Open Forum

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

This is a huge problem that has gotten bigger since Concord has absorbed so many of the other publishers. Playscripts used to allow you to read almost the whole play for free, but Concord does not even allow an excerpt. Unfortunately that means for the time being I will probably not be able to produce their plays. Hopefully if more people reach out to them (and others who don't offer at least a free excerpt) they will change their policy. I would hope that playwrights who specialize in educational theatre would advocate for this as well. I read an average of 20 plays before picking one, and I cannot afford to buy a bunch of scripts that we don't end up using. 

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hi Betsy, 

Curious if you have a particular genre, theme, cast size in mind? We have a catalogue of award-winning, Thespy-approved plays. I would be happy to share a handful of sample scripts that fit the bill so you don't have to go combing through the entire TIFE Theatre entire catalogue.

Good on you for seeking out new works!

Jason

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Thanks so much to all of you who have made recommendations!

Here's my sitch: I'm in a 5th-12th school and my shows need to work for ages 10 through 18. The entire school is less than 100 kids. I have had as many as 25 kids audition and as few as 5. I have no idea who is going to show up. I need to pick a play that hits the following aspects:

1. Appropriate for young ones (or can be adapted to be appropriate)
2. Has depth in terms of character development & messaging
3. Flexible casting, ideally for 5-25 actors
4. No giant roles that leave most of the lines to 1 or 2 kids
5. Minimal set/costume requirements (we perform in a church hall so we have to leave no trace after strike)

Specifically for this coming fall, add:

1. No horror/mystery plays (did that this fall)
2. Roles for male identifying folks that are interesting/nuanced
3. A complete beg/mid/end story rather than a vignette play

Plays that have worked well in the past: The Skin of Our Teeth, The King Stag, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, Eurydice (Sarah Ruhl), The Secret in the Wings

I'd welcome your thoughts!

Hi Betsy, 

Curious if you have a particular genre, theme, cast size in mind? We have a catalogue of award-winning, Thespy-approved plays. I would be happy to share a handful of sample scripts that fit the bill so you don't have to go combing through the entire TIFE Theatre entire catalogue.

Good on you for seeking out new works!

Jason

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Thanks so much to all of you who have made recommendations!

Here's my sitch: I'm in a 5th-12th school and my shows need to work for ages 10 through 18. The entire school is less than 100 kids. I have had as many as 25 kids audition and as few as 5. I have no idea who is going to show up. I need to pick a play that hits the following aspects:

1. Appropriate for young ones (or can be adapted to be appropriate)
2. Has depth in terms of character development & messaging
3. Flexible casting, ideally for 5-25 actors
4. No giant roles that leave most of the lines to 1 or 2 kids
5. Minimal set/costume requirements (we perform in a church hall so we have to leave no trace after strike)

Specifically for this coming fall, add:

1. No horror/mystery plays (did that this fall)
2. Roles for male identifying folks that are interesting/nuanced
3. A complete beg/mid/end story rather than a vignette play

Plays that have worked well in the past: The Skin of Our Teeth, The King Stag, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, Eurydice (Sarah Ruhl), The Secret in the Wings

I'd welcome your thoughts!

Hi Betsy, 

Curious if you have a particular genre, theme, cast size in mind? We have a catalogue of award-winning, Thespy-approved plays. I would be happy to share a handful of sample scripts that fit the bill so you don't have to go combing through the entire TIFE Theatre entire catalogue.

Good on you for seeking out new works!

Jason

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Thanks so much to all of you who have made recommendations!

Here's my sitch: I'm in a 5th-12th school and my shows need to work for ages 10 through 18. The entire school is less than 100 kids. I have had as many as 25 kids audition and as few as 5. I have no idea who is going to show up. I need to pick a play that hits the following aspects:

1. Appropriate for young ones (or can be adapted to be appropriate)
2. Has depth in terms of character development & messaging
3. Flexible casting, ideally for 5-25 actors
4. No giant roles that leave most of the lines to 1 or 2 kids
5. Minimal set/costume requirements (we perform in a church hall so we have to leave no trace after strike)

Specifically for this coming fall, add:

1. No horror/mystery plays (did that this fall)
2. Roles for male identifying folks that are interesting/nuanced
3. A complete beg/mid/end story rather than a vignette play

Plays that have worked well in the past: The Skin of Our Teeth, The King Stag, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, Eurydice (Sarah Ruhl), The Secret in the Wings

I'd welcome your thoughts!

Hi Betsy, 

Curious if you have a particular genre, theme, cast size in mind? We have a catalogue of award-winning, Thespy-approved plays. I would be happy to share a handful of sample scripts that fit the bill so you don't have to go combing through the entire TIFE Theatre entire catalogue.

Good on you for seeking out new works!

Jason

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hi Betsy (and fellow theatre peeps),

I'm a retired theatre teacher with a pretty extensive personal MS/HS play library that I'm looking to rehome. Since I purchased them myself over the years, I'd love to recoup a little of the cost, but mostly I'd just like them to go to directors who will actually use them.

You wouldn't need to take the whole collection-people could simply pick titles they'd like to add to their own libraries. I'm happy to ship via Media Mail to keep costs low. I also have an inventory list and photos of the plays if anyone is interested in browsing.

Feel free to privately reply to me if you'd like to take a look!

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy

Hello Fellow Theatre Peeps,

How do you handle wanting to read a play before you decide whether or not you want to direct it? I have lists and lists, but I don't want to blow my whole budget reading plays. I know of several sites where they have previews and/or read-for-free options, but there are a lot of plays that I just can't find for free/cheap.

I'd love to hear how you manage!

Thanks,

Betsy