Issue 54
What's New At Theatrefolk

Welcome!

This month we have articles and interviews about our newest plays.

In This Issue

INTRO
An introduction to the newsletter.
ODDBALL
Our newest vignette play takes a walk down oddity lane.
HAMLET, ZOMBIE KILLER OF DENMARK
An interview with Chris Stiles on his latest play.
TEN MINUTE PLAY SERIES: GIRLS AND GUYS
Our next collection is called Girls and Guys.
THE ABSOLUTELY INSIDIOUS AND UTTERLY TERRIFYING TRUTH ABOUT CAT HAIR
An interview with our newest playwright Bradley Walton.
DOWNLOAD OF THE MONTH
Get a PDF download of "Girls and Boys" from "Ten Minute Play Series: Girls and Guys."
STAY CONNECTED
Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
FREE RESOURCES
Some amazing (and free!) resources for drama teachers.
CONFERENCE ALERT
Meet us in person.
IN THE NEXT ISSUE
What you can expect next.
STAY IN TOUCH
How to reach us.

Intro

It's time for new plays! It's that time of year when we talk about our newest releases, talk with playwrights, and offer a free download. Who doesn't love new plays! The theme for our newest publication seems to be plays that are a little left of centre: Zombie-style Shakespeare, attacking cat hairs, and a whole collection of... odd plays. On top of that, a new ten minute play collection. It's all here my friends, read on...

Oddball

Luck doesn't work in the odd, Deanne! Luck only works in pairs! A PAIR of socks!

Oddball is our latest vignette play. It takes a look at the odd in life: odd socks, odd one out, that odd feeling in your stomach, odd reactions, odd boyfriends... you get the idea.

The play has had a twisting turning journey to arrive in our catalogue. It all started over two years ago with a conversation (doesn't it always). One of our long term customers, Deb Barnum was on the lookout for a play to take to the Edinburgh Festival with her students. 'Why don't I write one for you?' I said. You know, I'm determined to take the most difficult road sometimes. Why use something that's already written when I can go through the time and effort of a brand new play? Truth be told, I'm obsessed with writing challenges, especially ones with very specific limitations. I suppose that stems from my time writing for the fringe where there were limitations galore. And I loved them all! Here were Deb's:

10 actors 7 girls 3 guys
75 minutes
Something where singing isn't out of place
Collection of short plays
Set: platform, boxes, benches
Props: one suitcase
Costumes: jeans and t-shirts
No blackouts
Quick character comedy, everyday situations exaggerated
No high school stories
The theme needs to have an interesting tag for a sales pitch, something they could do on the street

As you can see, she was looking for something extremely specific: travel easily, sell easily, and utilize character moments. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Sounds like a vignette play!!

The first job was to come up with the theme and the scenario surrounding the theme. I started looking at a circus or vaudeville possibility; something colourful but easy to costume simply. This quickly transformed into a sideshow. The sideshow is a perfect overlay: ten sequential acts under one tent for one price. It fits the necessary criteria as well: quick comedic scenes, singing, easy to stage.

The sideshow features freak acts (both made and born), working acts (magic and danger), and human oddity acts. It was that last one which flicked the switch for me. If the draw of the sideshow is the absurdly out of place and freakish, what about going in the opposite direction - a sideshow that showcases the odd? The mildly out of place? The people and events just left of centre?

The definition of an oddball is an interesting jumping off point:

A person/thing that is atypical, bizarre, eccentric, unusual but harmless
Whimsical, free spirited
Appealingly odd or curious
Kooky, peculiar, strange

And that became a brainstorming flurry. I wrote a draft scene on every one of the following:

The odd sock
The odd boyfriend
The odd job
The odd jobs girl
The odd fear
The odd accident
The odd activity (at a full moon)
The odd allergy (allergic to a behaviour)
The odd superhero power
The odd reaction

So the play was written, I attended a reading at Deb's school, more writing, more cuts and... the Edinburgh trip was cancelled. BUT there was a silver lining as the play was performed as part of the Florida Thespian Festival at the District level in 2009. The cast had an amazing time with the script. They went all out with original music composed by another teacher.

