Play Suggestions

Plays and other dramatic works
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annise
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Post by annise »

I've been tempted to do Trial by Jury :D I think it would work well . It always seems less msical than the others - I suspect Sullivan wouldn't have liked it much

Anne
ToddHW
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Post by ToddHW »

I use the Audacity stretch and compress all the time when stacking up multiple readers. In combination with strategically inserting little snippets of quiet room noise into a reader file to get their consonants to line up with the rest. This works so well that I don't even ask people to try and follow someone else's recordings. (I normally record with a small handheld recorder away from my computer, so I have to change my location and practice to listen and record at the same time.)

I also reduce the number of people - once past 3-4 it gets too hard to understand. Our recordings being mono you can't get any spatial separation clues to help. (And being audio you can't lip-read to follow along either.)

Thanks, Todd
ToddHW
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Post by ToddHW »

annise wrote:I've been tempted to do Trial by Jury :D I think it would work well . It always seems less musical than the others - I suspect Sullivan wouldn't have liked it much

Anne
I agree that it would likely work well - I've looked at that one too. Might fit in a one act play collection?

Thanks, Todd
Elizabby
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Post by Elizabby »

annise wrote:I've been tempted to do Trial by Jury :D I think it would work well . It always seems less msical than the others - I suspect Sullivan wouldn't have liked it much

Anne
Probably not. I think Trial was one of their early collaborations, when Gilbert was writing the libretto first and Sullivan had to follow along. You can tell that the balance had shifted later on, such as "Gondoliers" which has much more varied music but the words are far less interesting. "Away we go to a balmy isle. Away. Away..." etc.

I think the "Gilbert" leaning pieces work best for poetic readings, which is why I started with Patience. The "Sullivan" leaning ones are more fun to perform (IMO) and Gondoliers is my absolute favourite but I don't think it would lend itself well to poetic reading without music.
Might fit in a one act play collection?
Traditionally, "Trial by Jury" is often paired with one of the other short ones such as "Pinafore". I've also seen it done with "Cox and Box" which is Sullivan with another writer before he met Gilbert.

If we can find an online text I'd say "Cox and Box" would be ideal - it's also very short and comical! It's about two men (Mr Cox and Mr Box) who are both renting the same room without knowing it, as one works day shift and one works night shift. Then one of them has the day off and they both come home to their apartment - to find they are both engaged to the same girl! Highlight the next part if you want to know the spoiler for the ending:

she runs off with Mr Fox and the two men discover they are long-lost brothers and so continue sharing the apartment happily, and the landlord is happy too because he gets twice the rent from the one apartment!

Cox and Box was published in 1866, so it would be PD everywhere, and it only has three characters, so very easy to produce here! :thumbs:
annise
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Post by annise »

I think Yeoman might be my favourite music one though I'm not sure . I love some of it's quartets. I've never seen Cox and Box performed I don't think

Anne
Elizabby
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Post by Elizabby »

annise wrote:I think Yeoman might be my favourite music one though I'm not sure . I love some of it's quartets. I've never seen Cox and Box performed I don't think
The Savoy Opera Company did it a couple of years ago and it was hilarious! It's not one of the more common ones, I have to admit.
wib66
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Post by wib66 »

Trial by Jury would definitely fit in the One Act Collection as it is less than 2500 words so definitely short enough.
Box and Cox is a one act too.

I will be setting up One Act Play Collection 009 very soon just clarifying some finer points beforehand.
Michele
When you're having what you feel like is a 'bad day' and then someone comes along out of nowhere and extends to you the simplest of kind gestures, you feel it so deeply within your heart.” ―Miya Yamanouchi
catrose
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Post by catrose »

Was John Ford the Broken Heart ever done? It's by far my fave drama ever!
Cat
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A Level exams from 4th May to 30th June. I am around, just not as often. If I forget or miss anything, drop me a PM and I'll be on it like a wasp on honey!
Elizabby
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Post by Elizabby »

