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        <Name>[Weblog] In The Green Room with Patrick Rainville Dorn</Name>
        <Summary>A view from the eyes of a dramatist</Summary>
        <Description>&lt;BR&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;IMG alt="Patrick Dorn" hspace=8 
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color=#990033&gt;Patrick Rainville Dorn&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/STRONG&gt; has written the 
following plays for &lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.pioneerdrama.com/"&gt;&lt;FONT 
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&lt;DIV align=left&gt;&lt;FONT color=#000000&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;A 
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&lt;DIV align=left&gt;&lt;FONT color=#000000&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;A 
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&lt;DIV align=left&gt;&lt;STRONG&gt;&lt;FONT color=#000000&gt;&lt;A 
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         <Name>NO STRINGS ATTACHED--The latest Pioneer Musical</Name>
         <Summary>It's coming soon!</Summary>
         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;First &lt;city w:st="on" /&gt;&lt;place w:st="on" /&gt;Alice&lt;/place /&gt;&lt;/city /&gt; in Wonderland got a makeover with &amp;ldquo;Through the Looking Glass,&amp;rdquo; and now it&amp;rsquo;s everybody&amp;rsquo;s favorite puppet Pinocchio standing on his own two Converse high-tops with Pioneer Drama Service&amp;rsquo;s newest hip, hilarious musical &amp;ldquo;No Strings Attached.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;The phenomenal success of Shrek and Shrek 2 has spawned a whole new generation of upbeat adaptations of children&amp;rsquo;s classics geared specifically for teens. These new musicals take the beloved stories, pump them full of energetic, contemporary music and use the original tales as a springboard for over-the-top comedy with a teenage twist. Bill Francoeur&amp;rsquo;s music has the characters literally hip hopping their way across a chessboard set as a teenage Alice learns how to &amp;ldquo;play the game&amp;rdquo; of adolesence and claim her own crown of womanhood in &amp;ldquo;Through the Looking Glass.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;Now, with the October release of &amp;ldquo;No Strings Attached,&amp;rdquo; Francoeur combines several popular musical styles to guide Pinocchio through the trials and tribulations of becoming an independent almost-adult. &amp;ldquo;What we&amp;rsquo;re seeing,&amp;rdquo; playwright Patrick Dorn says, &amp;ldquo;is that these classic tales aren&amp;rsquo;t just for children. They appeal to teenagers and adults as well, on different levels. Our goal with &amp;lsquo;No Strings Attached&amp;rsquo; was to be true to the original story, but also take a look at how a teenaged Pinocchio might get himself into and out of trouble. We even see what kind of adult he might become. The result is hilarious, and something any middle or high school student can identify with.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;ldquo;No Strings Attached&amp;rdquo; is the second collaboration between Francoeur and Dorn. Francoeur arranged Tchaikovsky&amp;rsquo;s music for Dorn&amp;rsquo;s book and lyrics in &amp;ldquo;Nutcracker,&amp;rdquo; one of Pioneer Drama Service&amp;rsquo;s most popular holiday musicals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;ldquo;We believe &amp;lsquo;No Strings Attached&amp;rsquo; and &amp;lsquo;Through the Looking Glass&amp;rsquo; are starting to bridge a gap between traditional children&amp;rsquo;s musicals and our other teen-oriented full-length musicals,&amp;rdquo; publisher Steven Fendrich said. &amp;ldquo;You can look for more of these high-energy, age-appropriate musical adaptations in the future.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;</Description>
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                   <Title>NO STRINGS ATTACHED</Title>

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                   <Title>THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS</Title>

