Theatre History Overview - Part 15 - Indian Theatre

Indian theatre started sometime between 2000 B.C. and the 4th century A.D. This was discovered by one of the earliest text in the world that is about dramaturgy. This text is called NatyaShastra. It was written by Bharat Muni. If it is older than 600 B.C., this means that Indian theatre formed earlier than Greek theatre.

The NatyaShastra describes rasa, which is the idea of artistic experience. Rada pervades all Indian art forms such as writing and dancing as well as theatre. The NatyaShastra also defines ten types of plays. However, there are two main types of plays. The Natakas are plays that dipict historical stories that deal with the divine or with mythology. Prakarana involved inventing stories dealing with every day characters and the events in their lives.

Indian theatre went through three main periods. The classical period began whenever theatre started in India and went through 1000 A.D. The stories in theatre were mainly stories that the audience already knew. Because of this, many physical elements and movements were used in the performances. The Traditional Period lasted from 1000 A.D. to `700 A.D. During this time, plays were presented verbally from the traditions and stories that had been passed down verbally rather than from written scripts. It was also during this time that regional languages and improvisation were brought to the Indian stage.

The modern period began in the late 18th century and ended in the 19th century. Because of the British rule in India, Western theatre influenced Indian theatre. This brought the tradition of theatre to being about reflections of the common man rather than about the gods and their miraculous feats. It also brought the procenium stage.

Before the procenium stage, Indian theatre had it's own types of theatres. The NatyaShastra explains three different types of theatres: rectangular, square, and triangular. Each kind of theatre could be large, medium, or small. The most common type of theatre was the medium-sized rectangular theatre. It measured about 96x48 feet. The space was divided in half with one half being for the audience and the other half being the stage and the backstage area.

While India still views theatre as extremely important, it does not treat it like it is often treated in the United States. There are some theatre course and theatre schools, but theatre is mostly done as an extra-curricular activity by students. They participate in religious theatre and street theatre. However, as the popularity of theatre in India grows, there might be more theatre education because theatre seems to be rivaling the popularity of cinema and television.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 14 - Restoration Spectacular

Restoration Spectacular took place in the late 17th century. It happened on the London stage. These elaborate pieces of theatre were basically home grown, but they were never ashamed of borrowing stage technology and ideas from French Opera. Because of this, they were sometimes called English Opera, but most theatre historians dn't like defining them as a genre because there is not a tidy way to truly classify these theatrical performances.

Another name for a restoration spectacula is a "machine play." Thse machines plays were elaborately staged. They involved illusionisitc painting, gorgeous costumes, movalbe scenery, and special effects. Some of the special effects that might be seen during a restoration spectacular were flying actors, trapdoor tricks, and fireworks.

Willam Davenant brougt changable (not only moveable) scenery to the public stage. Compared to "legitimate" restoration drama, restoration spectaculars were regarded as "vulgar" and having bad reputations. However, it was the elaborate scenery and spectacle that drew in the London crowds.

A large number of sets, a large number of performers, and vast amounts of money were required to stage a restoration spectacular. If a show did not go well, such as Albion and Albnaius by John Dryden, a theatre could easily go into debt. However, when hits like Thomas Shadswell's Psyche were staged, then companies would not have to worry about their finances for a long time.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 13 - French Theatre

ome people think that French theatre only developed very late in the 1500s, almost starting in the year 1600. However,that is not true. It is only true that French theatre was in a type of hiatus from 1562-1598 because of the Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants.

French theatre actually has a history that dates back to the 12th century. At this time, most theatre was written and performed in Latin. However, there were plays written in French. The earliest example is probably Le jeu d'Adam. the idea for theatre was entertainment, not religious education.

Theatre in 16th century France followed much of the same patterns as other renaissance theatre. However, French theatre truly came into it's own in the 17th century.