I felt out of sorts when Deb told me that the Edinburgh trip was off. I know it would have been such a tremendous experience. But for me, the challenge was a great success. The excitement of writing the play to such specifications was still there. And it was easy to adapt the final product for Theatrefolk: since the play was already in vignette mode we just removed the singing, and removed some scenes to make it competition length. This competition length version was workshopped by Atlantic High School this past spring and now waits for you. Step right up, step right up!

Click here to read sample pages for Oddball.

Hamlet, Zombie Killer of Denmark

Here comes our dad; try not to act so dead.

When Chris Stiles' (author of The Magic Diary of Mozambique) newest play Hamlet, Zombie Killer of Denmark appeared in our inbox the first thing we thought was, 'Awesome title!' A good title definitely helps sell a play. The second thought was, 'Totally trendy!' Zombies, vampires, werewolves are all the rage. And our third thought was, 'But is it good?' It's one thing to put the word zombie in the title, it's another to make it work from the beginning to end of a script. I've read (so did Chris, as you'll see) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and frankly I got bored halfway through because it felt like the same story with some zombies thrown in.

So imagine our delight with each passing page when we discovered that not only does Hamlet, Zombie Killer of Denmark have an awesome title, follows a current trend, BUT it's extremely funny, amazing, has great parts for girls and is in iambic pentameter to boot! It's funny that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was the inspiration for Hamlet, Zombie Killer of Denmark, as I think the theme is a lot better incorporated in Chris's play. It's truly amazing how well Hamlet translates into a world overtaken by the undead...

Where did this idea come from?

I read Seth Grahame-Smiths Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and was impressed with the cleverness of the idea. Then I became aware of the popularity of zombies. Then I thought, Hey, I could write a play with zombies. Hamlet is a play I know well, and zombies seem to fit the story perfectly.

Zombies are essential to the story of Hamlet, Zombie Killer of Denmark, it's not just putting the word 'zombie' in the 'to be or not to be' speech. Talk about the writing process. Did you make a conscious decision to give the zombies importance, or did that just come naturally?

It developed naturally, though the more I worked on it, the more I saw the importance of working the zombies into the plot. I realized Id be much happier with a zombie story based on Hamlet, rather than Hamlet with zombies inserted here and there.

Not only are the zombies important but you also write in iambic pentameter! Was that always your intention? Did you choose to do this as a challenge to yourself as a writer, or to keep the style as close to the original as possible?

It was always my intention, but it was certainly a challenge though I almost found it more challenging when the original script drifted from iambic. Actually, it was fun to write in iambic. The biggest challenge was writing iambic pentameter and being funny at the same time.

The other thing I love about the script is that Ophelia and Gertrude are much better roles here than in the original. They're funny and sharp. Was that intentional or organic to give the girls so much humour?

My Gertrude and Ophelia really stemmed from my interpretations of Shakespeares characters. Gertrude is a terribly guilty woman who doesnt think shes guilty because she didnt actually do anything (as she says in the play, Im not a zombie. I just married one.) Ophelias plain irritated because she knows there are zombies but everyone thinks shes too dumb and innocent to understand. I guess the humor just came naturally from that.

When you put up the play the cast was for the most part gender neutral. Talk about that decision and how it worked in production.

There was really no decision to make. I had a drama class with four boys and numerous girls. I workshopped the play with them, and the girls sounded so good I decided to go with it. My Horatio was so natural, I eventually forgot Horatio was supposed to be a guy.

What was the audience response? I imagine the students loved playing those roles.

The students did love this play. Our first audience was a literature class that had just finished Hamlet, so they were well acquainted with the original. They enjoyed it immensely. Our second audience was public, mostly parents. They enjoyed the zombies side of the play more, and thought it was hilarious.

You mention in the notes that the human actors get the verbal comedy while the zombies get the physical comedy. What direction did you give your actors to achieve this?

I didnt give much direction, except be a zombie and be funny. My Laertes did a marvellous job of acting; my favorite part was when Ophelia tells him, Your breath it stinks of death, and Laertes held his hand in front of his mouth to check his breath, then looked horrified at what he smelled. The zombies in this play can really show how much acting you can do without words.

What advice would you give to a school producing Hamlet, Zombie Killer of Denmark in terms of makeup and costume?

