Expert: Arlene Schulman - 1/20/2005

Question
I've just wrote my first script of a full length play, a comedy with three acts. I want you to advice me as a director how can I produce it after I am done with my copyright. I've spend a lot of time on it and I am glad I made it. how should I convince, for example, a person like you to produce it? by the way, I am interested if some plays written by non-professionals ever produced a play in Broadway or Off-Broadway. if my play is good enough, will it catch someone's eye and make me happy, or that "someone" will say "first, you have to earn your college degree "? How can I find someone to talk to for producing? I am asking this because I am still in high school, I have read a lot for playwriting and directing and I am not sure what should I do because I am not familiar with the business pretty much. if you could give me an idea what to do, and make my family and friends happy with my first "shot", that would be awesome. or if you can give a person that I can contact with for producing a play that would be awesome. I am also looking for the first impression of the play and some critics, from a professional. I hope you will read this question carefully and respond to it. it may change my life earlier. by the way I am a serious writer who writes with years and I don't want you to think that I've written something for amateurs. I needed a lot of time to understand the concept of playwrighting so I can get a full length play done. I know that many high school students concentrate on other things, but this is my concentration. I hope you won't humiliate my age - 18 as you will honor my enthusiasm. only people like you can help me. thanks, yours maria.  

Answer
Hi Maria,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

You've asked several questions here and I'm going to answer them as best I can.  At 18 you are an adult, and I will answer you as I would answer any adult asking for professional advice.  Because that is what you are asking for - advice on becoming a professional playwright.  

I respect and applaud your enthusiasm.  And I understand your excitement on "finishing" your first full length play.  It is a wonderful accomplishment and you deserve congratulations.

I don't want to diminish your enthusiasm, but I need to explain to you a few things about professional playwriting and professional theatre so that you will understand the answers I will give to your questions.

First of all, you need to understand that writing a play doesn't make you a professional playwright.  Being in high school does not mean you have less talent.  But the fact that this is your first play does mean that you are not YET a professional.

I'm not trying to knock you down or to say that your play isn't good or that you don't have talent.  You very well might and writing this play is a great way of starting on a career as a playwright. And your play might be excellent.  But I acted and directed in community theatre for YEARS and got rave reviews.  I was really good with a lot of potential.  But that didn't make me a professional actor or director.  Doing it because you have talent, and love what you're doing, and do it well (which, by the way is the original definition of an amateur - and amateurs were considered honorable and highly honored people) is not the same thing as really learning all the skills that you will need to pursue a career professionally.  A professional is someone who is trained in their craft and who gets paid for their work.  You are not yet at that point.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Every playwright has a first play.  Many playwrights write dozens of plays before they are finally produced.  You are on the right track. Don't stop now. But understand that you can't simply jump in and declare yourself a professional.  You wouldn't walk into an operating room and expect to perform surgery without going to med school, or go into a courtroom and expect to try a case without going to law school.  Playwriting is every bit as difficult and there is just as much to learn.  Be patient with yourself.  If you really want to write, then take the time to really learn your craft.

I've worked with many playwrights, published and unpublished.  And I've worked on many plays in development.  One thing you need to understand is the development process for a play.  When a playwright writes a play, it is not finished when the playwright puts down his pen.  That is only the start of the process.  Most playwrights then have what is called a reading, or staged reading, where actors read the play aloud so that the playwright, and sometimes a small audience, can hear the play on its feet.  A reading is a great way to hear what DOESN'T work in a script. And there are always things.  It is axiomatic that playwriting is all about rewriting.  So, most playwrights have a reading, then go back and rewrite.  Then they may have another reading to see if their rewrites worked.  This may go on for a while.  

When they think the play is ready, they will send it out to theatres, directors, or producers.  There are specific professional ways to do this.  There is a book called the Dramatists Sourcebook that gives guidelines of theatres that accept submissions (most theatres do NOT accept uninvited submissions) and the exact professional format they expect them to be submitted in.  

Many playwrights submit to hundreds of different theatres before they even get a response back.  This is a business, and theatres want plays that they believe will draw audiences.  Many theatres do not even do new plays.  Those that do have thousands of scripts submitted to them every years.  Reading these may take a very long time - sometimes years.  And being read doesn't mean that they will like your play.  Or even if they do, it might not fit into their schedule.  Many theatres have playreading programs where new plays that they think have potential can have a reading.  If they like the play, they might ask for more rewrites before they are willing to produce it, if at all.

I have a good friend, an amazingly good professional playwright, whose plays I have been working on for the last five years.  We have had readings, staged readings, even a showcase in NYC.  But we have not yet been able to find a producer who is willing to producer her plays.  We are still trying... rewriting, fixing, changing, making the plays better, stronger, and more saleable.  One of these days we will find a producer, but it's a long hard road.

This is a business, Maria, and it is a very difficult one.  So asking for someone to do your play is a bit naive.  Not because you are young, or even because this is your first play, but because you do not yet know very much about the BUSINESS of playwrighting.  And that's one of the things that you would learn if you were to study playwrighting.  This doesn't mean that you have to go to college necessarily, although that would be an excellent place to learn the skills you need.  But there are lots of places where you can take playwrighting classes.  There are playwrights' workshops that help new playwrights learn how to shape their plays and help them with the business.  If you are serious about making this a career, then you should check into these.

Another thing.  I am a stage director, not a producer.  A director directs; a producer produces.  So someone like me would not produce your play.  And it is very, very rare that a first play by anyone is produced by anyone, let alone Broadway or Off-Broadway.  

If you want to see your play done on stage, then why not ask your school or your local community theatre to read it and see if they would like to put it on stage.  Or do it yourself with your friends.  You say it's not for amateurs.  The best plays in the world, including Shakespeare, Shaw, Miller, Williams, Neil Simon, Mamet, O'Neill and just about every other playwright are performed by amateurs all the time.  You can't start at the top, Maria.  Give yourself a chance to get started.  See what it looks like on stage by letting someone do it who is willing and able to do it.

No one is going to judge your play based on whether you've gone to college.  A play is judged on its own merits - no one cares about the playwright (except that many theatres want to do plays by playwrights that already have successful plays because then they know that their work will sell).  BUT going to college, or taking other playwrighting classes and workshops, plus the additional writing experience that will give you, will make you a better writer and make your plays more likely to be attractive to the people who do produce plays.

Which brings me to my last point.  You ask me to treat you as a professional.  I would be happy to.  But a playwright is someone who works with words, who is judged by the quality of their writing.  And you have written me in a professional capacity.  Look at the letter you wrote me, Maria.  A professional letter uses correct grammer, capitals in the appropriate places, full sentences with periods at the end, sentences that make sense.  Does yours?  I would be much more likely to accept that you are capable of writing a professional level play if the letter you sent me reflected that.  I know that writing on the internet is often less than grammatically correct, that short forms, run-on sentences, lower case letters and other short cuts are often used.  But if you want to conduct business with professionals, then to be taken seriously you have to show them that you really can write.  I would assume, since you say you are a writer, that you actually know how to write correctly.  Next time you ask for professional assistance, or want to submit your play, or write business letters, think about who you are writing to and what you are asking, and write in a way that will reflect the way you want them to see you and your writing. Take care with your letters, proofread them, make them as important a piece of writing as your plays are.  Because it is.  It is the way that your plays will get seen.  And that means everything.

I hope you do great, Maria!  Writing takes determination and persistance as well as talent, ability and good craft.  Keep up the good work and I hope you get the chance to see your work on stage.  It's the best thing that can happen to a playwright!

Best,
Arlene (MsDirector)