- Will the audience participate in your play? Will you set up some situations
where people in the audience respond to the actors or the situation?
- Will you act out natural elements such as rocks, wind and snow?
- Will you create a set – a backdrop and items that remain on stage during the
scene? Or will you have an empty stage, leaving the audience to imagine the
setting?
- Will you have costumes? Where will you get the costumes or do you plan to
make them?
- Will you use sound effects, such as music, wind blowing or water running?
Will they be recorded on tape for the performance or done live during the
play?
- Do you have performers in your group? Would they like to write music for the
play or play an instrument and sing? Will you use traditional drumming and
pisiit or throat singing?
- Will you use props (items used by the actors during the play – moveable
things)?
- Will you need special lighting and a technical team to operate it?
- Do you need to build a stage or is there somewhere in town that already exists
where you can perform your play?
Script Outline1
Develop a script outline once you know the story you are going to tell and have some idea of the visual images you want in your play. A script outline tells the story from beginning to end, but without the dialogue. (See Radio Plays in the Oral Projects section.)
- Brainstorm possible scenes for the play from the story you’ve chosen. A scene
is a part of the play where the action is continuous and a specific part of the
story is told.
- Brainstorm on individual sheets of paper, so you can move the order of the
scenes around as you develop your script outline.
- For each scene, list the number of actors needed and the role they perform.
Discuss the props, costumes, masks, sounds or sets that might be needed.
Writing
When the script outline is complete and you’ve decided on the style of your play, divide into small groups or pairs. Each group can take several scenes to work on writing. If you have decided to use dialogue, the groups discuss and write the words the actors will speak.
- When your small group is writing the dialogue, physically act out the scene
and speak the words. Try it in several different ways and decide as a group
which version you like the most. This will make your writing more fun and
bring the scene to life. If the scene involves hearing joyful news, how should
the actors express the joy? You could even record the different attempts at
creating the dialogue; then the group will be able to replay the scene and build
on each attempt. You should also write out the body movements the actors
will perform, costume or prop changes, and the technical support needed,
such as sounds or lighting. Type up each scene when it is complete.