In 1635, the Academie Francaise was created by Cardinal Richilieu in order to try to regulate language and literary expression. This caused a conflict in the theatre because others wanted literary freedom. However, by 1660, the acceptance of literary rules was established as the norm. These rules were published in Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux's 1674 publication.

It was during this time that some of France's greatest dramatists emerged. These included Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, and Molilere.

In the early 1700s, Comedie-Italienne (Italian comedies, so-called to distinguish it from the Comedie-Francaise that was produced) became popular. This was after they had been banned in 1697 for being found too offensive. However, durign this time, companies even started interspersing Comedie-Italiane with French words. One theatre company even got permission from Louis XIV to use all French in the Comedie-Italienne plays.

In the latter half of the 18th century, Romanticism became popular in France. Opera bouffe (Comic opera) also became popular around this time. It was also at this time that claquers were used. These were people that were hired to clap during performances. There are also rieurs, who laugh, pleurerus, who fake crying, chatouilleurs, who keep the audience ina good mood, and bisseurs who clap their hands and shoud, "bis! bis!"

In the mid 1900s, theatre of the absurd came into being with Eugene Ionesco's The Bald Soprano. This also made way for playwrights such as Samuel Beckett and Jean Genet. French theatre continues strongly to this day, using plays in French and from all over the world.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 12 - Restoration

In 1660, Charles II was restored to the throne of England. He had been in France during the past years when theatre had been banned in England, partly due to the puritans fidning that it was sinful. Because he had been in France, he brought the influence of French theatre back to England.

The popular type of theatre during the restoration was Restoration Comedy. These comedies often exaggerated or made fun of society and rulers. The audience were mainly upper class because they could afford to go see theatre. They knew that the plays made fun of them and enjoyed this lampooning. Restoration Comedies also included Comedies of Manners. A Comedy of Manners play would often reverse roles or attitudes, satirizing the behaviors of society. There would often be disguises and misunderstandings that the audience would know, but the characters in the play would not know. Everything would be revealed to the characters at the end of the play.

Compared to how plays were often written in verse, often using the heroic couplet, plays written during the restoration used prose. Rather than having a national type of play, such as an English Comedy of Manners, plays from countries all across Europe were welcomed on stages. Every country had an influence on every other country when it came to plays and theatre.

During the restoration, women were allowed to be on stage and act. Women also began to appear as playwrights. The woman playwright that is probably the best known from the restoration is Mrs. Aphra Behn. While the Puritans did not like t heatre, women being involved with theatre was extremely upsetting to them. Puritans would attack theatres with pamphlets and other protests. The most violent attack happened in 1698 when a pamphlet called A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage was written by the clergyman Jeremy Collier.

Due to Collier's attack, king James II issued a proclamation "against vice and profaneness." Playwrights were prosecuted and actors and actresses were fined. This did not deter the writers and actors of the restoration. Insteead, writers attacked the Puritans by writing new plays which riducled Puritans.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 11 - Spanish Golden Age

In 1469, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille were married, unifying Spain and making it a European power. Then, in 1492, Spain was claimed for Christianity at the Siege of Granada. Because of this seige, military men became concerned with codes of chivalry and honor. Spain did not become involved in the renaissance until about 30 years after it started.

However, once Spain did become involved in the renaissance, it was quite different than many other places. Both secular and religious drama existed at the same time. Both state-sponsored theatre and for-profit theatre existed at the same time. While a "golden age" usuallyl isn't literal, Spain's almost was. Much of the money that supported theatre came from gold, spices, and slaves.

A variety of genres of plays existed during the Spanish Golden Age. However, the main genres were probably auto sacramentales, zarzuelas, and comdeias. Auto sacramentales are religious plays that reflected Spain's Catholic devotion. Zarzuelas are Spanish lyric-dramas that alternate between spoken and sung scenes. The sung scenes would use both operatic and popular songs as well as dance. Felix Lope de Vega y Carpio (Vega) was one of the major creators of comedias. Comedias did not have strict rules. They depended on observations and suggestions, allowing playwrights to experiment. However, comedias did have features that seemed to be common through most of them such as three-act structures, mixtures of tragedy and comedy, and a variety of verse form, but almost never any prose in a play.

