Only 15 scripts into the first-round elimination for the play festival and these thoughts come to mind:
Make sure that your script has been read out loud by actors - not just by you.
PROOF - When a play opens with the phrase "sitting at the kitten table" and there are no kittens mentioned in the cast list or synopsis, it gives me pause. Especially when I find two more typos on the same page.
If your screenplay isn't selling, don't call it a one-act play and submit it as such with references to POV and camera shots still in it.
If you've worked hard to change your screenplay into a theatrical script, take a long step back and decide if the props, set and costume changes can actually be accomplished quickly without the props crew/actors running around the stage like cats with their tails on fire.
If your play is historical, make sure that your characters don't sit around the campfire/parlor/union hall talking about all of the great battles/events/labor leaders. And get your facts right. And don't have a previously unseen character come on and deliver a four page monologue about something that has nothing to do with the rest of the script, even in a see how my story sort of draws a connection between now and then kind of way.
If you decide you can do THE ODD COUPLE or WIT or WAITING FOR GODOT better than the original, you'd best have a killer opening scene that allows me to hope that you've successfully reworked a classic.
If your play begins with a marvelous comic scene, it should probably not end dramatically with the introduction of religious intolerance, child or spousal abuse, or madness. This always makes Saint Fool cry and want to throw the script against the wall.
If you are writing about intolerence, make sure you do not beat the horse to death again and again and again.
I used to read final round scripts. This year I am reading first round. Out of the first 15, I finished 12 and recommended three for reading by others. Since there are 200 + submissions to go, I'm sure I'll come up with other hints for playwrights, but these are things that really stood out.
Make sure that your script has been read out loud by actors - not just by you.
PROOF - When a play opens with the phrase "sitting at the kitten table" and there are no kittens mentioned in the cast list or synopsis, it gives me pause. Especially when I find two more typos on the same page.
If your screenplay isn't selling, don't call it a one-act play and submit it as such with references to POV and camera shots still in it.
If you've worked hard to change your screenplay into a theatrical script, take a long step back and decide if the props, set and costume changes can actually be accomplished quickly without the props crew/actors running around the stage like cats with their tails on fire.
If your play is historical, make sure that your characters don't sit around the campfire/parlor/union hall talking about all of the great battles/events/labor leaders. And get your facts right. And don't have a previously unseen character come on and deliver a four page monologue about something that has nothing to do with the rest of the script, even in a see how my story sort of draws a connection between now and then kind of way.
If you decide you can do THE ODD COUPLE or WIT or WAITING FOR GODOT better than the original, you'd best have a killer opening scene that allows me to hope that you've successfully reworked a classic.
If your play begins with a marvelous comic scene, it should probably not end dramatically with the introduction of religious intolerance, child or spousal abuse, or madness. This always makes Saint Fool cry and want to throw the script against the wall.
If you are writing about intolerence, make sure you do not beat the horse to death again and again and again.
I used to read final round scripts. This year I am reading first round. Out of the first 15, I finished 12 and recommended three for reading by others. Since there are 200 + submissions to go, I'm sure I'll come up with other hints for playwrights, but these are things that really stood out.
