Now I know that most of the time you're getting your scipts from a catalog of plays or a tattered old book of church skits and sketches. The playwrights of these works deserve respect too. What we're focusing on here is the young playwright or author in your group or congregation that pens your scripts. They may never have asked for anything more than to see their work onstage and may be so willing to bend over backwards to accomodate your needs that they're willing to let you have free reign over their work. But one of the biggest crimes that I see theatres and drama ministries doing over the years is failing to give authors and scriptwriters their proper respect. And that's a tragedy.
To further shed some light on this issue I have to both bust a common myth to theatre ministries and confess to a mistake that I too have been known to make from time to time. The myth that most drama ministries buy into is the, "We own all the scripts that we perform" myth. I know how this myth spreads around because I've bought into it myself sometimes. We're scrambling to find a script for our next performance so we dig into the big filing cabinet of plays that we've amassed over the years and pull out that on mass of tattered photocopied pages we pulled out of a drama ministry book that we saw that one time. Or in the cyber age out their it could be that one of your members found a cool script online or saw a great YouTube video of a skit that another drama group did. You see it and say, "Hey WE could do that."
In those instances we get into the atitude that the script is our property which is only half true." The scipt is property, but it's not necessarily yours. It's actually the property of the playwright who wrote it which he graciously loans to you to use. In fact in secular theaters the playwright is paid a royalty whenever his script is performed and must give permission before any performances can be done. Failure to do so often winds up with the theater being sued. You're not even allowed to photocopy the scripts (If you have been guitly of doing this with your drama ministry scripts don't freak out. Most Christian play publishers that I know include the right to photocopy and perform their scripts with the price of the book. If you have any doubts check the information in the front or back inside cover of the book.) So when you use another playwrights work you are actually just leasing the script for the period in which you are rehearsing and performing it.
So what can you do to show the proper respect the property of your resident playwright? These suggestions were taken from the Dramatists Guild Playwright Bill of Rights.
- Include them in your decision making process: Before you make any changes, arbitrary or otherwise, run it by them. Ask them for their input in rough moments or problem areas. Allow them to be present whenever you're rehearsing or preparing to perform their plays. You wouldn't hinder a mother from watching her baby grow up would you? Well the script is the playwright's baby.
- Give them credit: It may be near impossible for your group to pay the playwright for his work, (although if you are paying more than a hundred dollars or so a quarter for your regular play catalogs I'd consider it). Instead take every opportunity to give them the credit for their work and share any of the praise. Include them in any publicity that comes from the performances.
- Acknowledge their ownership: Always ask for permission from them before you even think about performing one of their plays. Listen if they have reservations about a direction you're taking with a scene. If you're going to archive their script or want the option to perform it again at least lay everything out in a verbal contract (one in writing is better. One in writing in front of a lot of witnesses is even better). Above all just make sure that there is some kind of agreement between you.