I was just looking through the George Bernard Shaw collection and realised that we don't have "The Devil's Disciple" which despite its title isn't actually about the Devil at all. It's about a man who outwardly rejects Christian teaching (he's the disciple, obviously) but who ends up volunteering to make the supreme sacrifice for another man. He also defies the morality of the time and takes in his illegitimate cousin who has nowhere to go. The overall themes are self-sacrifice and doing good even when it costs everything.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil%27s_Disciple

It was Shaw's first commercial success, there are two movies made of it, and there's a radio version with Patrick Stewart in it! If that isn't a reason to do it, I don't know what is! ;)
catrose
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Post by catrose »

Just to get people psyched, after The broken heart (parts available, see my signature) is close to being done, my next one will be Middleton's A Mad World, My Masters. RSC did it a few years ago and it was hailed as the funniest thing ever! Funny, satirical, witty and crude (just like the LV drama group!) Oh but it's definitely a rated 18+ (sorry children!)

Wiki link - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mad_World,_My_Masters

(google it and read about the RSC version!!)
Cat
charlotteduckett.com

A Level exams from 4th May to 30th June. I am around, just not as often. If I forget or miss anything, drop me a PM and I'll be on it like a wasp on honey!
VfkaBT
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Post by VfkaBT »

Found a small trove of Shakespeare in Spanish on Archive:

https://archive.org/stream/dramasdeguiller00pelagoog#page/n7/mode/2up

Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, and Othello in Spanish, Dramas de Guillermo Shakespeare
by William ( Shakespeare , Marcelino ( Menéndez y Pelayo
Published 1881

https://archive.org/details/dramashamlet00shakgoog
Hamlet, and King Lear in Spanish
1886

https://archive.org/stream/obras00rojagoog#page/n8/mode/2up
Poetry and sonnets of Shakespeare, in Spanish
1877

https://archive.org/details/elprncipehamletd1202coel
1876 Hamlet

https://archive.org/details/mcbethadaptacin00rivagoog
1904 adaptation of Macbeth in Spanish

https://archive.org/details/juliocsarcomogu00mrgoog
Julius Caesar, Comedy of Errors, others (Merry Wives of Windsor?)
1880's
My previous LV work: Bellona Times
Lucy_k_p
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Post by Lucy_k_p »

catrose wrote:Just to get people psyched, after The broken heart (parts available, see my signature) is close to being done, my next one will be Middleton's A Mad World, My Masters. RSC did it a few years ago and it was hailed as the funniest thing ever! Funny, satirical, witty and crude (just like the LV drama group!) Oh but it's definitely a rated 18+ (sorry children!)

Wiki link - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mad_World,_My_Masters

(google it and read about the RSC version!!)
Oh, I saw that! It was very funny. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to the original. (The RSC version was updated to a 1950s setting.)
So little space, so much to say.
catrose
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Post by catrose »

Lucy_k_p wrote:
catrose wrote:Just to get people psyched, after The broken heart (parts available, see my signature) is close to being done, my next one will be Middleton's A Mad World, My Masters. RSC did it a few years ago and it was hailed as the funniest thing ever! Funny, satirical, witty and crude (just like the LV drama group!) Oh but it's definitely a rated 18+ (sorry children!)

Wiki link - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mad_World,_My_Masters

(google it and read about the RSC version!!)
Oh, I saw that! It was very funny. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to the original. (The RSC version was updated to a 1950s setting.)
The RSC updated bits of the humour too, making bits of it funnier, bits of it bawdier, bits of it unnecessary (Mr and Mrs Littledick is a bit much, even for this sort of comedy!!! I'm really looking forward to it :) (Though I'm looking forward to my Broken Heart just as much 8-) )
Cat
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A Level exams from 4th May to 30th June. I am around, just not as often. If I forget or miss anything, drop me a PM and I'll be on it like a wasp on honey!
EstherbenSimonides
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Post by EstherbenSimonides »

Hi,
I just wanted to let you all know that we have revised our plan of Shakespeare in a week. We're trying to do the Merchant of Venice during what's left of the month of February. If it works, we may do more in March and April. We'd love for you to participate! Post in the thread to claim if you're interested in a part, editing or PLing!
Thanks!
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam,
Esther ben Simonides
SweetPea
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Post by SweetPea »

I've just posted a play adaptation of Pollyanna - some small and large parts available! :)
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=59914
Rachel

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