The Future of the American Stage Part Two: Building a Better Playwright

by Christina Hamlett

I am less interested in the plot than in the interaction between the characters. If a playwright is skillfully using the plot as a structure to the end of allowing characters to interact, I am interested.

If writing for the stage is in your blood, our group of experts share what you need to know to submit your completed scripts and get their attention.

Q: What's the first thing you look for in a script you'd like to direct?

Characters of depth and complexity. I want people to identify with the characters, not ignore them. If the playwright doesn't care enough to flesh them out, root them in the real world, why would my audience?
-- Phil Murphy (http://www.oldtownplayhouse.com)
Director
Old Town Playhouse, Traverse City, MI

Dialogue that is witty, intelligent and perceptive; a strong point of view; and, especially, an entertaining story. I also like to see a script that is cleanly typed with a minimum of typographical and grammatical errors. A sloppy presentation is usually a dead giveaway of a writer who isn't open to rewriting or revising.
-- Brian Leahy Doyle (bldcjs@aol.com)
Assistant Professor
Lehman College, NYC

Real people saying real words (not written words) that have something to contribute to our understanding of life, as well as an opportunity for striking theatricality.
-- Terry Sneed (www.terrysneed.bigstep.com)
Freelance Director
Chattanooga, TN

Does it challenge the way we look at the world in an interesting way? Is the language, the subject matter, the characters, the story, etc. written in a waywhich helps the audience, actors, and myself consider life from a new, engaging perspective? Does the script ask questions, and HOW are those questions asked?
-- Robin Stone (rstone@fpmail.stlcc.cc.mo.us)
Instructor
Forest Park College, St. Louis, MO

Honesty, Perception, Depth, Craft, Language. Urgency.
-- Glyn O'Malley (GOmalley@aol.com)
Artistic Director
Theatre Simple, NYC

The script needs to provoke images for me.
-- Mark Bloom (mystic@nac.net)
Artistic Director
Mystic Theatre, Bloomfield, NJ (produces in Manhattan)

How it moves me.
-- Daniel Quinn (Dquinn711@aol.com)
Director/Producer
The Great George Festival, Paterson, NJ

I am less interested in the plot than in the interaction between the characters. If a playwright is skillfully using the plot as a structure to the end of allowing characters to interact, I am interested. If s/he is telling me, "Look at what a clever plot I have constructed," I generally cannot read more than a dozen pages.
-- Rob Reese (www.amnesiawars.com)
Director
Amnesia Wars, NYC

A good story that's universal.
-- Debbie Wastling (www.KingsandClowns.com)
Artistic Director
Kings and Clowns, Universal City, CA

I tend to be excited when I read something which is not overusing irony -- which is a huge tendency in many new plays I read. I HATE plays that are smug and self-satisfied.
-- Stephan Golux (http://www.goluxstudio.com/direction)
Freelance Director
Golux Studio, Inc., NYC

I look for recognizable human behaviour. The situation itself doesn't have to be emotionally familiar to me, but the characters should have emotional truth. Even avant-garde and absurdist plays need to have some sort of logical progression and development.
-- Rachel Rubin Ladutke
(http://www.geocities.com/darling1967)
Freelance Director/Playwright
TwinFish Productions, Inc., NYC

Something that is direct, uncomplicated, honest and affordable.
-- Christopher Selbie (CTCFILMS@aol.com)
Artistic Director
Compass Theatre Co./Compass Films, Denver, CO

Off the cuff, cutting edge material. I always ask myself if I would like to see it or be in it.
-- Mathew Kaplan (matkap973@msn.com)
Facility Director
Theatre Under The Stars, West Orange, NJ

The first thing I look for is the message that the writer is trying to transmit and the genre in which it is written.
-- Maria Laris (marialaris@aol.com)
Stage Director
Albuquerque, NM

Q: Are you receptive to reading the works of new playwrights? If so, how should they approach you?

MURPHY: I would need to see a query, short and to the point that would be used to create interest. Then it would be considered at the sessions early in the season (Fall) when the Board of Artistic Directors considers application for the following season.

DOYLE: A writer is wasting his or her time sending me just a synopsis or the play's first ten pages. I like to see the whole script! Otherwise, if I have to contact the writer to send me the rest, then I forget what I've read and lose interest.

SNEED: As a freelancer, I don't get as many new scripts as a company Artistic Director does, but I'm always interested in a new voice. Playwrights feel free to approach me directly and ask if I have time to read their work.

STONE: Any playwright who would like for me to read a play should just send it to me. No fees.

