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Original Works
Producing and Promoting Original Plays

Chris Mackowski, St. Bonaventure University

ISBN 0-325-00621-0 / 978-0-325-00621-5 / 2004 / 208pp / paperback
Imprint: Heinemann Drama
Availability: In Stock

Grade Level: Adult

List Price: $18.95
Your Price: $15.16

If you are a director or producer who has shied away from doing a new play, cast aside your doubts, pick a new script, and get ready. Award-winning playwright and director Chris Mackowski shares the experiences and advice of more than 50 theatre professionals whose practical and insightful suggestions will help you raise the curtain on new and exciting plays and lower it to thundering applause.

Producers and directors will find tips on:
  • searching for and evaluating original scripts
  • determining the best way to fit an original play into their overall season
  • sponsoring a contest, hosting a festival, or conducting readings for new plays
  • hosting a playwriting group or a playwright-in-residence.
Promotions and marketing personnel will learn how to:
  • find the right hook to promote a show
  • use original shows to define their theatre's niche
  • market themselves to audiences.

Not only does Mackowski take you from promotion through post-production, he also provides example financial reports, a timeline of events for conducting a new play contest, and a link to an exclusive website where you can download annotated models of press releases, specialized budgets, and other forms that can help any theater putting on original plays.

Feed your artistic impulse and stop shying away from new plays. Read Chris Mackowski and let Original Works work for you!


 Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE: The Case of the Doing Original Works
1. The Secret Origin of Playwriting and Community Theatre
2. Ye Shall Overcome (or, Why Your Mission Statement Can Help You Overcome Any Perceived Obstacles to Producing an Orignal Show)
PART TWO: Finding a Script
3. Creating Your Submission Guidelines
4. Soliciting Scripts
5. Evaluating an Orignal Script
6. Evaluating the Playwright
7. "Let’s Just Be Friends" (a Quick Word About Rejection)
PART THREE: Oh, the Possibilites...
8. Readings
9. Workshops
10. Writers–in–Residence
11. Playwriting Groups
12. Contests
13. Festivals
14. Bright Ideas off the Beaten Path
PART FOUR: The Production
15. Great Expectations (for the Production Team)
16. Takin’ Care of Business (for the Production)
17. The Center of It All (for the Director)
18. Play an Active Role (for the Actor)
19. Playwrights As Directors
PART FIVE: Promoting Original Works
20. Original PR
21. New Markets
22. Getting Tactical
23. Collaboration
PART SIX: Evaluation
24. Reviews
25. Adjudications
26. Audience Feedback
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Results of a Nations Survey on New Plays by Community Theatres
APPENDIX B: An Example of a Financial Report for an Original Show
APPENDIX C: A Second Example of a Financial report for an Original Show
APPENDIX D: A Timeline for a New Play Contest
APPENDIX E: Guide to Online Samples
APPENDIX F: About the Playwrights Featured in this Book

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