Writing a Play for my high school Drama Club

Basically what it says on the title.

I have been apointed with writing a play for my high school. Has to be an hour long, at least, have six to seven characters, and nothing offensive that could reflect negetively on the school.

I suggested a play about a drama club. I had the idea for awhile, so I just said it out loud.

All the other members (The other three who bothered to show up) liked the idea.

We start the show in April.

In the way of characters, here is what I have come up with:

Haven't come up with names for them yet.

Male #1: The hammiest performer in the club, he will do anything to stand out among his fellow cast members. He expects everyone to do things for him, but he'll be damned if he has to do anything for anyone else.

Female #1: The most sane person in the group, if anyone is going to act like an idiot, she is going to give them crap about it in the most ironic way possible, especially Male #1.

Male #2: Never one to smile very much, he has the shortest temper of the group, and like Female #1, he will not stand for any crap unless he's the one doing it. Why would a person like him join the drama club in the first place? He says he has nothing better to do.

Female #2: Providing all the snacks for the group and events, the only reason she joined in the first place was to get close to Male #2, after a whole year of trying to get to his heart by stuffing brownies and love notes in his locker.

Male #3: The most shy of the group, this poor guy gets the most crap from everyone else. Despite his fear of rejection, he has decided to write up the play for this year's drama club, mostly to get the attention of Female #2. Yes, he's a bit of an Author Avatar, but so are most of the others.

Female #3: The youngest member of the group, she latches onto the drama teacher, paying attention to everything she tells the club to do, complimenting her all while doing it. Naturally, this attitude has lead her to being one of the least favorite members of the club.

Female Teacher: The drama instructor, s/he has a believes in all of her students, telling herself that they could all perform on the big stage one day if they wanted to. Despite the fact that this might be the drama club's last show, s/\he is willing to put up a brave face for her students.

Suggestions? Opinions? Questions?

edited 14th Jan '11 12:17:23 PM by Tidal_Wave_17

You might want to ad some wish fulfilment. I always wanted drama freind to mess around and do cool stuff with. Some examples would be.

Freezing in the middle of a grocery store while grabing a box of cerial, and staying like that for several minutes. All the while totally ignoring pleas to stop doing it. In other words this person will freeze mid sentance to to mess with you.

an actor who acts differently in different classes, sort of like The Almighty Janitor from Scrubs.

cool stuff like that.

also a guy who cross dresses and fools everyone and messes with his freinds.

other than that I think the play within a play it'self should be a disaster to better show off how good the real actors are.

And of course you need a play within a play

p.s. could you film this and put it online, I really like the idea

p.s. they break into a musical in the middle of class

edited 13th Jan '11 7:43:51 PM by dafsa

I like some of the ideas, but consider this is a play for my high school. In Ohio. Which means that we can barely say the word "Heck" with out having to go threw a ton of grief with the principal.

I really like this idea too. I'm curious though, how well do these students know each other? Is this their first play together, or have they done a couple of productions before? Depending on the answers, you might be able to get some fun/funny/dramatic bits of them learning to work with each other or adjust to everyone else's oddities.

They have been together for about two years, so they have grown a slight tolerance for each other. Except for Male #1, who is so outlandish that everyone except for the teacher can't stand him.

Sounds really comedy Tidal...I do better drama, but I'll help.

It's a play in which they're gonna put a play, yeah? What's that gonna be like?

If there'll be a play within a play, will Stylistic Suck be involved?

If they've know each other for awhile, perhaps a reference to some outrageous past failure/success would go nicely somewhere as an aside.

Well, if this is about them putting on a play, you want to wackify the problems involved in doing so. And probably reduce the number, too. The challenges are usually a million boring little things that can go wrong - to keep the story flowing, you want to have a few big ones instead.

Potential difficulties:

1. Male #1 gets grounded - perhaps for low grades? - and is not allowed to attend rehearsals. O NOES!
2. For some reason, the group needs to go against the wishes of the Drama Teacher, and Female #3 finds out about it. They must convince her to help them out instead of rat them out.
3. Why might this be the last play? My suggestion is that the Drama Teacher is expecting her first child, but sponsoring the club takes a lot of her time, and she won't be able to once the baby arrives.
4. Along the lines of point 2, each character should deal with issues that help him/her overcome his/her personal weakness - Male 1 must do things for himself and/or help others out; Female 1 may need to be supportive rather than antagonistic; Male 2 needs to find a reason to belong; Female 2 needs to find value of her own rather than as an extension of a male; Male 3 needs to face rejection rather than avoid it; Female 3 (like female 2) needs to find value of her own rather than as an extension of an authority figure. The Drama Teacher is a little different; she needs to step back so that the students can validate her belief in them.

I was going to have this be the last play because the school doesn't have enough money to fund for the drama club anymore.

The drama teacher was going to let the students try to earn money from donations, like bake sales and what not, and have the money from the play to help.

