Hello colleagues,
A new fish who is working on his first play got little confused here. Plays seem more difficult than novels now; and, definitely, difficulty made them more attractive to me...
My trouble:
I started an one-act play, but it seems that it's getting too far since I do my best to satisfy different purposes. In short, it seems that the play has turned to have two different purposes: an active one (what happens on stage, and I have no experience whatsoever on that part of the play) and a theoretical one (consuming time in order to settle historical disputes about the protagonist). If the play had many acts, I guess things would be little easier to me. From the beginning, however, I decided to focus on the end of the historical figure, and this is why decided to make one act only. Now, the last thing I wish is that the play be rejected due to boredom that allegedly might cause to audience. I tried to invent some events and characters in the play. Whatever I do, it seems that my play cannot be shorter than 24.000 words. For plays with many acts that would not be a problem. But I am wondering what a big problem it might be for an one-act play to be so long.
With more than 24k words, this play will be more than two hours. I guess that there may be a fifteen minutes break on stage for both actors (3 main characters, and 6 more who intervene) and the audience. But again, I am not sure if this is the solution. On the other hand, I think that the reading function of the play (what I have to say) is beautiful (in my view, always) and do not feel right in not saying the things I want to say.
My question:
Should I shortcut things, or should I let the play reach 24k words at least?
A new fish who is working on his first play got little confused here. Plays seem more difficult than novels now; and, definitely, difficulty made them more attractive to me...
My trouble:
I started an one-act play, but it seems that it's getting too far since I do my best to satisfy different purposes. In short, it seems that the play has turned to have two different purposes: an active one (what happens on stage, and I have no experience whatsoever on that part of the play) and a theoretical one (consuming time in order to settle historical disputes about the protagonist). If the play had many acts, I guess things would be little easier to me. From the beginning, however, I decided to focus on the end of the historical figure, and this is why decided to make one act only. Now, the last thing I wish is that the play be rejected due to boredom that allegedly might cause to audience. I tried to invent some events and characters in the play. Whatever I do, it seems that my play cannot be shorter than 24.000 words. For plays with many acts that would not be a problem. But I am wondering what a big problem it might be for an one-act play to be so long.
With more than 24k words, this play will be more than two hours. I guess that there may be a fifteen minutes break on stage for both actors (3 main characters, and 6 more who intervene) and the audience. But again, I am not sure if this is the solution. On the other hand, I think that the reading function of the play (what I have to say) is beautiful (in my view, always) and do not feel right in not saying the things I want to say.
My question:
Should I shortcut things, or should I let the play reach 24k words at least?
