No Budget = No Play.

Check a book of one-act plays out of the library and see if you can find one that fits the bill?

There are some outstanding one-act plays that don't require much of anything in the way of set or props. I would seriously consider a play like "The Actor's Nightmare" by Christopher Durang, which is (in my decades of theatrical experience) one of the easiest plays to produce regardless of what kind of space is available. Also, consider "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" by John Patrick Shanley. Both these plays are perfect for a black box style production, both can be done with a bare stage and a few set pieces that are easily found. Durang's piece is comedic; Shanley's dramatic--and both are well-suited to a high school theatrical production. (A little language in DATDBS, but not that much). If I had to pick between the two, I'd recommend The Actor's Nightmare. A larger cast, madcap action, and a very--erm--abrupt change of pace at the end of the show.

The Actor's Nightmare is a fun show, although it's a bit dated these days.

Danny and the Deep Blue Sea is going to end up being too adult for a high school drama group - plus it has a tiny cast, so that's going to be a problem. (I'm not saying that you're not familiar with all the stuff in there, just that your theatre teacher will squash it faster than a cockroach.)

The place to go is www.playscripts.com

They publish 7 of the 10 most-produced one-acts in American high schools. Almost all of those plays are exactly what you describe - no set, very little props, short plays, with large casts. You can read them all online by clicking on "read free sample" and read 90% of the script -

I'd suggest The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon (by me) - it's kind of like the Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) except with the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. It's been produced nearly a thousand times, so people seem to like it. Here's the link:

http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=1163

Thornton Wilder's "Our Town"
Becket's "Waiting for Godot"

We did both plays (in the 1950s) without a set other than tables and chairs.

There was another one, and I cannot recall the title. CRS. But it's famous. It's about heaven, God, Noah, and others and was produced with an all-black cast and no set. Maybe I'll remember later. I hate when that happens.

Al Stevens said:

There was another one, and I cannot recall the title. CRS. But it's famous. It's about heaven, God, Noah, and others and was produced with an all-black cast and no set. Maybe I'll remember later. I hate when that happens.

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'Green Pastures', maybe?

frimble3 said:

'Green Pastures', maybe?

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Yes. Thank you. I directed that one in high school. I love that play.

Clueless said:

I'm the President of my school's failing Drama Club. We're trying to do a production, but we're limited by our lack of money, and the fact that we haven't had a theater in three years. Our adviser also doesn't want to co-operate, and set three main requirements for any production that we have--

1. It must be short
2. It can't have too many Props
3. It can't have more than one backdrop
I really want to do a production. I'm a senior, and this is my last shot to do anything in this school. Does anyone have any advice as to what I can do to meet all these requirements without it flopping?​

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From my own experience I would say that you are looking at this from the wrong angle.

It's all about what you do with the space and props you have. For instance, we once did and updated Macbeth with one backdrop - painted like a red brick, heavily gaffiti'd wall. And earlier this year I saw West Side Story done with one set - a very industrial one, and the interior scenes were all done with clever lighting.

You could do pretty much any play with one backdrop - if you pick the right backdrop.

Maybe you should come up with an idea of some plays YOU might like to do, and then we can help come up with ways to make them work.

re the no budget = no play. I beg to disagree.
There's nothing more exciting than an empty stage, filled only with an actor (or two, or three) making something from nothing.
You need to think outside of the box, step away from the reliance on scenery and extraneous 'gimmicks' - pure theater always assumes two things:
1. A basic intelligence in the audience.
2. A willingness by the audience to suspend disbelief for the duration of the performance.

As long as you have some lights and some willing actors, you have the potential to stage awesome theater. You don't need any budget to achieve this. Off the top of my head, what about...working with your cast to brainstorm ideas for a short play? Workshop it into a fit state to be written down and then learned? What do you/your cast hate? Like? What about the alienation of wanting to put a show on in a school that doesn't seem to care about theater?

Automatically, I have to wonder why your school doesn't do drama? Maybe that's an interesting subject for a short play? There must be money, where's it going? What is the mindset of the average pupil toward the Arts. Why not put some of the negative views on stage and examine them within the framework of a short theater piece?

Put a suggestion box out and use some of the 'found footage' that results as grist to the mill of your characters.

Just because its 'theater' doesn't mean it has to be entirely 'fiction.' You could make something very interesting to reflect your school's attitude toward theater.

Again, an empty stage without backdrops or props, and just some nicely positioned lights, is exciting. Its the foundation for imaginative work. Theater is not Hollywood, churning out wish fulfillment garbage for people with ADD (it can be, sure) but it doesn't have to be. You see the absence of a budget and props as a 'lack' - I see it as a positive and a wonderful challenge to take what you have and evolve it into a thoughtful piece that perhaps strikes a chord with your audience (and/or faculty).
/2 cents worth

I agree. Some of my best directing experiences were in my beginning days as a director when we couldn't afford anything and did found work. Our set consisted of a table and two chairs. The whole thing was about acting.

Today, I produce and direct published and unpublished plays with beautiful sets, costumes and all the rest. I still enjoy it but when I am struggling to get a set and lighting and sound to come together at the same time I'm working with actors, I long for the simple days.