However, since none of the drama club members know this might be there last play, they don't take it very seriously, sealing their own fate.

I was also going to have this play have a downer ending to offset all the wackiness.

Why is the drama teacher hiding that from them?

Also, the big money sink in a drama club is producing a play, which raises two potential problems for your story: first, why can't they just have a drama club where they do improv and/or study acting? Watch movies, go on field trips (which they would have to pay for out-of-pocket). Second, any money they make from the play would belong to the drama club and therefore would help pay for next year's production. So the only real way to kill the club is for nobody to come see the play.

Finally, if you're at all concerned about your administration's view of the play, I'd be VERY careful creating one that's set in a high school, creating conflict with an administration (not funding the club), and then ending on a downer. Even if you don't include the Big Bad Three (sex/drugs/language), you can STILL fall afoul of the admin. ;p I'm not saying it won't work, but you may want to run an outline of your ideas past both the other members of your club and the administration before going ahead and writing the whole thing.

I was going to check with the principal on some of the issues.

You've all given me a bit to think about.

If the money can't be a problem, maybe I should make it so that the drama teacher is retiring, and she can't find anyone else who would want to instruct the club.

Well, I would think the money could be a problem IF you were okay with an 'up' ending; earning enough money through the play to have the club be a self-sustaining entity would also be a way to justify the DT's belief in her students. But with a downer, it might seem more like you're using the play as a critique of the RL admin.

Keep us posted - I'll be interested to know how it turns out! :)

Have you seen the movie Adaptation? It might be worth giving a look, it's about a screenwriter trying to write a movie, and the movie he tries writing ends up being about him trying to write a movie...yeah its kinda post modern. Also, I'm feeling kind of a dramedy vibe from your idea...I dig it, I'm interested to see how it turns out.

I have been appointed with writing a play for my high school. Has to be an hour long, at least, have six to seven characters, and nothing offensive that could reflect negatively on the school.

First off, you're undertaking an awesome and potentially catastrophic task. Congratulations for suggesting it and managing to get it approved!

Second, I suggest getting all the technical issues (costumes/makeup needs, the aforementioned "NO NEGATIVITY" problem, crew/set needs, and casting) done as soon as you finish writing the script. Speaking of writing a script, it's got a whole bunch of formatting stuff that might take a while to type up by hand, so if your computer allows you should download a script-writing program to save time. Celtx is a nice, free, and basic one.

All the other members (The other three who bothered to show up) liked the idea.

That's a good indication of how many people you'll be able to cast, at least for the best roles. Trust those three with the lead roles first, especially if they have a habit of being consistent. You NEVER trust anyone who can't "bother to show up," not even if they're talented. If the others give you shit about it, tell them they need to shape up.

I dunno why you bothered assigning them genders. =/ With gender nonspecific characters you can cast based on who actually does each role best. Sexualities will have to line up, but it's drama so...you know. It's pretty easy to script, just Name(/opposite gender name-gender nonspecific) in the initial character descriptions and pick one to go with for the actual script.

(By "you know" I mean "EVERYONE IS GAY")

edited 18th Jan '11 9:19:57 PM by DaeBrayk

I have that list of characters. They've been given names and I tweaked some of the descriptions, but otherwise, its still the same.

• Edward: Drama Club Vice President. The hammiest performer, he will do anything to stand out amongst his fellow members. He expects everyone to drop everything they are doing for him, but he'll be damned if he has to do anything for them.
• Christian(Written as a female, but can be played by a male): Drama Club President, though bot by choice. One of the most sane people in the group, if anyone is going to act like an idiot, she's going to give them grief about it, espceially if its Edward.
• Hal: Not one to smile very much. The second most sane of the group and Christian's best friend, he usually just deals with all the craziness the group has to offer without letting it get to him. Completely unaware of Rachel's crush on him.
• Rachel: Provides snacks for all the group meetings and events, she appears to be a giggly little ball of sunshine. The only reason she joined Drama Club was so to get closer to Hal, who after spending a whole year of stuffing brownies and love letters in his locker, wants to be noticed. Completely unaware of Stephen's crush on her.
• Stephen: The most shy of the group. Is usually ignored by everyone else. Despite his fear of rejection, he has stepped forth to write the play for this years play. Has a crush on Rachel, though he would never admit to it outloud.
• Jenna: The youngest member of the group. She latches on to Mrs. Hamilton, listening to everything she says, usually complimenting her while doing it. This trait has caused her to become the least likable of the club, though she either doesn't notice or care.
• Mrs. Hamilton(Written as a female, but can be played by a male): The Drama Club instructor. She has an uncorruptable belief in all of her students. Despite the fact that this might be the drama clubs last show, she is willing to put up a brave face for her students.

Heh, alright Tidal. Be great to see the script if ever you post it.

Will there be some Relationship Drama?

Just a bit. Being a high school play, our principal doesn't want any PDA in it.

