COMPLETE[Play]Importance of Being Earnest (version 5) - thw

[ktaylor07]

I would like to do the stage directions please.

Okay! Welcome to the cast!

[ktaylor07]

Readings for Dr Chasuble:

Act 2 - 6:24
https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/importanceofbeingearnest_drchasuble_2_128kb.mp3

Act 3 - 1:50
https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/importanceofbeingearnest_drchasuble_3_128kb.mp3

Cheers

Thanks for getting this in so quickly!

[ktaylor07]

Here is Lady Bracknell:

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/earnest_ladybracknell_01_128kb.mp3
https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/earnest_ladybracknell_03_128kb.mp3

[realisticspeakers]

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/importanceofbeingearnest_stage-directions_1_128kb.mp3

As this is my first dramatic reading and uncertain of what I'm doing I took the liberty of adding articles like "the" and "an" to some of the directions to make it sound more listener friendly.
I've also added (appropriately I believe) the name of the character performing the action when not mentioned in the stage direction just to add clarity.

Open to criticism, comments, complaints, customizations, and counsel.

[ktaylor07]

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/importanceofbeingearnest_stage-directions_1_128kb.mp3

As this is my first dramatic reading and uncertain of what I'm doing I took the liberty of adding articles like "the" and "an" to some of the directions to make it sound more listener friendly.
I've also added (appropriately I believe) the name of the character performing the action when not mentioned in the stage direction just to add clarity.

Open to criticism, comments, complaints, customizations, and counsel.

Thanks for getting this in so promptly!

No, you don't need to add anything. Just read what is on the page. Stage directions can sound a bit bizarre and bare-bones when you read them in isolation. However when the listener hears them in the final form, they will be mixed with other readers performing the dialogue that will make what's going on abundantly apparent.

[ToddHW]

I've also added (appropriately I believe) the name of the character performing the action when not mentioned in the stage direction just to add clarity.

I do this in all the plays I run. The audience in a theater can see who performs an action; a listener can not. So a stage direction for a line by character XYZ that is printed "XYZ: Picks up the book" benefits by having the "XYZ" added to the "Picks up the book" direction when recorded. And we have always allowed this.

We also allow moving stage directions that are printed in the "wrong" place. For example. "aside" is often printed after the character words that should be said "aside", which is not useful. So we move "aside" to precede the words.

However, it is your project and as BC you decide what you want to do here.

Thanks, Todd

(Also: Moved us out of the Launch Pad to the Dramatic Works forum.)

[TriciaG]

Here's Miss Prism!

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/importanceofbeingearnest_missprism_2_128kb.mp3 6:22
https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/importanceofbeingearnest_missprism_3_128kb.mp3 2:38

[realisticspeakers]

The audience in a theater can see who performs an action; a listener can not. So a stage direction for a line by character XYZ that is printed "XYZ: Picks up the book" benefits by having the "XYZ" added to the "Picks up the book" direction when recorded. And we have always allowed this.

We also allow moving stage directions that are printed in the "wrong" place. For example. "aside" is often printed after the character words that should be said "aside", which is not useful. So we move "aside" to precede the words.

This is exactly what I was conscientious of while recording, having listened to the previous versions and perusing a few other plays.

[RobMarland]

-

[realisticspeakers]

I made myself a cucumber sandwich

That's commitment!

[ktaylor07]

Here's Miss Prism!

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/importanceofbeingearnest_missprism_2_128kb.mp3 6:22
https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/importanceofbeingearnest_missprism_3_128kb.mp3 2:38

Thanks for getting this in so promptly!

[ktaylor07]

Here is Algernon, act 1
https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/importanceofbeingearnest_algernon_1_128kb.mp3

I made myself a cucumber sandwich (verdict: overrated). People vary in their tolerance for eating noises, but I've edited out the most objectionable and think it sounds OK. Feel free to edit around them if you prefer.

Thanks for getting this in so quickly! ...And for your devotion to culinary verisimilitude!

[ktaylor07]

I've also added (appropriately I believe) the name of the character performing the action when not mentioned in the stage direction just to add clarity.

I do this in all the plays I run. The audience in a theater can see who performs an action; a listener can not. So a stage direction for a line by character XYZ that is printed "XYZ: Picks up the book" benefits by having the "XYZ" added to the "Picks up the book" direction when recorded. And we have always allowed this.

We also allow moving stage directions that are printed in the "wrong" place. For example. "aside" is often printed after the character words that should be said "aside", which is not useful. So we move "aside" to precede the words.

However, it is your project and as BC you decide what you want to do here.

Thanks, Todd

(Also: Moved us out of the Launch Pad to the Dramatic Works forum.)

Thanks for moving us!

It would be nice to have a short "Best Practices" type write-up on Stage Directions for first-time readers (and editors) posted somewhere.

I'd never paid much attention to them before, but I'm discovering there's a lot more variation in the way stage directions are given in scripts than I'd ever noticed. Sometimes it can be unclear what needs to be preserved and what can be left out.

Also, with the dramas I've been picking recently, it would be handy to have a short guide to interpreting Victorian stage notation available to point readers to -- since it's not exactly the same as the terms we use today.

[realisticspeakers]

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/importanceofbeingearnest_stage-directions_2_128kb.mp3

[ktaylor07]

https://librivox.org/uploads/toddhw/importanceofbeingearnest_stage-directions_2_128kb.mp3

Thanks!