Unlike most of Europe during the Renaissance, After 1587 women were allowed to act. Thus, heroines were played by women. Because of this, women disgusing themselves as men became a common plot device. However, after 1599, the Spanish government change its laws about women acting to that in order for a woman to act, she had to be married to a man in a professional troupe.

It is thought that around 30,000 plays were produced during the Spanish Golden Age. There is criticism about this many plays being that there is the idea that quantity was seen as more important than quality. However, because there are so many plays, this gives researchers plenty of material to study about the plays of the era.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 10 - Bunraku

Along with Nogaku and Kabuki, the third type of Japanese theatre that is known is Bunraku. This is a form of Japanese puppet theatre. Three types of performers participate in bunraku: puppeteers, chanters, and musicians. Sometimes instruments such as drums are used. While Bunraku can be traced back to the 16th century, the modern form began in 1680 with the playwright Chikamatus Monazemon and the chanter Takemoto Gidayu.

Bunraku has a special stage. It is separated into left and right sides. A small curtain hangs at stage right and stage left. The puppets enter and exit through the curtain. A narrator's platform is located stage left. It is a circular revolving platform that comes out diagonally into the audience's seating area. There is a wall that goes across the diameter of the platform so each side can seat a narrator and a chanter. This makes entering and exiting the stage easy as the platform only has to be rotated in order for them to enter and exit. There are also screened off rooms - one stage left and one stage right. In the screened off room stage left, there may be a less experienced narrator and a less experienced chanter. They can change places with different narrators and chanters that are on the back part of the narrator's platform while they are not facing the audience. In the screened off room that is located stage right are the musicians.

Bunraku puppets are made of heads, torsos, hands, and feet. These are attached with string. The puppets do not have bodies, but the bodies are created by wrapping kimonos around the puppets to create chests, stomachs, arms, and legs. Female puppets are never made with feet or shoes due to the cultural custom that Japanese women never showed their feet. Even though this cultural custom has changed, the tradition in Bunraku is still followed. The costumes for puppets are made of the same material that Japanese actors wear, but are 2/3 the size of a costume for humans. Then, one puppet may have five or more different heads in order to show different emotions.

A Bunraku performance is usually performed in two segments. One usually takes place in the early afternoon and the next in the late evening. However, one Bunraku play can may last for an entire day.

The future of Bunraku is uncertain as funding has been falling. This is because there is a policy with the Japanese government about how many poeple go to see Bunraku in order to get funding.

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Seussical, Jr. in Lake Charles for Three More Performances!

Seussical (including Seussical Jr.) easily became one of my favorite musicals once I saw it. Going into it, I wasn't certain because sometimes musicals based on literature or small television series aren't that great. I thought I would be a fan of the School House Rock musicals, but I was able to see it and it did not come together well at all. I also thought I would like The Secret Garden musical because I liked the stage play, but the musical changed quite a bit of the plot of how things actually happen.



I'm glad to say that Seussical is not this way. It combines the stories of Dr. Seuss, but they mainly stay in tact and tell a great story when put all together. The only question that I might have in mind when going to see a performance of Seussical or Seussical, Jr. is if the performance will be any good. I did not have a doubt that I'd see a great performance when I found out that Christian Youth Theater of Lake Charles was going to have performances of Seussical, Jr.

The entire crew did an amazing job. Of course, there are always those performers that catch my eye. Keep a look out for Jaylin Williams (the Cat in the Hat), Cole Becton (Horton the Elephant), Zoe LeBeau (Gertrude McFuzz), Kaylee Caroll (Sour Kangaroo), and of course Clay Corley (Mr. Mayor). This production of Seussical, Jr. is directed by Joy Pace and choreographed by Joey Frazier.

