Need some suggestions for a season opener...

First point:  Our theatre group is opening its season in November.  However, due to renovations to our building, we can't start rehearsals until September.  This gives us a little over 7 weeks rehearsal time all said (which isn't that bad).

Second point: Due to the time restrictions above, we are looking for a show that has minimal or limited set requirements.  A play set on a bare stage would be great.  We have a straight-forward proscenium stage, no fly space.  Very square and very brick.  Audience on one side, actors the other...

Third point:  This is the season opener - so we need a play that's sure to "sell well" and please our patrons. We tend not to do plays with excessive foul language (just something our patrons tend not to enjoy).

Fourth point:  No musicals, thanks!  Comedy or drama or mystery would be great.

Fifth point: Cast size of 6 - 10 preferred.  We have excellent talent to draw upon and try to select plays with an array of acting opportunities.

Sixth point:  No costume epic, please!

Putting this all together...

We're looking for a superb  play that is quick to get on it's feet with no set, but which is strong enough to please patrons and "wow" audiences.  We're trying to be a smart as possible anticipating delays in the staging should renovations be delayed further (yikes)!

Any suggestions/sympathetic replies or extra advice is appreciated!

Wegzo II

Many plays can be done without a formal set.  Here are a couple I have seen done on a bare stage:  Sylvia - A.R. Gurney.  Three Viewings - Hatcher - a personal favorite, plays very well - far better than it reads - came in second in the last AACT Festival.  Vagina Monologues - Ensler - we hung our curtain upstage and hung some colorful fabric just in front of it to break the monotony.  We did Love Letters with just two acting spaces in front of a mid stage curtain. 

Here are some other ideas (I have not totally thought them through):  Scotland Road - Hatcher or Gin Game - Coburn - use the back wall as part of the set.  Spoon River Anthology - Masters or The Laramie Project

Many plays use a outdoor set - To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday comes to mind - hang a white Cyc in front of the back wall and light it.

Until recently we did not have a permanent home and moved from place to place each night.  Most of our venues were just rooms - 8 foot ceilings, wall outlets for power etc.  All we used was what we could carry - lights, sound, sets, etc.  We did all sorts of plays.  The most complex was Neil Simon's Chapter Two.  The audience never minded that most of the set was suggested.  My advice is to pick a play that does not depend on sophisticated blocking (some farces) or have memorable set requirements (the stairs in Arsenic and Old Lace) and go for it.

Thank you KathyS and DougB!

Kathy-Just finished reading "Dearly Departed" - enjoyed it very much, but it's not quite what we're looking for to open the season.  It's a lot of fun, but just seems a little incomplete/short to be a part of our main stage series.  It's a keeper for our play consideration list - it is great fun.

Doug-Great list of suggestions.  Will be checking out Three Viewings by Hatcher.  Considered Scotland Road last season, but it didn't make it as it's only a one act.  Some of your list we have done before.  Thanks for all the advice, too!

Any other suggestions out there?!?  We're looking for a superb  full-length play that is quick to get on it's feet with no set, but which is strong enough to please patrons and "wow" audiences as it is going to be our season opener in November.

Keep those suggestions coming - please!

Are you looking for one-acts or full-length plays?  I have several.  Breakdowns follow.  If you see something you would be interested in reading, email me and I can send as an email attachment.  My abridged resume is at http://www.geocities.com/ljstockham/Mypage.html - http://www.geocities.com/ljstockham/Mypage.html

Thanks, Linda Stockham, mailto:ljstockham813@yahoo.com - ljstockham813@yahoo.com .

ONE-ACTS

Title: Arctic Quest

Logline: An American physician is humiliated by his 1900 ill-fated attempt to fly to the North Pole in a hydrogen balloon.

Genre: Historic drama.

Character: 1 male.  (There is a second version with the addition of 4 minor roles.)

Set: 1, bare stage with scrims, with wreck of hydrogen balloon.

Running Length: 25 minutes.

Copyright ? 2001.

Production History: 1 staged-reading (San Bernardino, California), directed by Dr. Amanda Sue Rudisill, Professor of Theatre Emeritus, CSU San Bernardino.

Publication: Smith & Kraus? The Best Men?s Monologues, 2001.

Royalty Fee: None for educational institutions, including outreach programs through art galleries and museums.

