Good practice guidelines for dramatic works

Plays and other dramatic works
moniaqua
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Post by moniaqua »

You're welcome. I wouldn't approach it, but that's my personal opinion.

Btw, I just notice Todd was a not as good example, given Annes explanation, he does more plays. I think it is mighyfelix who does a lot of DRs. :) But still, it is a ton of work. I started to do one a couple of years ago, in German, I am not even through preparing it. I simply gave it up even before I had to fiddle around with the MW :)
mightyfelix
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Post by mightyfelix »

You're right, Monika, that I've been involved in a fair handful of DRs in one capacity or another, but the Dr. Dolittle that's in the works now is actually the first one that I've coordinated. I have done one full length play and a few one acts as well. I think Beth (Elizabby) is the one who's really the DR guru. She's done at least three that I've been involved in so far, and a few more that I haven't, with one (edit: no, actually two) in the works right now.

As for me, I find that one DR at a time is plenty! They certainly can get very complex, and of course, the longer the book and the more characters there are, the more complicated it becomes. You need to be very organized right from the beginning, to make sure everything's there. You don't want to get almost to the finish line and then realize that you're missing one or two lines from a character who has already been recorded, and by a reader who has since disappeared!

(Edit: if I didn't have other projects, I might be ok with running two DRs at once, but I always seem to have several other things I'm BCing at the same time.)
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Post by JayKitty76 »

Hmm. Okay, I'll wait till I have more experience, then. I'm BCing 2 group projects currently and I do have a Solo going right now, so it is a lot of work :)
Thanks, Devorah, Anne, and Monika :thumbs:
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Post by TriciaG »

You could "get your feet wet" by doing a play in the one-act plays collection. That's one of its purposes. :)
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Post by mightyfelix »

That's a great idea, Tricia! I don't know why I didn't think of it. That's how I got started with DRs.

(Actually, I think it was the 12th Anniversary Collection, but it's pretty much the same process.)
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Post by ToddHW »

Current One Act Play Collection is nearly done, but there will be another one starting soon.

Thanks, Todd
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Post by JayKitty76 »

ToddHW wrote: ↑February 4th, 2019, 5:23 pm Current One Act Play Collection is nearly done, but there will be another one starting soon.

Thanks, Todd
TriciaG wrote: ↑February 4th, 2019, 3:20 pm You could "get your feet wet" by doing a play in the one-act plays collection. That's one of its purposes. :)
It sounds really interesting :) I'm just not exactly sure how it differs from a regular play? (Or what is it exactly?) I'm not trying to be skeptical by asking how it differs, I just honestly don't know the difference-- I haven't really looked into it :)
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Post by annise »

viewtopic.php?p=1438994#p1438994 - go and have a look. I'm assuming you aren't asking what the difference between a one-act play and a more than one act play :D

Anne
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Post by Availle »

Maybe you should look into it before "being skeptical and asking others".

The current one-act-play collection is here
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=69214

and has 41 pages for you to peruse and find stuff out on your own. :D
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JayKitty76
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Post by JayKitty76 »

annise wrote: ↑February 5th, 2019, 5:49 pm viewtopic.php?p=1438994#p1438994 - go and have a look. I'm assuming you aren't asking what the difference between a one-act play and a more than one act play :D

Anne
Availle wrote: ↑February 5th, 2019, 5:50 pm Maybe you should look into it before "being skeptical and asking others".

The current one-act-play collection is here
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=69214

and has 41 pages for you to peruse and find stuff out on your own. :D
Thank you. I missed the sticky on the planning thread. I'll check it out.

Thanks,
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ToddHW
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Post by ToddHW »

JayKitty76 wrote: ↑February 5th, 2019, 5:27 pm
ToddHW wrote: ↑February 4th, 2019, 5:23 pm Current One Act Play Collection is nearly done, but there will be another one starting soon.

Thanks, Todd
TriciaG wrote: ↑February 4th, 2019, 3:20 pm You could "get your feet wet" by doing a play in the one-act plays collection. That's one of its purposes. :)
It sounds really interesting :) I'm just not exactly sure how it differs from a regular play? (Or what is it exactly?) I'm not trying to be skeptical by asking how it differs, I just honestly don't know the difference-- I haven't really looked into it :)
The Collection intends to give those who might someday run a full play a taste of the experience with a couple of major simplifications. First, the MW is set up and run for you (and the people running the other 9 one act plays) by an overall BC so you don't have to deal with all that stuff. (In fact, constraints in our database software mean we can't allow that many people to have access to the MW in any project - here we make that into an advantage.) You are still responsible to pick a play, provide links to a good script source, supposed to get someone to PL the lines, and you will need to do (or barter for) the editing. The collection becomes a community of 10 folks running the plays and potentially sharing hints amongst the group as well as having an experienced overall BC and other folks to help.