You can see the production at the following times:

• Saturday, May 5, 2018 at 2:00pm
• Saturday, May 5, 2018 at 7:00pm
• Sunday, May 6, 2018 at 2:00pm

The show is held on the stage at the Lake Charles Boston Academy located at 1509 Enterprise Blvd. in Lake Charles, LA 70601.

Tickets are $15 at the door and $12 when purchased through Lake Charles Christian Youth Theater's website. The price for tickets goes down to $10 for children 10 and under, seniors age 62 or older, those serving in the military, and per person for groups with a minimum of 10 people.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 9 - Kabuki theatre

Kabuki is another form of Japanese theatre. It originated in the 17th century when a female dancer named Okuni became popular because of her parodies of Buddhist prayers. She assembled a group of female performers and they would dance and act. However, the female performers were also prostituted, so all females were banned from acting in Japan in 1629. After this, young boys would dress as women and continued to perform Kabuki. Eventually older men took over the roles and that is the style of Kabuki that continues today.

Kabuki was the first form of dramatic entertainment created for the common people that reached any form of importance. It is usually performed on a stage in a hall. The stage is often modeled after the stage used for nogaku, but also extends into the audience.

The name kabuki means "song, dance, and skill" with each syllable representing each word. Kabuki uses dance, mime, extravagant makeup, spectacular staging, and spectacular costuming. By the early 18th century, Kabuki was not just for entertainment. It was able to present serious and dramatic situations. As commoners in Japan started to rise on the economic scale, Kabuki provided vivid commentary on society. Actual historical events, such as Chushingura (1784), were transferred to the stage.

There is usually a constant interplay between the actors and the audience when Kabuki is performed. The subject matter is clearly separated into historical plays and domestic plays. These two plays are usually separated by one or two dance plays featuring supernatural and exotic creatures.

The basic idea of Kabuki is to allow actors to demonstrate their skills and to entertain teh audience. However, there are often didactic elements dealing with religion, society and morality. Kabuki can still be seen today almost all the time at theatres in big cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Performances are usually divided into two or three segments and tickets are usually sold for each segment. Each ticket costs raound 2,000 yen or $18.33 US.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 8 - Nogaku (Noh and Kyogen)

Theatre did not only exist in Europe during the early to mid years of the 2nd millennium. Theatre existed in other continents, even though we do not usually think about them. One of these continents was Asia and a main country where theatre was found was Japan.

During the 14th century, Nogaku theatre was developed in Japan. Nogaku is the performance of both Noh and Kyogen. It involved music, dance, and drama. It is rare to find Noh or Kyogen separate from each other because it is traditional to have comedic Kyogen pieces performed between the dramatic Noh performances. There were usually five Noh plays and four Kyogen plays if there was an interlude between each Noh play.

The art form was popularized by Zeami during the time known as the Muromachi Period (1333-1573). At first, Zeami's art attracted the patronage of the government, but he later fell out of favor with the government. While the government no longer liked Zeami, Noh troupes still existed and performed Nogaku.

Noh and Nogaku became the official ceremonial art of Japan during the Tokugawa Period (1603-1867). This put an emphasis on tradition rather than on innovation. Noh stories are often drawn from legend, history, and tradition, and sometimes from literature and contemporary events.

All performers in Nogaku are male. The Shite is the leading character. The Waki is the supporting actor. The Hayashi are the musicians. The Jiutai are the c chorus and the Koken are the stage attendants. The Koken are like stage crew in a theatrical performance. The shite wears masks so the audience knows what type of character is being portrayed. The props and costumes have many layers resulting in a bulky image, although props can also enhance expressiveness.

