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Thinking of a play to direct
Hello, my high school does a thing where a student can direct a play in the Spring, and I would like to do it next year. Problem is, I don't have an idea for a play and would like some help.
Ideally, this is a drama with only acting and nothing else. We do have some singers so a 'play with music' is fine, but not ideal.
Obviously, I can't completely predict who is and isn't going to audition, but if we go by this year the program has roughly an even amount of boys and girls, a lot of Freshmen and Sophomores joined this year and we have some strong actors. The girls tend to be more 'drama' actors, whereas the boys are comedic and goofy. We have 21 people right now who aren't Seniors, so that is an estimate.
Some good people;
-a boy who is primarily comedic, can (and wants to) pull off 'serious' acting with more work
-a boy who usually plays very eccentric characters, he's also an edge lord
-there are these underclassmen girls who are good at drama acting, I haven't seen them do anything intense but they are able to be realistic and serious
-two more edgy boys who play eccentric characters and I can see being able to do a serious show
-we have a couple of nerdy type boys
-a girl who will be a senior next year who's actually a fantastic actress
-a sweet boy who plays similar characters, usually a romantic interest
-this one girl who's a great comedic and pretty neurotic
-a 'mother' type actress, I've seen her do dramatic monologues before that were good
Any play ideas?
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Hi! Directing a play, what a wonderful opportunity for you to learn and to gain some meaningful theater experience. Good for you !
A classic play involving young people, is "Our Town". Look up the info and a synopsis. ITs about kids growing up, first love, and more.
Another one , which could be really fun (!) is "Archy and Mehitabel" ! (Author of the original book was Don Marquis, and Carol Channing starred in this, on broadway. There might be some singing involved, but that could be done as recitation rather than actual singing.
And if your goofy guys really want to have a ball, check out Monty Python and the Holy Grail, total nonsense that has the audience screaming in laughter !
Okay...just a few ideas, whatever you choose, you are going to find that directing is both a lot of fun, because you get creative control over everything! AND, its also a lot of work and resposibility...again, for EVERYTHING !
you are going to learn a lot, no matter what,I hope you have a ball doing it ! Good luck, and ..."Break a Leg!" ~Dr. Stephanie
Archy is a COCKROACH! Mehitabel is an alley cat!
Your goofy boys might really have fun with this one! In the book, Archy hops around, at night, on a writer's typewriter, composing his thoughts, one letter at a time! Its great fun,check it out!
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It's been 20 years since I first saw someone direct a show called Shakespeare's Lovers. I don't know if it was an original concept or not but it was done with a youth groups and different ages and genders. What it was is a 2 act show with what they felt were the best scenes involving love and lovers that the bard wrote. They would act them out and they didn't have to be from the same play or in any kind of real order. They did however, have to tie back at the end to something they as a cast wanted to say about the subject. It was an exploration of that. This was done in a park in a little amphitheater at night with few lights, sound and a couple of oil drums with fire in them. That's one idea.
You could take that theme and do your own thing by finding a series of scenes on a subject that they really care about and start pulling monologues and scenes from other shows they can create and link together.
A better idea would be to do that but have them write their own script with you of original material that may not link to each scene before or after it but by the end of the show will connect to a theme or statement they want to make. Give it a whirl.
It's the same thing with comedy have them write what is funny to them in a series of sketches and then start blocking a show and refining scenes and give them total ownership over the performance.
You could have your singers write their own material and weave it into a show or come up with songs they are really good at that currently exist and weave it in to an original production you all came up with.
I also find that Alice And Wonderland is a great piece that allows for creation of a bunch of eccentric and comedic characters. If you do your own spin on that it might work. How To Eat Like A Child is another.
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