Second, you are dealing with a shorter play - 30-45 minutes perhaps instead of multiple hours - and often with a much smaller cast - maybe 3-5 people instead of dozens. Having fewer people with fewer parts each (ie, only one act of recording instead of 5 different act files submitted) to chase down to get everything done becomes much easier. Some people prefer one act plays. Like short stories, they are a different beast from their longer full fledged literary forms. Story lines are cleaner, readers may have an easier time understanding who they are and how they should interact in the course of the play (often less rounded characters, less ambiguity).

Thanks, Todd
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Post by JayKitty76 »

ToddHW wrote: ↑February 5th, 2019, 7:22 pm
JayKitty76 wrote: ↑February 5th, 2019, 5:27 pm
ToddHW wrote: ↑February 4th, 2019, 5:23 pm Current One Act Play Collection is nearly done, but there will be another one starting soon.

Thanks, Todd
TriciaG wrote: ↑February 4th, 2019, 3:20 pm You could "get your feet wet" by doing a play in the one-act plays collection. That's one of its purposes. :)
It sounds really interesting :) I'm just not exactly sure how it differs from a regular play? (Or what is it exactly?) I'm not trying to be skeptical by asking how it differs, I just honestly don't know the difference-- I haven't really looked into it :)
The Collection intends to give those who might someday run a full play a taste of the experience with a couple of major simplifications. First, the MW is set up and run for you (and the people running the other 9 one act plays) by an overall BC so you don't have to deal with all that stuff. (In fact, constraints in our database software mean we can't allow that many people to have access to the MW in any project - here we make that into an advantage.) You are still responsible to pick a play, provide links to a good script source, supposed to get someone to PL the lines, and you will need to do (or barter for) the editing. The collection becomes a community of 10 folks running the plays and potentially sharing hints amongst the group as well as having an experienced overall BC and other folks to help.

Second, you are dealing with a shorter play - 30-45 minutes perhaps instead of multiple hours - and often with a much smaller cast - maybe 3-5 people instead of dozens. Having fewer people with fewer parts each (ie, only one act of recording instead of 5 different act files submitted) to chase down to get everything done becomes much easier. Some people prefer one act plays. Like short stories, they are a different beast from their longer full fledged literary forms. Story lines are cleaner, readers may have an easier time understanding who they are and how they should interact in the course of the play (often less rounded characters, less ambiguity).

Thanks, Todd
Thank you! A couple questions: does the BC just run the overall plays, or do they have to submit a play as well? And what is an example of a one-act play (I’m assuming you can’t just do the first act of a several-act play, by, say, Shakespeare)?
Again, thank you so much for that information!
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ToddHW
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Post by ToddHW »

The links from availle and annise take you to the current collection (#11), with great instructions and a list of recommended source stuff for plays; if you go down in that thread to about the 3rd posting you will find a list of the plays in all of the previous collections.

Thanks, Todd
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Post by mightyfelix »

I believe the question to your first question is that the overall BC may choose to do a one act play of their own, but they are not required to. Todd can correct me on this if I'm wrong.

As to your second question, no, you would not simply do one act only of a longer play. You'll need to find a play that is written as only having one act. If you take a look at the first few posts in the one act collection, there'll be links to a few good sources where you can find one act plays. Browse around there until you find something you like! You can also take a look at the previous one act collection to see what's already been done and get an idea of the kind of thing you should be looking for.

EDIT: Todd was faster than me. :mrgreen:
JayKitty76
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Post by JayKitty76 »

ToddHW wrote: ↑February 5th, 2019, 7:40 pm The links from availle and annise take you to the current collection (#11), with great instructions and a list of recommended source stuff for plays; if you go down in that thread to about the 3rd posting you will find a list of the plays in all of the previous collections.

Thanks, Todd
mightyfelix wrote: ↑February 5th, 2019, 7:47 pm I believe the question to your first question is that the overall BC may choose to do a one act play of their own, but they are not required to. Todd can correct me on this if I'm wrong.

As to your second question, no, you would not simply do one act only of a longer play. You'll need to find a play that is written as only having one act. If you take a look at the first few posts in the one act collection, there'll be links to a few good sources where you can find one act plays. Browse around there until you find something you like! You can also take a look at the previous one act collection to see what's already been done and get an idea of the kind of thing you should be looking for.

EDIT: Todd was faster than me. :mrgreen:
Thanks, guys! I'll check it out :thumbs:
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