Nokagu is usually performed on a square stage that has pillars at each corner that hold up a roof. Three sides of the stage are open while the fourth serves as the back of the stage and has a backdrop of a pine tree. A bridge runs at an oblique angle off the stage so performers can enter and exit. While Nogaku was traditionally performed outside, inside stages have become common performance venues. An okina play may be performed before Nogaku. This is a play that does not have a plot, but the movements are a sacred rite asking for peace, prosperity, and safety across the land. A common presentation today is an abbreviated Nogaku piece with two Noh stories and one Kyogen story presented between them.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 7- Shakespearean Theatre

While Shakespearean theatre falls into Renaissance theatre and Elizabethan theatre, Shakespeare is extremely influential in theatre, so Shakespearean theatre deserves its own blog post. Shakespeare lived from April 1564 to April 1616. Many people regard Shakespeare as the greatest writer in the English language.

There are 37 known Shakespeare plays that are still performed to this day. When Shakespeare wrote his plays, they had to be versatile for staging because troupes toured with them and they were acted in a variety of places. The settings may have looked very poor or they may have looked as if they belonged to royalty. This is because they could've been staged in bawdy inns or at royal palaces. Mostly, stages did not have any setting and were either only bare or had only a table and a chair or maybe a few chairs. Troupes were not required to travel with settings for the stage.

Shakespearean plays were also common in the theatres built permanently. Some of these theatres were The Theatre, The Globe, The Rose, and The Curtain. In Shakespeare's day, playwrights did not keep the rights to their plays. Instead, they were written on commission and sold to theatre companies or royalty. Shakespeare made money this way, but he also was partner in a theatre company and made money that way. The audiences of Shakespeare's day would often eat while watching plays. Excavations have found many types of leftovers from food.

When Shakespeare died, some people started questioning the authorship of his plays. This questioning has never gone away and some of the propsed writers of the plays are Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, and Edward de Vere. However, there are people who firmly bellieve Shakespeare authored his plays and analysis of the writing seems to support this.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 6 - Elizabethan Theatre

Elizabethan theatre mainly took place during the time that Renaissance theatre took place. However, it started in 1558, a few years before and ended before Renaissance theatre started and ended in 1603, before Renaissance theatre ended.

Of course, being that Renaissance theatre and Elizabethan theatre overlap, much of the information about both are the same when it comes to theatres being built and the playwrights of the time.

During this time, theatre was considered the most entertaining form of art. Also, women were not allowed on stage. Only men were allowed to act, so young boys, or at least men that could pass as women were dressed as women. This made plays such as Shakespeare's Twelfth Night interesting because there would be an actor that wa sa male who was dressed as a woman who was then dressed as a male.

The same play was never shown on successive days. Troupes of actors would travel around the London area, but outside of the city, due to bans on theatre, and learn a new play each week to put in their repertoire.

There were permanent theatres where they acted. In these theatres, it was the opposite of today. The cheap seats were at the ground level. Commoners would watch the play from down there, so they were known as groundlings. They would even sell wares and use plays as time to flirt with each other. The expensive seats were the ones further up where the entire stage could be viewed. While we are not completely sure about the ways actors performed or audiences acted, we make these educated guesses thanks to historical journals.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 5 - Renaissance Theatre

Renaissance theatre took place from 1562 to 1642. Some people call this Elizabethan theatre, but that is not technically correct. Elizabethan theatre only took place during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, which started before renaissance theatre began and ended before the period of renaissance theatre ended.

Theatre often took place in courtyards, but permanent theatres became common and started opening during this time. Permanent theatres became popular when plays were banned in London as a measure against the plague. Permanent theatres were designed to hold lots of people.

Being that there was no artificial lighting, plays had to take place during daylight hours. Plays did not use much for setting or use many props. In fact, it was common to have nothing more than a chair and a table for a Shakespeare play, if those were even on the stage. In order to make up for the lack of set, the characters would wear colorful costumes. These colors also helped the audience identify the ranks of the characters.

Some of the well-known playwrights from the era of Renaissance theatre are William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and Thomas Dekker. Even though may of the plays from this time have been lost, it is stil known that many of the playwrights wrote in verse. Popular genres of the era were history, tragedy, and comedy. Sometimes older genres such as pastorals and morality plays influenced the plays being produced.

