How to Produce a Community Play

Getting Everything Ready

• 1). Decide what play to present by examining the royalty fees, and logistical issues, including whether you'll have enough warm bodies to pull it off. For example, "South Pacific" requires roughly a dozen massive, heavy sets--so if you lack the manpower to move them, you'll need to look at other options. Make sure that everyone in your group approves of the choice before going ahead.
  
  
• 2). Lock in a venue, performance schedule and times. The local coffee shop's small stage may be ideal for two- to three-person comedy skits, while larger productions may require renting larger spaces like community centers, or a school that can offer an auditorium for your use.
  
  
• 3). Begin mapping out a budget--so you'll know how much to spend on costumes, sets and publicity--and a tentative production schedule, from auditions, to callbacks, rehearsals and full dress production dates and times. Allow six to eight weeks for this process, since your cast and crew will likely have to juggle your play around their own family, job and volunteer commitments.
  
  
• 4). Look to local arts organizations, church and community groups if you don't already have a potential cast in mind. Choose a director to oversee rehearsals--this can be yourself, if you have the feel, or the next most trusted person in your theater group. If you pick someone else, make sure they have appropriate experience, since the director must address numerous technical issues, from choreographing actors' movements (blocking) to lighting, makeup, and sound.
  
  
• 5). Put a premium on experience for lighting crews, set designers and sound persons--the local stage is not the place for on-the-job training. Give the director sufficient leeway in choosing costuming, makeup and prop people to handle those tasks, particularly in large productions--such as musicals like "Grease," for example--or talent shows featuring many different acts.
  
  

Holding The Auditions

• 1). Publicize auditions at least three to four weeks ahead of time through press releases to local newspapers, shoppers, or classified ads in both places, if your budget allows. Post fliers in suitable places, such as church, grocery store and library bulletin boards. Get permission before posting them, or else they'll be taken down. Include the play's dates, times and practice schedule, so that people can plan ahead, if you choose them.
  
  
• 2). Select two or three people with theatrical experience to judge auditions. If you're asking people to read a particular scene, have scripts available to review. For musicals, line up an accompanist--usually on piano--to run through the songs that people will sing. Auditions can be handled in one night, or spread out through the week for larger productions--either way, hold them during the early evening, so that working people can make it.
  
  
• 3). Choose actors who seem confident and project well onstage--even small-town audiences can tell who comes up with those goods, or doesn't. For musicals, vocal ability and presence are even more important--because that person, once chosen, will have to be heard throughout the venue, often without the aid of a microphone.
  
  
• 4). Thank everyone for their participation. Have the judges take notes, which makes it easier to discuss which person is best for a particular part. Make sure that whoever is chosen can fully commit to the play. Also, choose understudies for major roles--this way, if leads fall out due to illness, or other circumstances, someone else can step into their shoes, and their absence won't cripple the production.
  
  
• 5). Post callbacks, or final audition results, in the lobby or other public area of your venue. (For larger casts, consider using email lists to notify people.) Assure those who don't make the cut that it's not a personal choice, but a question of suitability for the part. Offer to notify them about auditions for future productions,where a more appropriate part may come up.
  
  

Practicing the Play

• 1). Run through the play in sequence, so the actors understand how each scene builds up to the climax. Work out all the technical issues as you go, including blocking, mannerisms and pacing of the show--this is where practice makes perfect. If a scene feels like it's dragging, don't be afraid to stop the scene. Break it down, if necessary, into the individual lines, so you can address the root causes of the problem.
  
  
• 2). Recruit volunteers to start painting backdrops, collecting props, or any furniture needed for the play--this is where it pays to know somebody with carpentry or basic painting experience. Don't put off this step in the process, because you'll want to see how the sets define the onstage environment.
  
  
• 3). Work on costumes early in the production process, including makeup, and wigs (if needed). Get measurements from the actors, because hand-me-downs won't cut it. Decide if costumes will be borrowed, specially made, or bought--consignment, secondhand and Salvation Army stores can be an invaluable resource for those items, and props. Pay special attention to exotic historical outfits, which pose their own set of unique challenges.
  
  
• 4). Conduct full dress rehearsals--including costumes, and makeup--to iron out any wrinkles, about a week before your play will be presented. Run the play exactly as it be shown before the audience at least two or three times. If everyone's done their work, you should only be pausing to fix minor aesthetic or technical glitches.
  
  

Ready For Showtime

• 1). Run display ads in the local newspaper about two weeks before showtime. Incorporate a catchy logo or image, along with all the relevant details, including the date, time and place, and ticket prices. If the venue is a lesser-known location, include the address (and directions, if needed).
  
  
• 2). Run off fliers, and post them in the same locations where you advertised the auditions. Line up someone to help print the tickets and write program notes, if the play requires it, and work the ticket counter. For added class, recruit some volunteers to serve as ushers, who show patrons to their seats.
  
  
• 3). After the dust settles from your production, hold a "skull session" with your crew, director and lead actors, if they're interested, to discuss what worked, and what didn't. Take notes, if necessary, and give everybody enough room to make their points--live theater, by definition, is a work in progress, so finding something to improve won't be terribly difficult.