Title: Crossing Bells

Logline: A former stripper owns and operates a small art gallery where no painting is for sale.

Genre: Contemporary surrealistic drama.

Characters: 3 female.

Set: 1, a rural train station converted into an art gallery.

Running Length: 10 minutes.

Copyright ? 2002.

Production History: Aldephia Cable Entertainment (in production).  Richard Tirrell, director and producer. 

Title: Goddesses of the Western World

Logline: Six senior citizens reminiscence about their past.

Genre: Contemporary drama.

Characters: 6 female, 1 male.

Set: 1, sunroom.

Running Length: 35 minutes.

Copyright ? 1996.

Production History: 1 radio production (KSFU-FM, San Francisco, California); 3 staged-reading (San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, and Palm Springs, California); and recent (2004) production in Perth, Australia. 

Publication: ScriptCircle, and Smith & Kraus? The Best Stage Scenes, 1998. 

Available online at: http://www.scriptcircle.co.uk/script.php?t=O&id=7

Title: Golden Elliott

Logline: A deeply troubled Vietnam War veteran must finally confront the truth about how the brutality of that war changed forever his idealized childhood friendship.

Genre: Contemporary drama.

Characters: 2 female, 1 male.

Set: 1, service porch.

Running Length: 35 minutes.

Copyright ? 1994.

Production History: 3 stage productions (2 in Los Angeles, California, and 1 in Forfar, Scotland), workshop (Galway, Ireland), 1 radio production (KFSU-FM, San Francisco, California), 1 stage reading (San Bernardino, CA), and 1 theatre arts department student production (Conestoga College, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada).

Publication: Smith & Kraus? The Best Women?s Stage Monologues, 1997.

Title:  On the Amazon

Logline: A Scottish explorer and his American bride spend their honeymoon on the Amazon River but with a tragic result.

Genre: Historic drama.

Characters: 1 male, 1 female.

Set: 1, deck of riverboat.

Copyright @ 2002.

Production History: Not yet produced.

Royalty Fee: None for educational institutions, including outreach programs through art galleries and museums.

Title: The Victorian Traveler

Logline: A Victorian spinster defies convention.

Genre: Historic drama. 

Character: 1 female.

Set: 1, bare stage with scrims, with easel, canvas, and other sundry painting needs.

Running Length: 40 minutes.

Production History: 3 staged-readings (San Bernardino and Yucaipa, California).

Publication: Smith & Kraus? The Best Women?s Stage Monologues, 2000.

Royalty Fee: None for educational institutions, including outreach programs through art galleries and museums.

Note: There is a revised version of this play, combining material from On the Amazon along with addition of minor roles to relax the 40-minute monologue.  Ideal for university theatre department festival.

TWO-ACTS

Title: Desperate Means

Logline: A man with unreal expectations, pressures over time, declining health, and a confrontation with an estranged wife, makes a tragic decision.

Genre: Contemporary drama.

Characters: 4 male, 3 female

Set: 1, living room in an older condominium

Running Length: 95 minutes

WGAw Registration 2004 (#: 1013784 ), Copyright ? 1993

Production History:  1 staged-reading (Los Angeles, California).

Title: Divorce Sale

Logline: A group of neighbors hold a s?ance to contact the deceased husband of a ditsy mother-in-law.

Genre: Contemporary comedy.  (Ideal for community theatre and dinner theatre venues.)

Set: 1, double-car garage.

Characters: 7 female, 3 male.

Running Length: 90 minutes.

Copyright ? 1994, 1993.

Production History: 2 stage productions (Dalby, Australia, and New York City, New York), and 2 staged-readings (San Bernardino, California).  Play is also in circulation through the California branches of the American Association of University Women.

Publication: Aran Press, Inc.  (All rights reserved by the playwright, including stage performances and royalties.)

Title:  Perfect World

Logline: An unexpected New Year?s Eve caller disrupts the seemingly perfect life of a successful Broadway actress.

Genre: Contemporary drama.

Characters:  7 female, 4 male.

Set: 1 set, living room.

Running Length: 90 minutes.

Copyright ? 1998.

Production History: 1 stage production (Los Angeles, California).

Publication: ProPlay, Canada, and Smith & Kraus? The Best Men?s Monologues, 1999.

Available online at:  http://www.singlelane.com/ - http://www.singlelane.com/ proplay/perfectworld.html