Hi everyone, (long time lurker, first time poster)

I hope I don't stray to far from the focus of this board with my question. I've been involved my local community theater as a singer and a tech person. As of late I'm adapting another hobby of mine, screenwriting, for use on the stage.

I'm half-way through writing a multi-generational comedy and I'm wondering how much dialogue is too much for say a 16 year old boy and 12 year old girl. I have them in a few scenes where they each speak about 5-10 lines per scene. I also put them in a scene where they are the only ones on stage. Am I asking too much from such young actors?

Thanks for any input,
Mark.
[R28]

It's my opinion AND experience that if you have high expectations of young people they will rise to meet those expectations, given proper attention. Just as with adults though, there are those who will really WORK on their craft and those who will do the minimum, just to get by. A good director realizes this and casts, then motivates a person to be as good as they can be. I'd say write the piece as you envision it. Somebody "out there" is up to the task of performing it as it was intended.

Hi...
You are absolutely not asking too much of your young actors. The theater I work with uses only actors 18 and under. We have produced Midsummers Nights Dream, The Sound of Music, A Little Princess, The Wizard of Oz and Much Ado About Nothing, to name a few. Our Dorothy was 11, our Benidick was 12, our Maria was an 8th grader. These are full scale productions, no holds barred, and the kids nail thier lines, thier blocking, thier characters every time.
The only time we used an adult in one of our productions he ended up using a cue sheet hidden in a prop. We have found that our young actors work tirelessly and tend to memorize very quickly.
Currently some of our high school age actors are working on a script writing project of thier own which they will then produce and direct using younger actors. This will be a full length production of Little Women. These writers are pulling no punches, you should not either. Dont hold back lines for fear the young actors cant memorize, in my experience they are better at it than most adults.
The only caution I have is that thier director must make sure they understand the vocabulary, that they understand the meanings behind the words they speak, but of course a good director will do that anyhow. When we do Shakespeare we take the time to tear the lines apart to insure that the actors really know what they are saying, that they are not just spouting random words. Frankly most adult actors would benifit from this.

Have fun, wishing you much success!
Angel

I agree with Angel. I have done full scale productions with kids also: The Music Man & Oklahoma with 11 &12 year olds. I had no problems. When I work with a mixed age cast, I find the kids always know their lines before the adults. Actually, the kids will know everybody's lines. I wouldn't worry about it.

Good luck.
Linda