Puritans thought that the entertainment theatre provided was sinful. Renaissance theatre ended because of the Puritan movement when an act was passed that banned theatre for an unspecified amount of temporary time.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 4 - Commedia dell'Arte

Commedia dell'arte literally means "Comedy of Art" or "Comedy of the Profession." (A profession is an "art" such as a doctor practices the art of medicine). This art form started in 16th century Italy and lasted through the 18th century.

Most of the plays were improvised. The actors would play off of each other and off of the reactions from the audience to continue the story. However, there were set stories known as lazzi, so the actors could follow a basic script. They would commit these stories to memory and would be able to improvise on the stories. If there was a lull, they could pick up where they were in the story and then continue to improvise.

In general, the actors wore masks. This meant that the audience had to guage the emotions and feelings of the actors through the movements of their bodies. The actors were also assigned stock characters. Each actor knew what character he would always be playing.

The staging was minimal in commedia dell'arte. There was very little to a set, sometimes it was just wherever the actors were performing. Props were used extensively, though. These could be anything from animals to sticks. In fact the acrobatic, witty, amorous childlike character carried two sticks that when hit together made a loud noise. This gave rise to the term "slapstick."

Music was often included in commedia dell'arte. This required that all actors had musical skills. At the end of a performance, the audience would often join the merrymaking.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 3 -Medieval Theatre

Medieval theatre took place between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the 5th century A.D. and then after 900 A.D. to around 1453 A.D. which is considered the end of the Middle Ages. It mainly started because the population was largely illiterate and those who were literate needed a way of explaining Christianity to the masses. Certain dramatizations of Biblical events would take place on certain days of the year.

Some people got the mindset that anything that did not deal strictly with Christianity belonged to the devil. Because of this, many things such as the Olympic Games were banned. The church followers did not think theatre belonged to God, so they closed all theatre with the idea that it belonged to the devil. They considered acting sinful because they thouoght it was a mockery of God's creation.

By the middle of the 11th century A.D., Russia, Scandinavia, and Italy all had liturgical dramas being presented. In the 1400s, mystery and morality plays emerged. It is thought that Everyman was the first morality play. At the end of the Medieval Ages, theatre changed because protestants and The Council o fTrent attack the theatre. Many protestants at that time thought the theatre was "too Catholic" and The Council of Trent tried to keep extrabiblical material off the stage by banning religious plays.

Learned men also started taking an interest in Greek and Roman plays. Then royalty started supporting professional theatre troupes and permanent theatres started to be built.

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Theatre History Overview -Part 2 - Roman Theatre

Roman theatre borrowed from Greek theatre. Some people say that the Romans may have improved on Greek theatre. What is certain is that just like Greek theatre, Roman theatre started as something that was held during a festival to the gods, even to appease their gods.

Romans had both tragedies and comedies. There were stock characters in Roman comedies. This may have influenced commedia dell' arte (which also has stock characters). Roman theatre also had pantomime and mime. In mime, violence and sex were depicted literally.

The most important work we have today from Roman theatre is probably Horace's Ars Poetica. Seneca was also one of the playwrights. He wrote a Roman version of Oedipus Rex which varies from the Greek version in some gory details as Romans liked to have "bloody spectacle."

Being that the Romans like to have such bloody spectacle where violence was seen literally, it led to the viewing of animals being slaughtered and the gladiator games. People would actually watch others get killed in these games. This eventually led to theatre being banned because of the violence.

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Theatre History Overview - Part 1 - Greek Theatre

As far as it is known, theatre with the conventions that we know today was invented in Greece. However, there is now some new research that says theatre may have started in Egypt, although the descriptions of things that happened are theatrical, so far, they seem more like a fashion show than something that is dramatic.

The first known actor was Thespis. This is where we get the word Thespian. He was also the first known winner of what was essentially a playwriting contest. Greeks loved story telling and the written word, so theatre was natural for them.

