’ve been careful enough to produce a decent plot? Are

there as many errors in your storyline as there are in your typing? Bear in

mind that the editor or publisher is likely to be someone fond of the written

word – they’ve made a business of it, after all. They are exactly the kind of

person who gets annoyed by incorrect spelling, and they are also exposed to

it on a daily basis. If your script contains no ghastly spelling or punctuation

errors, that will be another factor in your favour.

The only exception to the rule about correct spelling and grammar is when

you choose to get it wrong. Not everyone speaks the Queen’s English like

an Early Fifties BBC Radio Announcer, so of course it doesn’t make sense

to have Bruno the door bouncer throw a drunk into the street and yell

after him “We’d be much obliged if you would refrain from revisiting this

establishment in the foreseeable future and encourage your rehabilitation

with regard to your alcohol dependency…” Bruno would shout “Sling yer

‘ook, drunk!” or something worse, and you won’t need to add in the ‘h’ that

he drops. But the apostrophe shows the letter has been dropped on purpose,

not as a result of rapid typing, and that Bruno is not making monkey noises.

In summary, your characters are allowed to speak ungrammatically, or in

dialect, but for your readers to correctly interpret this type of speech, it

needs to be clearly punctuated.

Delivering a script should be treated with the care and attention to detail

you would give a job application letter.

Your characters are allowed to speak

ungrammatically, or in dialect, but

for your readers to correctly interpret

this type of speech, it needs to be clearly

punctuated.

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Characters and CastingThink about who you’re writing for. Knowing the group you’re working

for will help, because writing an all-male play won’t endear you to a group

that only has one man but twelve women in it. Think about the numbers

of characters, and the mix of male and female, and their ages. Think about

how often each character is on stage – does the lead character ever get

a break, or are they in every scene? A good mixture of characters and a

good spread of stage time appeals to the actors and is a more interesting

for the audience. When I wrote ‘A Time for Farewells’, I didn’t consider this

and it was during one of the rehearsals that the leading actress pointed out

she was expected to exit in a business suit, reappear moments later in a

swimsuit, exit after that scene and reappear in the business suit again, then

change into a bridal gown, all with no more than a thirty second blackout

to cover the changes. Of course, since I was the director, we were able to

make changes to the script that allowed the scenes to proceed almost as

written. The business suit was a wraparound dress that had few buttons

and went on over the swimsuit. The full bridal gown became simply the

veil. These were changes that could be made because I was the author and

director, and I had actors who were keen to perform the play. Had I been

an experienced director reading the script with an eye to production, I might

well have passed it over because of the practical diffi culties involved.

“Will? Yeah... got your script, sounds great.

Just one thing on the directions...

Antigonus exits, perused by a bear?”

Read ‘A Time for Farewells’ online at:http://tinyurl.com/

tlc-farewells


YOUR NOTES

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“At last Damian Trasler has written everything

he knows in a book. ‘Writing a Play for the

Amateur Stage’ has proved an invaluable tool

to me, as I’m sure it will to so many aspiring

writers. Full of useful hints and tips, this book

is a must for anyone interested in seeing their

work performed on the stage.”

Richard James, Actor and Writer

Documents

Writing a Play for the Amateur Stage (Community Theatre)