Josh, feel free to distribute freely the version that's below.
This is the final (at least for now) version, which, I think, addresses your question, Ryan. I was actually asked something similar off-list, and I'm going to replicate much of my response below, since there's no reason to reinvent the wheel:
As a playwright--and when I teach playwriting--my rule is "Always write action, sometimes write business, never write blocking."
What complicates things a bit is the Dramatists Guild Bill of Rights, which states this:
No one (e.g., directors, actors, dramaturgs) can make changes, alterations, and/or omissions to your script - including the text, title, and stage directions - without your consent. This is called "script approval."
Unfortunately, there's no nuance in the Guild directive. Now if there were only "action" directions in scripts (e.g. Martha exits), we wouldn't have this issue. But instead we have--particularly in older scripts found in the catalogues of the larger, established publishing houses--stage directions that largely came from the stage manager's book. I agree that no one could reasonably be expected to follow those blocking notations, which might often not even be possible for your space (and as someone who spent six years as a drama teacher, I know I didn't).
The challenge is how to get people to identify stage directions that are actually relevant, so that they neither a) feel that they must follow every blocking direction slavishly nor b) ignore stuff that's important just because it doesn't fit their interpretation. (Ultimately, a director's job is to interpret what is there, not what he/she wishes was there.) So...in consultation with the playwrights and teachers on my Facebook friends list, what I worked out was this:
"dramatically significant stage directions (i.e. ones that relate to plot/character)."
No wording is going to be perfect, and at the end of the day, we agreed, if I may adapt the popular expression, "Changers gonna change."
Cheers,
Jonathan
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Jonathan Dorf
Playwright/ Co-founder of YouthPLAYS/ Co-chair of The Alliance Of Los Angeles Playwrights
Los Angeles CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-18-2017 13:01
From: Ryan Moore
Subject: Rights and Royalties One-Sheet
A useful and important document, Jonathan.
I do have a genuine question, though, about your verbiage, and your insight as a playwright could prove very useful.
You list stage directions as sacrosanct, along with lines, lyrics, etc. Yet, we've all read the scripts (particularly the older ones) where the stage directions are more a record of some previous production than legitimately a part of the storytelling.
I ask with genuine curiosity--are stage directions in a script immutable? I think there are many reading these posts who consider the staging of the play the domain of the director as the chief interpreter of the playwright's text.
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Ryan Moore
Theatre Teacher and Forensics Coach
Royal Oak MI
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-15-2017 15:43
From: Jonathan Dorf
Subject: Rights and Royalties One-Sheet
Hi folks,
Not too long ago, we had a great discussion about rights and royalties awareness. While there were some good resources out there, nobody boiled things down to a single page that would be easy to pass along. So I took a stab at doing just that.
I then brought it to my Facebook friends for feedback, and got comments from a mix of awesome playwrights, teachers and even an entertainment attorney.
So what I'm posting here is the product of that discussion, and hopefully when I post it as an image, it will work. Of course, the problem is that most of the people who frequent this forum or go to EdTA events aren't the ones who are infringing. So the challenge will be reaching them. Linda Phillips had the fabulous idea of turning it into a YouTube video (and tweeting it).
It's a lot of text, but who knows, maybe Matt Ludlam will even make a poster-sized version of it.
Ultimately, the goal is to get it out there to as many people as possible, including state and national theatre organizations, as well as organizations for teachers and administrators. So...thoughts are welcomed.
Cheers,
Jonathan
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Jonathan Dorf
Playwright/ Co-founder of YouthPLAYS/ Co-chair of The Alliance Of Los Angeles Playwrights
Los Angeles CA
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