homeschooldrama.com blog
How to Direct a Play
Before you choose a play, there are eight questions you should answer to ensure you choose the right one.
Hi! I'm Danielle. In my twenty years of homeschooling, I have enjoyed directing numerous plays with my kids and our fellow homeschoolers and want to share what Iβve learned and continue to learn with you.
What Should I Know before Choosing a Play
How many students do you have performing?
How long do you have for rehearsals?
Do you have any help?
What type of play do you want the kids to perform?
How much do you have in the budget?
Where will they perform the play?
Should you teach them some acting skills before rehearsals?
Can you get a play without paying a royalty fee?
How Many Students Do You Have Performing? π©π½βπ€βπ©πΌπ©π½βπ€βπ©πΌπ©π½βπ€βπ©πΌ
When considering a play you have to think about how many kids you have and what their capabilities are based on past experiences and their ages.
The number of students is important even if it doesn't match up exactly with the number of characters required for a particular play. In most plays there are minor roles that have fewer lines than the major characters. Once you get the play you can determine which characters have fewer lines and are in different scenes, so you can have one actor perform multiple roles. Therefore, if the number of characters is a little higher than the number of actors you can still successfully perform the play with what you have. If the play has fewer characters than you have students, then you can look at splitting a leading role in two to give more kids an opportunity to perform. (check out our plays here!)
If you're writing the play then you can write it based on what you have available. That being said, I have written plays specifically for a group before just to have a student or some families leave before the second semester when we were going to start rehearsals. Because I wrote the play, I had the ability to tweak it to make it work for what I had left. Being flexible is helpful. I am a planner, so that doesn't come easy for me, but theater has definitely allowed me to learn that skill. (find how to write a playscript curriculum here!)
Sometimes that means going from three witches to two and having the two remaining split the lines of the third. Sometimes that means removing a character or scene altogether depending on how many people left. Usually I've been able to find students that could step up and take on more so I didn't have to cut anything.
How Long Do You Have for Rehearsals? β±
Do you have time for a short skit or a long play? That depends how much time you have for rehearsals. Some mini plays can be rehearsed and performed in the same hour, while larger productions need an entire semester to rehearse. The great news is you can still do a play, you just have to determine the length of it.
Here are some of the usual steps needed to put on a full play:
Auditions
Read-through
Blocking
Complete run-through
Time for memorization
Character development
Off book run-through
Set design
Costume design
Run-through on stage
Full run-through
Technical rehearsal
Dress rehearsal
Performance night
If you eliminate any of these steps, depending on what you want to accomplish, then you need less time to rehearse and put on a performance. (You can learn about all of the steps needed to direct your own play with How to Direct a Play - a step-by-step guide!)
Do You Have any Help? π€ΌββοΈ
Are you the only one that will be running this play or do you have a partner or a group of moms that can help? The more help you have, the easier it will be to pull off a larger production. It's amazing the many talents that our fellow homeschoolers have and how many are happy to help out so that their child can perform in a play.
If it's just you, then consider something smaller unless you have older students that can take on more of the work.
What Type of Play Do You Want the Kids to Perform? πππ
Do you want to do a musical or just a regular play? I've done both, but I've only done musicals if someone else is willing to handle the music rehearsals. That is definitely not my gifting. Musicals also take a lot more work and talent from your actors.
Do you want a comedy or a tragedy or how about something based on an historical event? What about one of Shakespeare's plays or something from a favorite book like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?
Maybe your kids are young so you're thinking some short fairy tales would be fun.
How Much Do You Have in the Budget? π²π²
Most years I did not have any money in a budget to use, so I definitely had to get creative and rely on others to help make or borrow anything we needed.
Sometimes I think it's a blessing because you learn to keep it simple and rely on the acting to tell the story. Also, you are more likely to involve the kids and parents in the design choices which is fun and a way for them to feel like it really is their show.
If you are fortunate to have money in the budget, then you can decide if you want to use that towards a more popular play with royalty fees or for bigger sets or better costumes. (find royalty-free plays here!)
Where Will They Perform the Play? π¬
Honestly, this is the least of my worries when it comes time to decide if I should have the kids perform a play, but it is helpful to know once you start rehearsals because you have to consider how much space you have when the actors are moving around.
A larger production is hard to perform in a classroom, so that is something to consider, especially if you want an audience. There's always the option of performing outside to fit all of your fans.
We managed to perform Macbeth in a fellowship hall at a church. It was a long rectangular shaped room, so we chose not to perform at the end of the room with the narrow width where some of the audience members would be way in the back and might have a hard time hearing (no mics) and seeing. We chose to run it lengthwise allowing many of the audience members to have a front row seat. There were some rooms off of this space, so we used one of them as our "backstage." I've learned you can make anything work; it's really about giving the kids an opportunity to perform.
Should You Teach Them Some Acting Skills before Rehearsals? π
When I've had the opportunity, I've done one semester of drama games and then one semester for rehearsals and performance. If it's a smaller performance like the Thanksgiving play we have done, then we had time to play drama games and learn acting skills before working on rehearsals all in the same semester.
In fact, the drama games led to the creation of the Thanksgiving play, A Reason to Be Thankful, as the kids learned pantomime and other skills, then used them in the play. The drama game curriculum, Places Everyone!, also came from this experience, as we learned to focus on certain skills each week.
If you don't have time before rehearsals, then try to teach skills as you go. Character development week is a great time to hone in on some of these skills. You can have them think about how they will portray the character while they are working on memorizing their lines, then develop the character even further as they interact with the other actors on stage.
Can You Get a Play without Paying a Royalty Fee? π€
The short answer is Yes! It all depends on the play and the organization making it available. Playwrights work really hard to create their plays and deserve compensation. Sometimes they just charge for the scripts and other times they also charge for how many performances you do. This counts whether you charge an audience or perform it for free, so keep that in mind.
In the public domain, you can find plays that are no longer under copyright and are available to freely use. You can also write your own play and use it however you would like. (Check out the How to Write a Play blog series and learn how you can write your own play starting today!)
At homeschooldrama.com we allow you to use our plays royalty free to save you money and give you the opportunity for your students to perform in a play. All we ask is that you let people know where the play came from so they can purchase their own copy if they would like to perform it as well. π
Your Questions Are Answered, and You Are Now Ready to Choose a Play to Direct
Here is the list of the 8 questions you hopefully have answered:
How many students do you have performing?
How long do you have for rehearsals?
Do you have any help?
What type of play do you want the kids to perform?
How much do you have in the budget?
Where will they perform the play?
Should you teach them some acting skills before rehearsals?
Can you get a play without paying a royalty fee?
To learn more about directing a play, check out the How to Direct a Play series and our step-by-step guide!
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If youβre looking for a play to direct, check out these plays!
Thanks for joining us!
Danielle at homeschooldrama.com