All our zombies had were torn shirts and green face makeup, and really, we didnt even need that much. All you have to do is tell your zombies, Walk like a zombie and keep a zombified expression on your face at all times. With that, there will be no doubt as to who is human and who is zombie.

Click here to read sample pages from Hamlet, Zombie Killer of Denmark.

Ten Minute Play Series: Girls and Guys

Why? Why do you need it? What's it doing for you? Is it giving you another kidney? Is it saving you from poverty? You look pretty well fed. You don't need football.

The only way you get better as a writer is to A) write and to B) challenge your writing. It's important to go down paths you wouldn't normally go. I think that's why I can say for the most part I've never been bored with writing for the teen market. I challenge myself to go in different directions.

The plays we're including in our Ten Minute Collection Series offer pretty interesting roles for young actors considering the plays are so short. They were a challenge to write and they're going to be a challenge to play. A good challenge, though. Lots of fun. Our first collection, already out in the world, includes plays with all female casts and is called, appropriately enough, Ten Minute Play Series: All Girls. We've just now released the second book Ten Minute Play Series: Girls and Guys.

This second book holds two types of plays. Two-handers for one girl and one guy and gender-neutral plays that can be played by all girls, all guys or a combination of both. Gender relationships are something all teens can relate to. There's the girl who refuses to date a thief, even if he stole her something pretty. We've got a sister who realizes her brother is not invincible. We've got the football player who panics when he learns his tutor is a girl. We've got parts of the brain fighting over their charge, homeless youth who won't let one of their own return home, and virtues and vices getting together for a swim meet.

My favourite play in this collection is Girls and Boys, with the football player who has a firm grip on stereotypes and his tutor who gleefully refuses to play by those stereotypes.

CAMERON: Well, if I'm a little girl, and if I'm sticking to girl things, twirling my hair, shaking those pom poms, 'gee math is so hard' then you must be stupid. Following the rules of these things. If I'm this, you must be that. Football players are stupid, right?

I enjoy setting out character stereotypes and then watching how characters react when another side, another layer is revealed. The two characters in Girls and Boys may be among my favourite characters because even though we're only with them for a short time their whole lives are almost revealed. You can take a good guess as to what goes on at home in both households. You can guess what life was like before the play, and what will happen afterwards.

The aim of a ten minute play is to create instant characters and situations to make an audience feel like they know everything there is to know about the characters. There must be life beyond the words and relationships beyond the edges of the page. That's what I strove to do with these books and I'm pretty proud of the outcome. Wait till you see the plays in the third book, Be Challenged. Stay tuned...

Go to the download section below to get a free PDF copy of Girls and Boys.

Click here to read sample pages from Ten Minute Play Series: Girls and Guys.

The Absolutely Insidious and Utterly Terrifying Truth About Cat Hair

Cat hair has existed since the beginning of time, and it will be here long after cockroaches have become extinct. It is the secret driving force behind business and politics, and is plotting the downfall of humanity even as we speak.

As with Hamlet, Zombie Killer of Denmark, our first reaction to Bradley Walton's play was, 'Whoa, that's some title!' The Absolutely Insidious and Utterly Terrifying Truth About Cat Hair is a middle school play that follows the trials and tribulations of Brenda and an enormous amount of cat hair. Not just any cat hair, hair that wants to take over the world! This play has a fabulously weird sense of humour (if you couldn't tell by the title) which makes for an awesome alternative to the usual middle school fare.

Bradley you are a new playwright to our customers. Introduce yourself and your writing background.

Years ago, I did some writing in the comic book industry. My work was published by Caliber Comics, Basement Comics, Desperado Publishing, and Image Comics. Sadly, it didnt pay the bills, and in 2000, I took a job working in the library of my high school alma mater. My former drama teacher was still there, directing two shows a yeara one-act in the fall and a musical in the winter. He asked if Id like to direct an annual non-musical full-length play for the spring, and I jumped on the opportunity. We did Shakespeare for the first couple of years, and then I decided to try my hand at writing an original play to direct. It wasnt a complete disaster, so I did it again the following year, and just kept going. After a few years, I started shopping my scripts to publishers, and thats worked out very well.

What inspired you to write this play? It goes to such a weird place, which we love! Do you have cat hair troubles or was this pure imagination?