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         <Name>Telling the Good Guys From The Bad--Conflict in Theatre</Name>
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         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;Telling the Good Guys from the Bad Guys&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;By Patrick Dorn&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;By definition, drama needs to have conflict to be dramatic. As youngsters we often look at a story and work out &amp;ldquo;who&amp;rsquo;s the good guy and who&amp;rsquo;s the bad guy.&amp;rdquo; Melodramas are so much fun because we love to see the good rewarded and the wicked punished. Many of Pioneer&amp;rsquo;s children&amp;rsquo;s plays and melodramas have clearly established heroes and villains. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"&gt;Later in our development we discover that sometimes the good guys, like Zorro, wear a black hat. We cheer the exploits of anti-heroes, where rebellion against the established order is considered a good thing. Robin Hood resists the corruption of Prince John. Luke Skywalker joins the rag tag Rebel Alliance to turn the tide against the evil Galactic Empire. We admire Ferris Bueller for prevailing against embarrassingly uncool adult authority figures. Teens especially enjoy stories about &amp;ldquo;sticking it to The Man.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The older we get, the more we realize that there are other kinds of conflicts than the obvious war between good and evil. Sometimes a character needs to overcome a weakness in his or her own character, or grow beyond a limitation and see things in a new way. The biblical Joseph needs to forgive his brothers for abandoning him. Heidi&amp;rsquo;s spoiled cousin needs to quit whining and start walking. In Pioneer&amp;rsquo;s play &amp;ldquo;The Beggar and the Wolf,&amp;rdquo; an entire besieged community needs to face its fears and think of others first, and in Pioneer&amp;rsquo;s &amp;ldquo;The Three Bully Goats Griff&amp;rdquo; the little guy gets a chance to become a bully and pays for his choices. Sometimes a character must learn the value of hard work, or self-sacrifice, or humility. &amp;ldquo;Evolve or perish&amp;rdquo; becomes the motto of these stories.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;All three kinds of conflict are immensely entertaining and exciting, and there are an infinite number of variations on these themes. We learn and grow as human beings when we watch conflicts resolved. We absorb virtues and values, and as we take them in, those stories become OUR story as well.&lt;/p&gt;</Description>
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                   <Synopsis>Theatre can empower </Synopsis>

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                   <Title>Oxford Playhouse</Title>

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         <Name>Have You Ever Thought Of Theatre As A Contact Sport?</Name>
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         <Description>&lt;font face="Arial" size="2"&gt;I like amateur theater for the same reason I like high school football. Anything can happen. Professionals on the boards and on the gridiron are usually too polished, too careful to get themselves into real trouble. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;font face="Arial" size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; But in high school? Players, whether on the field or in the footlights, are capable of astonishing accomplishments, and just as spectacular goof-ups, because they pour their hearts out into what they are doing, come what may.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;font face="Arial" size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; For every story of a jaw-dropping football interception, last-moment or game-winning throw for the hoop in basketball, or kicking the ball into the wrong goal in soccer, there are equally inspiring and embarrassing experiences onstage.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;font face="Arial" size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; I remember the time when I offered up a toast with a plastic champagne glass, and the base fell off, fluttering to the floor with a clatter. The audience snickered, but one actor chimed in, &amp;quot;What interesting champagne glasses you have, my dear Count.&amp;quot; And the play went on.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;font face="Arial" size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Then there was the time during a scene of &amp;quot;You Can't Take It With You,&amp;quot; where I was supposed to separate a wrestler from my would-be father-in-law. I caught an elbow to the chin, back-pedaled and saw stars. I put my fist up to my jaw and it came away drenched with blood. I've always felt that facial cuts bleed a lot more than they really have to. I pressed my palm to my chin for the rest of the scene in order to staunch the flow. I must have looked very thoughtful, standing there. Once offstage, the stage manager handed me a band-aid, and I finished the matinee. My mother was working, so my sister-in-law took me to the doctor, who sutured me up. Trust me, it's more fun to leave the audience in stitches, than to get them yourself. I later asked a friend in the audience if she saw what had happened, and she said she never even noticed! Even so, I've thought of drama as a contact sport ever since.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</Description>
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                   <Title>You Can't Take It with You opened in New York in December of 1936 to instant critical and popular acclaim. </Title>

                   <Synopsis>Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1936, the comedy went on to run 837 performances on Broadway.</Synopsis>

                   <URL>http://www.enotes.com/you-cant/</URL>

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                   <Title>YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU</Title>

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         <Name>My First Performance as an Actor in a Play</Name>
         <Summary>I Was In On of the Plays In A Recreation Center</Summary>
         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;When I was about four or five years old, the local recreation center put on a big play, which really had no script at all, as far as I could tell. The theme was &amp;quot;The Golden Age of the Silver Screen,&amp;quot; and what seemed like about 50 kids were dressed up as movie stars from the Silent Era. I was a Keystone Cop, but was dressed like an English Bobbie, with a tall, round helmet and a plastic billy club. My job was to ride around in a paddy wagon (which was a real wagon that had sides to it), fall out, chase after the wagon, fall down several times, get up, keep chasing and then hop back in. That was it. There were about a half a dozen of us. I couldn't have been happier with my part. No lines, just stunts. Lots of stunts. Running and falling, running and falling. I could have made a living doing it. Well, when show time came, I fell out of the wagon on cue, did a few extras rolls for good measure, but quickly realized that the kids who were pushing the wagon were nervous, and were going as fast as they could. A couple of us Keystone Cops got left in the dust, and never did catch back up. So we bumped into each other, fell down, then ran offstage. What a debut! Forty-five years later, I remembered the joy of that experience, and wrote &amp;quot;The Three Bully Goats Griff,&amp;quot; in which the entire cast gets to fall off a bridge onto a mat. When I directed it, the kids had so much fun that I had them jump off a second time during the curtain call, just for good measure. Sometimes the simplest joys are the best.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</Description>
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                  <Keyword>plays for elementary schools</Keyword>

