One Act Plays and Other Collections - Planning Thread

[ToddHW]

Opened one act play collection 16 today since 15 is almost done.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=88257

Thanks, Todd

[mzmolly65]

Hi all,

Over in the book suggestions is The Vest-Pocket Series viewtopic.php?f=1&t=92780 and there's a short story titled The Parlor Car: Farce (1876) · William Dean Howells (1837–1920). https://archive.org/details/parlorcarfarce0000howe/page/76/mode/2up I'm not sure if it would be classified as a play or not.

There are 5 parts, Narrator, Conductor, Miss G., Mr. R and Porter. Narrator, conductor and porter could all be read by the same person if they chose, as they only have a paragraph or so each. I'm volunteering to read Miss G and to edit the whole thing together. Is anyone else interested in joining me?

Please let me know if this doesn't belong in this thread.

[ToddHW]

If you want to do this now, there is an open slot for one more play in the current one act collection 017. If you post it there I will add it in.

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=91534

EDIT: 17 is full - now working on 18 - viewtopic.php?f=27&t=93303

Thanks, Todd

[mightyfelix]

In a Shakespeare class I'm taking, the professor mentioned this 19th-century burlesque based on Romeo and Juliet:

Romeo and Juliet Travestie; or, the cup of cold Pison: A Burlesque, in one act
https://archive.org/details/romeojuliettrave0000hall/

I've read through parts of it, and it's an absolute riot. I'd love to coordinate it myself, but I know I won't have the time until at least the end of the semester. (Remember that Shakespeare class I mentioned? ) There is no date printed in the scan, but it looks plenty old enough that we don't need to worry. Parts of it might be a bit of a challenge, but nothing this crew can't handle! If no one chooses to pick this up, I will try to come back to it myself in a few months. On the other hand, if someone does want to run it, I'd be happy to narrate for you!

(And, just to make things even more fun, I also found burlesques of Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Virgil, Ovid... Some of these are one act, some are more than one.)
https://archive.org/search.php?query=travestie&and[]=mediatype%3A%22texts%22&and[]=lending___status%3A%22is_readable%22&and[]=languageSorter%3A%22English%22

[ToddHW]

One or more of these could go into the current One Act Play collection.....

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=93303

Thanks, Todd

[Salvationist]

(And, just to make things even more fun, I also found burlesques of Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Virgil, Ovid... Some of these are one act, some are more than one.)
https://archive.org/search.php?query=travestie&and[]=mediatype%3A%22texts%22&and[]=lending___status%3A%22is_readable%22&and[]=languageSorter%3A%22English%22

This list looks like a lot of fun! I even see one of Faust in there. I hope we end up recording a bunch of these.

[alanmapstone]

In a Shakespeare class I'm taking, the professor mentioned this 19th-century burlesque based on Romeo and Juliet:
Romeo and Juliet Travestie; or, the cup of cold Pison: A Burlesque, in one act
https://archive.org/details/romeojuliettrave0000hall/
I've read through parts of it, and it's an absolute riot. I'd love to coordinate it myself, but I know I won't have the time until at least the end of the semester. (Remember that Shakespeare class I mentioned? ) There is no date printed in the scan, but it looks plenty old enough that we don't need to worry. Parts of it might be a bit of a challenge, but nothing this crew can't handle! If no one chooses to pick this up, I will try to come back to it myself in a few months. On the other hand, if someone does want to run it, I'd be happy to narrate for you!
(And, just to make things even more fun, I also found burlesques of Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Virgil, Ovid... Some of these are one act, some are more than one.)
https://archive.org/search.php?query=travestie&and[]=mediatype%3A%22texts%22&and[]=lending___status%3A%22is_readable%22&and[]=languageSorter%3A%22English%22

Hi Devorah
The Archive scan of the R&J play gives the publication date as "1859?" and the author died in 1877, so it is safely PD. I would not mind BCing this for the next 1act collection but it would be a tricky editing job as it has quite a few characters and a lot of quick fire dialogue so I would not want to take that on. If anyone is prepared to edit it I will considerate it further.

The same would apply to the Faust and the two MacBeth travesties, a lot of roles and a difficult edit although they all look good fun.

[tefavidal]

I saw that the current volume is either full or complete so I would like to volunteer to BC my first play for the next collection

The Man of Destiny by George Bernard Shaw
Text link: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4024
Author wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw (death: 1950)
Play wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_of_Destiny
Publication date: 1897
Roles: 4
- Giuseppe
- Napoleon
- A Lady
- Lieutenant

[ToddHW]

I should be starting it in a week or so as the current collection completes.

Thanks, Todd

[stepheather]

Todd,
I didn’t read the whole thread, so perhaps I missed a discussion of it, but is there a practical limit in the number of roles in a play for the one-act play collection?
I have my eyes on one with eleven, including the stage directions. But if that’s too many, I’ll go with the next one in my list.
Thanks,
Stephanie

Never had this asked before. Only limit is that play must be less than 74 minutes when assembled so it fits in one section to catalog. (And even that has been broken by dividing a play into part 1 and 2 - once.)

I can add as many sections to the MW as the play roles need.

Thanks, Todd

[Salvationist]

J. M. Barrie is one of my favourite playwrights, and I just discovered a book of four one-act plays by him on the Internet Archive. I don't have time to BC any right now, but here's the link in case anyone else would like to take one on:

https://archive.org/details/halfhours00barriala/page/n9/mode/2up

The Twelve-Pound Look is already in the LibriVox catalogue, but the other three (Pantaloon, Rosalind, and The Will) are not. I'd love to see all of these in the catalogue someday.

[ToddHW]

One Act Play collection 19 is full, but collection 20 will come along in a couple of months.

Thanks, Todd

[flavo5000]

Here's a fun looking 1-act play with 4 roles plus stage directions printed in Amazing Stories:
https://archive.org/details/Amazing_Stories_v03n04_1928-07/page/n71/mode/1up

[mightyfelix]

Here's one that has been sitting in an open tab on my computer for far too long. I may as well share it so I can close that tab!

The Wrong Side of Eighteen
by Aldena Carlson
https://archive.org/details/wrongsideofeight00carl/

One male character, three female, plus stage directions.

[Ikestudios]

Dramatic Reading of "The Woggle Bug Book"

Text link: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/21914/pg21914-images.html
Script Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PNmYiEyT8jvdldMS5664ft-Q4fCxVWwzdiwzwKy86DE/edit?usp=sharing

Roles: 19
Narrator
Mr. H. M. Woggle-Bug, T. E (TAKEN by Me)
Gruff Policeman (1 Line)
Foreman
Somebody (1 Line)
Husband
Wife (1 Line)
Bridget (Just a Scream)
Lady of Swedish Extraction (Spoken in Broken English)
Wash-Lady (Spoken in Broken English)
Chinese Man (Spoken in Broken English)
The Biggest Arab (Spoken in Broken English / 1 Line)
Shiek
Miss Chim
Owl (1 Line)
Professor Hipmus
King Weasel
Girl Weasel (1 Line)
Boy Weasel (1 Line)