R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what that means to the.... Playwright!

You make sure that the props that you've borrowed for your last show were carefully packed up and given back to their original owners. You made sure that your actors took their shoes off when they entered the space that y'all were rehearsing in. You've always made sure that everything that you've borrowed is given the greatest degree of respect. But do you give that same respect to the people that wrote your scripts?

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.

This isn't meant to scare you into never using resident playwrights ever again. It is, however meant to change your attitude towards scripts and give the playwright the respect that they deserve.

No Script Necessary: Alternatives to Going "By the Book"

So you're thumbing through the old drama catalogs and poring over every file of past scripts that your group has compiled over the years and still can't find anything that speaks to the issue that is plaguing your congregation. Just none of the words are leaping off the page saying, "I'm the one!" So what are your options now? Are you just going to have to settle for a sub par script?

Well before you do think about these options that your group can use in a pinch. These are based off the art of improvisational theatre meaning that nothing is written down. Many people remember improv from the show Whose Line is it Anyway that made the art form famous. The only problem with this is that some Drama Ministries will look Improv over as more of a "comedy thing" or more for "acting games". But improv actually predates the Renaissance in the Dark Ages when "scripted theatre" or plays that were written down were outlawed.  Traveling performers, practioners of Commedia Del Arte, would create long pieces of theater that were completely unscripted. But how did they do that? Well here are three exercises that can take your group from basic idea to finished project.

Exercise 1: Bubbling
Bubbling (or in some circles popcorning) is where you take the central idea that you want your scene to talk about work it around to get the juices flowing. Have your actors walk across the room in an undefined path. As they walk throw out a topic (for example stealing). As they walk around your actors will each say the first word related to that first word that relates to it. (for example convenience store, money, embezzlement). Take the first word out of what they're saying that resonates with you and throw that idea out to them. The cycle continues until your group can't think of anything. Write thse words out as you say them. Have your actors think about these words for a few minutes and without too much rest segway immediately into the next exercise which is...

Exercise 2: Workshopping
Workshopping is where you break your team up into pairs or trios and have them take turns onstage improvising different scenes using the ideas that you just came up with. So if you're workshopping stealing then three of your actors could get onstage and act out a scene where a daughter is confessing to her mother and daughter that she stole money from the family vacation jar. Then the next trio will come up onstage and try out a completely different scene. This isn't the time to try to polish anything. Nothing that goes onstage right now is necessarily going to be the finished project. This is the time for your group to tell you what they want to talk about onstage. After you finish one round ask your actors these questions...

• What characters/ideas stood out to you?
• What moments really made an impact on you?
• What characters from other scenes do you want to see in a room together?
• What ideas or characters best serve the main theme?
• What scenes seem to be connected?
• Do some scenes seem to come before or after each other?

Your next job in workshopping is to shake everything up and mix and match characters and scenes and see what new ideas come out. After each round of this ask your group the same above questions. Don't let this go too far and get too complicated or else you run the risk of workshopping something to death. That comes about when you fall in love with the exploration of different possibilities and the fun of being onstage and stop watching and listening for the story to come out. You know when to stop when all of your actors start repeating themselves and going over the same territory or one scene just stands out and screams "I'm the one!" It might take two or three sessions to do this or it might come out in just one so always schedule for more time than you think. When you find one or two scenes that are just begging to be polished move on the to the next step which is...

Exercise Three: Creating the Scenario
Scenarios were scenes used in Commedia Del Arte that served as the "script" for the show. It's not a regular script as in every line and stage direction is written down. A basic scenario has a title and short description of what goes on in the scene complete with a beggining, middle, and end. So taking some of your scenes and ideas from the previous exercise you can polish them up in rehearsals creating a scenario. So your finished scenario could look something like this...

The Family Jar

Little Cindy confesses to her parents that she's been stealing money from the family jar where they save up funds for the annual vacation to the Grand Canyon. Mom and Dad have a nice but funny talk with Cindy and explain to her that stealing is wrong. The Dad counts the money and finds that there isn't enough money to go to the Grand Canyon and discovers that no one ever wanted to go anyway. They decide to have a staycation instead. The End.

Remember that Imporving like this takes a little time. These aren't like acting games on Whose Line that take a couple of minutes. Long-form improvisation takes time and rehearsal... Wait! Improv takes rehearsal!?! Actually in real life it takes a lot of practice and rehearsal to make a good scenario. Just because there is no script doesn't mean that there isn't a lot of work involved.

So try these exercises out with your group and see what happens. Hopefully next time that you have a lack of scripts you'll put down the catalog and start creating new works that will do your team proud!