A full-length play can seem a bit long for your group, but what about an abbreviated version of it? Maybe you are already studying one in literature class and would love to perform it but need to cut it down to fit your schedule and class.

Hi! My name is Danielle and I have enjoyed writing plays for my children and our homeschool friends and would love to share how to write a play, so you or your child can write one too.

An Example from Shakespeare

Coming up with an original play can be a daunting task, but if you use a play that already exists you can be free to tweak it into something great for your group, as long as you check to make sure it is in the public domain and can be used freely to make derivative works.  

One year as part of our homeschool group that met once a week, we were reading Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and my students asked if they could act out scenes together instead of just doing a solo or duo interpretation. I said, “yes!” of course, given my love for drama. I found a short script to use last minute that would fit the number of students in my class.

Since they were juniors in high school, I gave them full responsibility for making decisions on directing, costumes and props. Now we only met once a week and this couldn’t take over their other subjects, so we had to keep it simple. We were blessed to have watched Macbeth at our local Shakespeare theater and were able to glean some ideas from them since they worked on a small stage with limited actors. They literally changed costumes right in front of us while still on stage, and we were able to see them as the new character without ever thinking of the old. No more complicated costumes or scene changes for us to worry about.

We were able to stay within the parameters of the normal time we would study this play and performed in front of the rest of our homeschool group in the fellowship hall of the church. They did a wonderful job of memorizing their lines, getting into character, and performing an incredible fight scene between Macbeth and Macduff. 

Since this was a last-minute decision, I used a script that had already been created by somebody else. Once we did this play, I started to realize some of the gaps in the plot that I felt were necessary to help the audience follow along if they were not as familiar with Macbeth.  

Since Shakespeare’s works are in the public domain, it is definitely a great choice to use one of his plays to create something that will work for your needs as a writer or a group you have in mind. What better way to learn to write a playscript than from the Bard himself!

Whether you want to copy his style or just tweak something to make it shorter for your timeframe, there is a large collection to choose from. Having read Macbeth multiple times through the years, watched a professional performance and watched our students perform it numerous times, I thought it was a safe bet for me to tackle. 

I looked at what we had done, read the full play again to ensure I was familiar with the original work, then considered how to avoid gaps in the plot that made it hard to follow, or characters that could be left out to accommodate for a smaller cast. Since it was my interpretation, I was free to include the parts I thought would help tell the main story and would focus on the theme of the play. I also was free to choose the characters to keep and the ones to combine into one role. Lastly, I chose to leave it in its original language to keep it authentic to the original work by Shakespeare.

It was important for me to create a play that allowed a certain number of students to perform in it given a brief amount of time to memorize lines and for rehearsals. It also could not take away from the work they were already doing in other subjects. Most students were assigned a specific number of lines to memorize for their original assignment, so I also tried to keep to those standards except for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth which just have a lot to say! 😄 My goal was to keep it to 30 minutes or less since we had limited time to present it during our community day.

You may have different parameters which will determine what you choose to focus on.

Steps to Writing an Abridged Playscript from a Full-Length Play

Remember these important elements. We do not want to leave them out when we shorten a play:

• Characters

• Setting

• Plot

• Conflict

• Resolution

Here’s a breakdown of the steps I followed in creating the abridged version of Macbeth: 

1. I read the original play (you can find Shakespeare’s works and other older plays on the public domain for free) – make sure that the version you pull up is no longer under copyright and is free to use to create your play (derivative work)

2. I considered the main plot of the play and the major theme. What scenes can be left out and the main story is still told? Since there is a lot of fighting during the play, I felt like some of it could be taken out and still get the point across. 

3. I thought about what characters could be left out without affecting the storyline. In my case, one of the characters I was able to take out was Hecate. I found that Hecate’s lines did not further the plot at all. In fact, I read up on it and it sounds like this character may not have been included in one of the very first renditions of Macbeth. One character is certainly not enough, so I found more, plus considered which characters had minor roles and could be combined and performed by one actor.

4. Since I was using the original language, I copied the lines that I planned to use and kept the format similar to the one that I was using as a reference. I shortened some of the monologues, or portions where a character had a lot of lines, and considered how the same thing could be said with fewer words.

   

5. I read through it numerous times, chopping here and chopping there. Sometimes adding back something I realized was too important to cut out. 😄

6. As I was chopping, I considered how many lines each actor would need to memorize and present. I wanted to keep it fairly even between all the actors, but some could only be cut so far before we lost meaning, so they were left with more lines. Having watched many students perform plays and memorize lines, I have learned that the ones who want the more prominent roles will rise to the occasion; while others need a little less to avoid the stress. Again, I wrote this play knowing this would be practiced during their regular studies and not an extra drama class they were taking, so I tried to consider this in my decision making. Since it is a 30-minute play, it can be useful for others who just want a shorter play regardless of the time they have to rehearse.

7. I was able to narrow down the cast to 12 major roles and 6 minor roles with the flexibility to combine characters to work for as little as 10 actors, if needed.   

Now Shakespeare’s plays are an obvious choice to use as you learn from those who have already created a play, but you can use any literature book to accomplish the same goal. Some have already been made into plays; while others can be created into a play with some imagination. Check out Write a Playscript from a Book to learn more.

You Can Write an Abridged Playscript from a Full-Length Play

As you can see it’s easy to write a play if you start from something that is already created like a Shakespeare play. Using this method, you or your child can start writing a play today. Stay tuned for more blogs in the series, How to Write a Play. Next we’ll talk about How to Support Your Child's Creativity, then jump back into writing plays with Write a Playscript About an Historical Event. 

Fun fact! Did you know Macbeth is based on actual events in history? In my abridged version of the play, I include bonus features including questions for students to answer after studying the play. It’s a great way to help them get a deeper understanding of what they are performing and to make sure they truly do understand the message of the play.

Check out all the blogs in the series:  

1. Write a Playscript from a Fairy Tale

2. Write a Playscript from a Book

3. Write a Playscript from the Bible

4. Write a Playscript from Multiple Stories

5. Write an Abridged Playscript from a Full-Length Play

6. Write a Playscript about an Historical Event

7. Write a Playscript for a Radio Play

8. Write a Playscript with a Plot Twist to a Familiar Story

9. Write an Original Play

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Too busy to write your own play? Don’t worry we’ve got you covered with these plays for your homeschool group to perform.

Thanks for joining us!

Danielle at homeschooldrama.com