Fantasy/science fiction for theatre

clouddog said:

Hi

I am writing a play which is half based on fantasy
Without the cgi I think there will be limits of what can be shown
I don't know how stupid some costumes might look but that is not my department

I think it is turning into fantasy rather than scifi because I really wasn't sure when I started
Just a question about if you know of scripts or DVDs which might be that genre of play?

I think midsummer nights dream is the only one I can think of off hand
Must see it again in the context of script writing

Thanks!

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Fantasy plays not musicals? Uhm... Peter and the Starcatcher?

Also, wouldn't you want to read Midsummer?

First, what EXACTLY do you mean by "fantasy"?

There are a lot of non-realistic plays out there... more and more these days. There are also a lot of playwrights that lean toward non-realistic plays (I think José Rivera writes a lot of non-realistic plays).

But in my opinion, there is really no need to question these things. A play is just that... a play. It should be written the way it needs to be written in order to tell the story. It isn't up to the playwright to produce the play. That is up to the director. And there are a ton of brilliant directors doing amazing things with non-realistic plays.

Also, keep in mind that theatre audiences are not film audiences. When you say "CGI", I automatically assume that your mind's eye wants certain elements spelled out for the audience. But the most powerful element playwrights have, is the audience. Their imaginations are more powerful than anything we can show them.

Not sure if that helps. But I hope it does.

Peter and Alice. And there's something else on right now (got a mention on Radio 4 in the last week or so) about time travel using just a cardboard box.

And pretty much anything performed with minimalist staging. Same way Shakespeare does that whole clever trick with "Is this a dagger I see before me," you can play let's pretend with your audience.

There's a stage play of The Hobbit. It's hardly ever produced because most theatres simply don't have the money to stage a production that has such heavy costume and set requirements. It has a dragon, for example. Even more simple shows, like Peter Pan, and Little Shop of Horrors are costly due to the expense of things like flying people and making giant puppet aliens. that is not to say that one cannot write such stories, but keep in mind cost as you are planning them. Seascape is an interesting production about a couple that meets another couple on the beach that happen to be lizard people. It's fantastical but doable, in a way that isn't cost prohibitive.

Seconding Julianne.

One of my friends does professional theatrical and movie costuming. One of her gowns cost $450 to *clean*. (I don't even want to know how much the sucker cost all together, but a high quality costume can easily run to ten thousand dollars.) Admittedly, you can get volunteers, use cheap materials, etc. etc. But finding armies of people who are delighted to donate hundreds of hours to say, outfitting hobbits, is a difficult task.

So it's not that you *can't* do amazing science fiction and fantasy extravaganzas. It's more that doing them can blow up budgets unless it's all very real world setting type science fiction and fantasy. (Even TV shows and movies have a lot of trouble with this and regularly limit how many aliens they show, how intricate the costumes are, etc.)

The two that come to my mind are R.U.R. by Karel Čapek, which is credited as being the first source to use "robot", and Warp! by Stuart Gordon and Lenny Kleinfeld. Considering when these shows were originally produced (1921 and 1971, respectively), you really shouldn't be thinking "film special effects". Granted, there are limitations on what can be presented on stage, but you can move beyond them with a bit of imagination and ingenuity.

A lot of science fiction can work, if it's not action or creature oriented.
Handmaid's Tale. any dystopian stuff. character-based.

JulianneQJohnson said:

There's a stage play of The Hobbit. It's hardly ever produced because most theatres simply don't have the money to stage a production that has such heavy costume and set requirements. It has a dragon, for example. Even more simple shows, like Peter Pan, and Little Shop of Horrors are costly due to the expense of things like flying people and making giant puppet aliens. that is not to say that one cannot write such stories, but keep in mind cost as you are planning them. Seascape is an interesting production about a couple that meets another couple on the beach that happen to be lizard people. It's fantastical but doable, in a way that isn't cost prohibitive.

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There are also some stage plays of Discworld stories.

Scenery and props don't have to be the same on stage as they are on screen. You don't the elaborate settings - to be honest they mostly don't work too well in theatre because the scene changes etc are too much.

Mostly you'll find one or two sets that are dressed with props, and light to change the location.

Hey, just thought I would chip in with my thoughts.
Personally, I think it can be a difficult question to answer.
There is a different between a fantastical setting and surreal stage directions. An example being, Sarah Kane (Blasted and Cleansed among others) who had a habit for using stage directions that could be hard to stage, even a quick glance at her Wikipedia page highlights this gem:

"The rats carry Carl's feet away.”

The play itself however is set in a mental institution and wouldn’t be at all difficult to recreate on stage.
Writers use imagery all the time to aid their story. I would think about the fantasy setting and what it adds, is it necessary? Also, figure out whether your play is fantastical or whether it simply includes fantastical/surreal elements.

I suggest you write it first then sort it out later. There are many really creative production people out there who will come up with a unique way to stage it.

As a playwright, I find that if I put production constraints on it while I'm writing it, the story comes out false; i.e. the characters are not true to themselves. A few years ago, I was writing a play (never produced) that required an actor to disappear in full view of the audience. I discussed the issue with a well known (locally) director and he said: No problem and went on to outline two ways he thought it could be done.

Now I focus on the writing and let the production people figure out the details on how to do it. If someone came back to me with a problem on staging something, I'd look at rewriting it at that point.

Doug

I know this isn't supposed to be a musical, but take a look at how Cats, Lion King, and Wicked all were able to bring a fantasy look and feel to the stage.

I think audiences will give lots of leeway understanding that theater doesn't have the option of post-production effects.

Depending on production costs, you might even be able to have a mixture of animatronics.

Chiming in with some scripts:

Sci-Fi...some of these might be hard to find...
Return to the Forbidden Planet
Space Wars: The Panto
Don't Blink: A Doctor Who Burlesque

Fantasy
Robin Goodfellow
Ozma of Oz (by Susan Zeder, although I imagine there are a lot of adaptations)
The Arkansas Bear
The Jungalbook
The Tempest
Women Who Weave (I'll admit, a shameless plug for my own play there)
Metamorphosis

And, of course, everything else mentioned above. The bottom line is that there are infinite possibilities. Sometimes, you just need to get creative with the staging. A long strip of blue fabric can be the ocean. A bunch of people holding lit candles can become the stars.

There's also The Temptest.

My own thoughts on the subject--re-read the prologue to Henry V "Let us on your imaginary forces work/Think, when we speak of horses, that you see them/Printing their proud hooves in the receiving earth!"

Then read Peter Shaffer's Equus, in which horses (one of them a god) are on stage.

Or watch Alice At The Palace from the Public Theatre (it is on YouTube) in which the wild world of Wonderland and the Looking Glass can exist without huge set pieces or even much by way of costumes. Certainly no special effects.

Try to watch some of the above mentioned musicals or plays and jot down what you liked about them, and what you want to replicate. Get inspiration from other scenes/writers or create something entirely new depending on what your preference may be. Just don't forget to write down your ideas and what you like or dislike so you don't forget while writing your script. I hope this helps!

First one that came to mind was Maeterlink's 1908 play The Blue Bird.