The Greeks would have a playwriting contest for the Dionysus festival. The winner would have the play performed at the festival. The plays would have to take place outside during daylight hours because there were no artificial lights.

The theatre would have to be located at the bottom of a hill so people could sit on the hill and see the stage. The Greeks would make sure they could build seats on a hill so people could see the actors.

Actors would wear masks so people could see them. They had to speak clearly and loudly which they would do in a declamatory fashion. This way, people could understand what was being said. There was also a chorus of 12 to 15 people that provided the exposition. The ensemble or chorus is musicals comes from this. A great example of this is "Too Much Exposition" from Urinetown: The Musical, since it makes it obvious that it is exposition and comparisons can easily be made.



Many more words and theatre conventions come from Greek theatre, but that's would make this blog post too long and not just an overview.

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Playwriting - Part 9D - Editing - Initial Table Read

Once you've had beta readers look over your play, it is time to start editing again. Of course, this means you have to go through the process of reading your own work again. This process is one that you tend to always have to go back to doing.

However, it is likely that once you have gone through the reading and editing process due to the suggestions of beta readers, that you will want to hear your play out loud. It is your choice if you would like to participate int he reading or if you would only like to hear others read the play. You can be a reader or you can sit among the readers and listen. That is your choice.

The location for this reading doesn't matter. If you have the availability, you can have people read your play in a theatre. However, that may actually not be the greatest place because you want to be together with people where you can hear the play and take notes on what you do and don't like. It is more likely that you may gather at places like somebody's home, a library, a bookstore, or a restaurant.

Then, it is up to you if you'd like to hear the play straight through (obviously, with breaks as needed) or if you would like to hear suggestions from your readers. As the playwright, you have the choice of requesting either way. Once you've had your initial table read and you've marked the edits, it is time once again to read your own work and make your edits.

After you've done those things, it is up to you if you would like to do another round of editing or if you want to move onto either trying to get workshop productions of your play or submitting it to try to get it published.

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Playwriting - Part 9C - Editing - Beta Readers

Once you've come to a point where you have read over your own work and made the edits you marked for yourself, it is likely that you will want input from at least one other person before going further into ideas of readings or possible productions. It is definitely something you want to consider if you are going to submit your play to publishers or playwriting contests.

This is where beta readers come into the picture. A beta reader is a person who reads things and they look for spelling errors, grammar errors, problems with plot or how the writing flows. In general, beta readers are not paid. They do this in order to help other writers. Different beta readers may read different types of literature.

When trying to find beta readers, there is no correct way to find them. These people are doing this in order to help writers because they want to help. They may also enjoy getting a sneak peek into work that has not yet been published or seen or read by a majority of people. In order to find beta readers, all you have to do is start asking people that you know. Ask the people that you know who like to read. You can ask relatives. You can ask friends. You can ask people that you know locally in your town. You can ask people that you know on the Internet.

Be thankful that these people exist. It is okay if you have a deadline for when you need a work back from beta readers. However, if they can't meet the deadline, don't be harsh on them. You can ask them if they can get any bit of the beta reading done and give that to you. If it ends up that something happens and they can't get it done, be understandable. They were doing this for free, so don't be strict about it.

If you were wondering, the term beta reader does come from the term beta tester that is used in softward development. Just as beta testers try to find ways that software may try to break software by looking for weaknesses, beta readers report on what they feel makes writing weak and let you know what they feel like isn't working in the writing. Of course, you never have to agree with these people, but it is always good to get input and then to decide if you want to change things or not.

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Godspell in Lake Charles for Three More Performances!

I'll start by saying, I've never been a huge fan of the musical Godspell overall. I understand it. I like quite a few of the gospel lessons acted out in it. I like a few of the songs, too. However, overall, it's not a musical that I find great.