We have a cat named Nuala (after a fairy in the comic book series Sandman). She is incredibly cute and sweet. And she sheds. A lot. Constantly. Its amazing. It just keeps coming and coming and coming. No matter how much we brush her. No matter how much we use shedding tools. Its relentless. It never, ever stops. Its kind of like Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator. That was my initial inspiration for this play. As for the weird place it ended upsee the next question.

Talk about your writing process. Were there any hurdles to overcome? What changes were there before and after the play was produced?

My writing processhmm. This will probably horrify all the English teachers out there, but my process for most of my plays (including this one) is this: I sit down and start writing and make it up as I go. Sometimes Ill have a basic idea Im working around (as I did with this play). Sometimes Ill have a very broad mental outline and a clear direction I want to go. But generally speaking, I make it all up as I sit there typing, and very frequently I dont know where Im going until I get there. It is, I admit, a pretty haphazard approach. But it works for me, and its yielded some awfully good plays. I try to work as quickly as possible to keep from losing interest or focus. I can generally write a one-act in a week, or a full-length play in two weeks. Once I finish a play, I put it away for a while and go back to it later with fresh eyes to clean things up as needed.

The Absolutely Insidious and Utterly Terrifying Truth About Cat Hair was actually pretty difficult to write. I had this concept about cat hair being alive and plotting the downfall of humanity, and it would be a large-cast play that would utilize actors as the cat hairs, but beyond that, I had no clear idea where to go with it. Id write for a bit and then get stuck sitting there thinking, Okay, what do I do with this now? And Id just go with whatever popped into my head. For example, the cat started talking to the narrator simply because I didnt have any other ideas as to what should happen at that point. A lot of things happened simply because I didnt have any other ideas so as to what should happen at those points. Sometimes Id type words just for the sake of typing words so Id feel like I was accomplishing something. There was a definite stream-of-consciousness vibe to the process. I was convinced for a while that the play was going to be a complete mess, but I stuck it out, and when I finished, I was kind of astonished with the end result.

Usually I'm not a fan of narrators. But you give the narrator purpose and character beyond sharing information with the audience. Did you always intend to include a narrator? What was your process for creating that character?

I started out with the narrator because I didnt know how else to explain the concept of the cat hairs to the audience. He wasnt originally intended to be an active participant in the story, but as I said above, there was a point when the cat started talking to the narrator because I didnt have any other ideas. But then as the two characters interacted, the narrator began to develop this Im-better-than-you-because-Im-omnicient-and-youre-not-hah-hah-hah complex, and he and the cat just kept aggravating each other, and it built from there.

The cat hair is played by actors (a great acting challenge). How did that work in production? How did the actors physicalize hair?

The idea was that the actors would function and move like a chorus of dancers in a musical, with each individual actor playing an individual cat hair, swooping around the stage in something like a humorous ballet of doom. Of course, that would require a LOT of actors. And while there are schools that need and can fill a huge-cast play, there are also schools looking for a play with a large cast, but maybe not quite that large. Max Dashner, the director of the original production, came up with this wonderful idea of having the actors playing the Cat Hairs wear shirts covered in yarn attached with Velcro. They pull the yarn off and stick it on the other characters that they attack. It gets the same idea across, but with a smaller number of bodies on stage. The Cat Hairs still move in a funny-creepy kind of way and they still conspire amongst themselves to bring about the downfall of humanitybut the production can function just fine with less of them.

What feedback did you receive after production?

The director told me the kids performing the play had a blast, and that the audience thought that it was funny and smart.

What advice would you give a school producing The Absolutely Insidious and Utterly Terrifying Truth About Cat Hair?

Feel free to experiment, be bold, and above all, have fun with it.

Are you working on anything new?

I just finished up a 10-minute monologue with the most outlandish title ever to grace one of my plays, which is saying something. Presently, Im working on a childrens play that well be performing as my schools spring drama production next April.

Click here to read sample pages from The Absolutely Insidious and Utterly Terrifying Truth About Cat Hair.

Download of the Month

Click here for a free PDF download of Girls and Boys from the collection Ten Minute Play Series: Girls and Guys.

Stay Connected

We’ve got big plans for this year, including giving away some free plays through our Twitter and Facebook pages. Now would be a really good time to friend us up!