O'MALLEY: As I am a playwright who "morphed" into a director because of my dissatisfaction with how some of my own early plays were being handled by klutzy, "concept" directors, I am very amenable to working with new writers. I teach Playwriting at number of institutions. Playwright's Horizon's Theatre School, Sarah Lawrence College, and also have my own ongoing Playwright's Unit.

BLOOM: Our company develops new verse drama working with poets and poet/dramatists. We have no formal submission policy. We seek out poets to work in dramatic form. Otherwise we look at anything that comes in over the transom.

QUINN: Only very occasionally.

REESE: Do you mean for publication? I have never done that type of work. I'd be interested in talking about what that would entail.

WASTLING: Always send it. If I like it, I would try a play reading to see the audience's reaction.

GOLUX: I am always looking for new plays to wrap my head around. If I were a playwright, I would always contact the director (preferably by email) with a request for an invitation to send the material, along with some material about the play (i.e., Synopsis, Thematic Breakdown, Inspiration, Social/Cultural Critique). Share yourself in your letter of inquiry.

LADUTKE: I am always open to reading new plays whenever I have the opportunity. I will gladly read them online or in hard copy format if they are sent to me.

SELBIE: I love reviewing new material. I prefer receiving a script with an explanation of what the author thinks the work is about, why it was written and what the author would wish from a production.

KAPLAN: I really enjoy reading new material. It is always a treat to find a gem. I read many scripts but I find it discouraging when I come across one that has been borrowed from other writers.

LARIS: Yes, I definitely like to review new plays.

Q: Any advice to aspiring playwrights?

MURPHY: Write every day! Get [your plays] produced-anywhere, anyhow.

DOYLE: Connect with a group of actors and directors, even if it means performing your play for five people in a storefront theatre in Queens, New York. The important thing is your work is being performed in front of a live audience. When you're developing a new play, everyone's input is valuable. And remember Moss Hart's advice: Good writing involves rewriting.

SNEED: Observe life around you. Don't write the play; let it speak naturally.

STONE: Be determined. Be true to your art. Be willing to accept criticism. Be willing to be denied. Be willing to collaborate with others.

O'MALLEY: See as much theatre as possible. Remain as open and teachable for as long as possible. Don't write too quickly.

BLOOM: Team up with directors that you like. Much work can be done this way while you're waiting for the Manhattan Theatre Club to even read your script.

QUINN: Get a BA degree in Business Administration first.

REESE: The old adage "write what you know" is not nearly as important as remembering to "write what you FEEL!"

WASTLING: Write every day. One of the most successful British prolific playwrights, Alan Acykbourn, writes from 9:00 - 4:00 every day. It's a job that you get better at if you do it.

GOLUX: Writing plays is very hard. In many circumstances I find that the playwright feels a misplaced loyalty to the "thing" which inspired the play. The "thing" could be a character, an image, a bit of dialog, almost anything that serves as the seed or genesis to the play. Often the play itself moves well beyond that "thing", but then the playwright feels almost an obligation to leave it in the script, as if the audience should know or care what the inspiration was. I find this attachment misplaced, and often damaging.

LADUTKE: Read as many plays as you can get your hands on. See as many plays as you can get to, of all types. If you are strapped for cash, volunteer to usher. Think about what in a play works for you or doesn't work for you, and why or why not. Look at how plots are constructed, and how characters are developed. Classes can help but be careful to find your own voice as a writer. ALWAYS be open to feedback but take it with a pinch of salt; don't take your play in a direction you don't want to go just to get a production. Remember, it's YOUR play.

SELBIE: Read the works of great playwrights…keep in touch with current events…write from a position of experience not theory…fall in and out of love…maintain the ability to be a child not an adult, and ignore all advice.

KAPLAN: Write about what you know. My girlfriend is a teacher and always talks about her kids in class and the things they say to her. I tell her to write them down because you could not make up stuff that funny!

LARIS: Try to keep the concept of the play as simple as possible. When visualizing it, think about the production and its cost.

The directors, producers, professors and playwrights who have shared their thoughts for this article understand that while all serious writing is an uncomfortable blend of art and business, creating work for the stage has a unique ability to transcend and uplift. If your heart and mind are up to the challenge, there's no time like the present to get your script ready for opening night!

Questions or comments on this article? The mailbox is open at ScriptingSuccess@cswebmail.com.

-- CH
©2000 Christina Hamlett

Writer Online congratulates Associate Editor Christina Hamlett, whose comedy play, "A Bel Air Lawyer in King Henry's Court," took Fifth Place in the script division of this year's Writer's Digest competition. The plot melds Hamlett's love of time-travel and British history when a Jewish attorney from Los Angeles shows up at Henry VIII's castle to represent Catherine of Aragon in divorce proceedings.