However, the production done by the cast and crew at The Lake Charles Little Theatre can certainly put some professional theatre companies to shame. The cast was wonderful. Everybody was able to sing the tunes and keep up with the dancing on stage. No matter what happened, even during times that audience interaction happened, the cast was able to keep the show going without flaw. You'll enjoy hearing what are probably some familiar tunes and if they are not familiar, you will most likely end up falling in love with one of the songs.

The cast includes Clay Hebert, Kirsten Bush, Heather Partin, Zoe LeBeau, Joseph Comeaux, Clay Corley, Rebecca Harris, Virginia-Kate Jessen, Theresa Hay Needham, Taylor Novak-Tyler, Liz Rentrop Trahan, and Jaylin Williams. Clay Hebert shows great professionalism in acting out Jesus's lessons. Definitely keep an eye on Clay Corley. Once again, he shows great promise in his acting abilities just like he did in Shrek: The Musical.

Even if you don't enjoy the show overall, you will enjoy this production. Catch a showing of Godspell and The Lake Charles Little Theater at 7:30pm on Friday, April 27, 2018 or Saturday. April 28, 2018. You can also catch a showing at 3:00pm on Sunday, April 29. You can buy tickets at the theatre, or by going to The Lake Charles Little Theater's Vendini Ticket Sales page.

If you enjoy my content, please consider becoming one one of my patrons through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheatreGeek where I will be sharing more in depth content, answering your questions, sharing which types of software I use and how to find them, and more. By becoming my patron, you allow me to create more content about theatre and more theatrical content.

Playwriting - Part 9B - Editing - Proofreading Marks

When it comes to editing your own writing, you can use whatever marks that you'd like to use on your paper that you find you can understand. However, there are a set of proofreading marks that people use when proofreading or even grading papers. Not everybody uses all of the marks. It is extremely likely that you will not use all of the marks yourself, but it is good to know some of the basic marks. Knowing them makes it quicker for you to be able to find what you are wanting to change in your current draft of your play.

Capitalization can be a big thing when you are wanting to make sure the play is written in a correct format for submission or just for others to clearly understand the play. When you come across a word that is lowercase, but it should be capitalized, you write three lines underneat the first letter. It kind of looks like a little sandwich sitting under the letter. That way you know that the letter was meant to be capitalized. For lowercase, you can do the same thing to a capital letter, but most likely outside of the margin, you will write "lc" for lowercase. If you prefer for yourself, you can write lc near the letter that should be lowercase.

When something needs to be inserted, a caret is drawn underneath where the symbol should go if it is something like a comma or a period, and the symbol is put in the space of the caret. If the symbol is somethign like an apostrophe, the caret is drawn above and it points down to where the symbol shoujld go. If there is an improper space in a word, then the way to show that it needs to be corrected is to draw a little curve over and under the part where the incorrect space is. If a space needs to be inserted, plus a number sign (now commonly known as a hashtag, and formally known as an octothorpe) above where the space should go. Sometimes the caret is used along with the number sign in order to show where the space should go.

The mark of "sp" can be confusing at first. It is used for two different reasons. One is an indication to spell out a number or an abbreviation. Perhaps you have something like "5" in your draft, but it should be "five." That is one instance where it is used. Maybe you want a character to actually say the words, "National Association for Colored People," but you wrote NAACP. This would be another place where "sp" would be used and the term needing to be spelled out would be circled. The "sp" might be in the left margin or it might be above the circled word. Then "sp" can also be used for when something is misspelled. The word will be circled and "sp" will be in the left margin or above it.

The very last proofreading mark that I am going to mention is the one for deleting a word (or sometimes a single letter, though it is usually not used that way). A line is drawn through the word and then right above the word, still attached to the line, it looks like a cursive small e, or just a little loop in the line. That means the word should be deleted.

Having knowledge of these few proofreading marks will make editing your play easier on you. You won't have to write out every small detail of editing. If you want to learn more about proofreading marks, there are plenty of resources found online. You just have to search for them and they will come up in your search results on any search engine.

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