^That's kind of ridiculous. That Romeo and Juliet: uncultured, inappropriate garbage to be sure. Calling it a "public display of affection" is even worse, because then you fall into things like meaningful glances, guilty smiles, hand-holding, and, worst of all, musical numbers. Don't go serenading sweet Maria and telling me it isn't affection, and young man I saw you pick a flower for your girl. Put it back. Put it back at once.

Also "High school play" isn't any kind of justification. We rarely have a play without at least one kiss—hell, kisses aren't even worth mentioning any more. What's worth mentioning is the one we did with a drawn out father-daughter incest sex scene, and god, it was heart-wrenching.

edited 29th Jan '11 1:42:40 PM by DaeBrayk

A scene I written! Its not the first scene, but I think it gives us a glimpse into Edward's real character. Tell me what you think!

(Christian, Rachel and Edward all stand center stage.)

Edward: I still think this is a major waste of time.

Christian: Edward, were just having a few audtions. Behave.

Edward: Fine.

Christian: I'll go get him. Rachel, you stay. Edward, you...You don't say anything. (Exits stage right.)

Rachel: I hope this kid is good.

Edward: (Stage whisper.) I hope he sucks eggs.

Rachel: Huh?

Edward: Nothing.

(Christian enters again, stage right, with Boy 1 following.)

Christian: (To Boy 1.) You wait here. You're going to read some lines with Rachel. (To Rachel.) Help me find the copies out of the storage room?

Rachel: Sure.

(Starts to exist stage left with Rachel. Stops. To Edward.) Remember-

Edward: (Waves them away.) I will, I will!

(Christian and Rachel exit. Edward walks up to Boy.)

Edward: So, you're auditioning for...?

Boy 1: The male lead.

Edward: Huh. Lots of responsibility.

Boy 1: That's okay. I think I can handle it.

Edward: (Dissapointed.) Well, good for you.

(Beat.)

Edward: You know, I was going to audition for the lead. I was even thinking of getting down on my hands and knees and beg for the role, but then I figured, "Hey, I do have some dignity".

Boy 1: Aren't you the same guy who sent ten videos of himself singing so he could star in the deli commercial?

Edward: (Blushes.) No. (Beat.) Maybe. (Beat.) So?

(Boy 1 shrugs and looks around the stage. Edward crosses his arms, deep in thought. He smiles slowly.)

Edward: So, your family going to come if you get the part?

Boy 1: Of course.

Edward: Your entire family?

Boy 1; Maybe. Why?

Edward: Nothing. Its just that it would be so terrible if you got up on stage and ended up forgetting your lines.

Boy 1: (Chuckles.) I'm not going to forget.

Edward: You sure? You are auditioning for the male lead, so you'll probably have more lines than anyone.

Boy 1: (Frowns.) Really?

Edward: Uh-huh. You'll also have to keep track of stage directions. When to enter a scene, when to exit.

Boy 1: I didn't-

Edward: What if you get stage fright?

Boy 1: Stage fright?

Edward: Yes. Plague of actors everywhere. (Leans close to Boy 1's ear as lights go down. A spotlight shines only on Edward and Boy 1's faces.) Its when you get up on stage in front of everyone and freeze up. No matter how long you spent memorizing lines or how hard your worked, you can't move. You just stand there, in front of your friends, family, and a bunch of unknown people whose first impression will be how you did in the show.

Boy 1: (Mumbles, horrified.) Freeze...Front of everyone...Memorizing...Ah...

(Edward grins evily as the spotlight goes out and the stage lights come back on.)

Edward: (Steps back.) I'm sure you'll do great'' though.

Boy 1: Ah...Ah...

(Rachel and Christian enter from stage left with the scripts.)

Christian: Were starting at the top of page one. (Holds out script for Boy 1 to take. He just stands there, looking at the audience. She sighs as she takes his hand and places open script in it.) Amateur. Okay, Rachel, ready?

Rachel: (Opens script to page one.) Ready.

Christian.: Good. Edward-

Edward: (Grins.) I promise I won't say another word.

Christian: (Skeptical.) Good. Okay, go! (Boy 1 continues to stand, staring at audience.) Kid? You can read now.

Boy 1: Huggah, muggah, fluh...

Rachel: (Confused.) Huh?

Boy 1: Huggah, muggah, fluh...

Christian: No, you don't say 'huggah, muggah, fluh' until page nineteen! Were on page one!

Boy 1: (Drops script.) You know what I realized?

Rachel and Christian: What?

Boy 1: (Yells.) I hate responsibility! (Yells loudly as he exits stage right, just as Mrs. Hamilton enters.)

Hamilton: Who was that?

Christian: (Shocked.) Our first audition.

Hamilton: What happend to him?

Rachel: I have no clue. He was fine before Christian and I went to get scripts. Edward (Christian stiffens up.) was the only one here.

Christian: (Yells at Edward.) What did you do?!

Edward: (Shrugs. Fake innocence.) Oops?