In found theater, each potential actor brings in an object that is important to them - something that has an emotional connection. Each person shares the story of their object and a number of the stories are woven together into a play. If you can get your actors to get around the embarrassment of sharing, it is a wonderful process.

Doug

"I need to basically set up a production that will make a profit with not resources, venue, or money."

Or you could simply invent a perpetual motion machine.

"Good, Cheap, or Fast" - pick any two, you can't have all three. That's what I've learned in more than thirty years of stage, film and television production. That's true for "Hey, I've got a barn, and my mom can make costumes" and it's true for "We've only got a million, we can't get a big name actor."

Is your need to put on a production, so that students get the experience? Work outside the school and bypass your 'advisor' - who apparently is set on not having anything happen at the school.

Is your need bringing a spotlight TO the community, on the limitations the school/advisor is placing on you? Again, not likely the school itself is going assist you in highlighting their shortcommings.

Is your need MAKING A PROFIT from a staged production? Yeah.... that's the ticket. Problem is, there's absolutely no guarantee in the biz, that you'll show anything like a profit. You might. But then you might not. In fact, if you figure in 'in kind' donations you almost never do.

So figure out what your primary need is here - because it's not likely you will find a single strategy to meet all of them in a single production.

How about a little street theater or Comedia Dell' Arte. Or steal from the ancient Greeks. The tradition of great theater on slender means is an old and established one. What makes it work is that theater is not about props or backdrops as your bean counter adviser seems to think. It's telling stories about people. You can do a swordfight without swords. Rather than seeing your advisors limitations as hurdles, look at them like a swimmer sees the edge of the pool, a place to get some extra spring.

Rather than trying to do this top down, can you get others in now on the planning stage? Network this among the students and get their input, I'll bet there are a lot of good ideas right in your own classrooms.

Do a theater in the round kind of piece. Use a classroom, move all the desks to the perimeter. Check out the book, "The Empty Space" by Peter Brook.

Remember, when you rehearse, you often do it without many props or backdrops. Whats to stop you from doing this on opening night?

You'll do well.

A couple of things. Perhaps you can talk to some of the people from the Globe theater in Balboa park and get some advice there. The Civic Theater might have some resources as well, as would UCSD and SDSU and maybe some of the private colleges. Who knows, you might even wrangle a free stage, props and scenery. In high school, our set for "Arsenic and Old Lace" was a painted-over Hamlet set used by the local college.

You might want to do a little research and find out why your adviser is such a stick in the mud. Don't be adversarial, but there may be some way to butter him/her up so that they support this effort. It sounds like there is something that is not on the surface. What does your principal or other teachers think of the adviser? Is the adviser just so afraid of failure and they are trying to spare you? Was the job just lumped on them because no one else would do it? I don't know, but it sounds like there is some issue there.

You've got more than a financial issue; it's the adviser who seems like she wants to pick up her stipend for 'advising' the drama club, but doesn't want to do any work. (Been a teacher over 30 years; I know the type.) What you need in your corner is a few gung-ho parents who show up the same time you kids are in the auditorium discussing things. A couple of 'hi-dee-hos' and 'wow, can't wait to see this thing happen' and 'can I do anything, Ms. Advisee?" might push your play production to the next level.

That might shame your non-adviser to get off her duff and say yes to something. You need the cheerful, happy, but pushy parent there in your corner. Willing to paint, print programs, bring refreshments for intermission, etc.

I used to say nothing would ever get done (at my school) were it not for the moms with the big SUVs who show up at every activity or event we had at school. Do you know any moms (or dads) who will do this? Not the overly aggressive type, mind you - but the cheerleader type?

Otherwise, good luck to you.

I agree with the others. My middle school once had a play that revolved mostly around cars and the most impressive prop was an actual sports car on stage.

Impressive yes, but once the final sketch came in which a classmate stepped out of said car and got into an argument with another driver (an invisible and non-existent person) he brought the house down. I bet you a 100 bucks that he could've done the same scene without the car and have the same effect. His acting and reacting helped us all either suspend disbelief or at least enjoy what he was doing.

Writing for television or youtube film makers is much the same. You work with restrictions (sometimes very annoying ones). When I wrote the episode of a sketch show for a youtuber, the fact I couldn't use any fancy props, merely the sets and actors he already had, fired my imagination. I found ways to put a very different spin on what he usually wrote without breaking the bank.

I'm about to do the same for someone who wants to help seriously ill kids make an exciting film. How to make an action film when the hero is bed-ridden? Instead of feeling intimidated, I found myself some answers.

Make a list of the people, props and places you do have access to and make the best play you can. Work around problems.
Think how you can make the lack of funds work to your advantage....

Did you ever find a play? I have a 1 act play suitable for a HS audience, if you'd like to read it.

comped

I'm wondering...what sort of theater club moderator doesn't want to put on a production? Isn't that the point? Good Luck anyway!

For a limited time plays on my website are available royalty free suitable for all audiences... check out http://www.johndegaetanoproductions.com Also the 10 minute plays info on vide here: http://youtu.be/mEZjVZfraNQ