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                   <Title>THE THREE BULLY GOATS GRIFF</Title>

                   <Synopsis>A Play By Patrick Dorn On Bullying</Synopsis>

                   <URL>http://www.pioneerdrama.com/searchdetail.asp?pc=THREEBULLY&amp;id=94</URL>

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                   <Title>I Played a Keystone Cop in My First Play</Title>

                   <Synopsis>The typical policeman of 1920's movies, the Keystone Kop was modeled like the English "bobby", with a long brass-buttoned overcoat, carrying long nightsticks that he (more often than not) whapped himself with, rather than anyone else.</Synopsis>

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         <Name>How To Submit a Play for Publication</Name>
         <Summary>You’ve written a play, it’s been tried out onstage either with a full production or a staged reading, and now you’re ready to offer your typed, edited, polished and proofread script to the world.</Summary>
         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;How do you go about submitting the play for publication? &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Very few original plays have much appeal beyond the circumstances of their first production, but if you&amp;rsquo;re sure that you&amp;rsquo;ve got a script that can compete with the &amp;ldquo;big names,&amp;rdquo; take the time to analyze the publishers and their respective markets. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;There&amp;rsquo;s no point in submitting a script and having it rejected because it doesn&amp;rsquo;t fit a publisher&amp;rsquo;s customer-base. Your play is going to be facing enough rejection as it is. Why make it more painful than necessary? A little planning can save a lot of time and heartbreak.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;One of the best resources for finding an appropriate theatrical publisher is Writer&amp;rsquo;s Market, published by Writer&amp;rsquo;s Digest Books. It&amp;rsquo;s updated annually, and can be found in the reference section of most libraries. Or you can check out &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.writersmarket.com/"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#0000ff" size="3"&gt;www.writersmarket.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;. Writer&amp;rsquo;s Market covers nearly all areas of writing and publishing in more than 1,000 pages of articles on the business of writing, and listings of agents, publishers and more. There are approximately 24 pages devoted to playwriting, listing theater companies that accept new plays, contests and festivals, and theatrical publishers.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Make a list of all the publishers that sell plays like yours. Many publishing companies specialize in certain types of plays. For example, while most amateur theater publishers will carry a few religious plays, Meriwether Publishing, Lillenas, Eldridge and I.E. Clark have sections devoted to plays suitable for churches or Christian schools. But even in that specialized market, some publishers focus on skits and sketches, others on holiday shows, and still others biblical/historical plays. Pioneer Drama Service has a large selection of musicals, full length comedies, children&amp;rsquo;s plays and melodramas. Samuel French carries mostly former Broadway productions.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Once you have a list of prospective publishers, check out their web sites. Request a catalog and submission guidelines. Browse through the catalog or the web site to get a better idea about how your play would fit in with that company. If you&amp;rsquo;ve got an adaptation of &amp;ldquo;The Wizard of Oz&amp;rdquo; and the publisher already has three or four of them, chances are your script would be rejected, even if it&amp;rsquo;s better than the ones the publisher already has. For example, check out the Pioneer Drama Service catalog and see how many &amp;ldquo;Wizard of Oz&amp;rdquo; adaptations you can find. If you&amp;rsquo;re lucky, you&amp;rsquo;ll find a publisher that has plays in the same genre as yours, but not your particular title or subject. Congratulations! You&amp;rsquo;ve identified an opening!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Follow the submission guidelines. Every publisher has a different way of doing things, and they have their reasons. You want to adapt to fulfilling their needs and making them happy, rather than ask them to accommodate you.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Personally, I prefer to send a query letter or e-mail to the publisher rather than fire off an unsolicited manuscript. If your play isn&amp;rsquo;t right for a publisher, it&amp;rsquo;s better to find out in the query phase than after you submit the script. It&amp;rsquo;s easier to take a query rejection than to send in a script, wait hopefully for months, and then have your actual script rejected. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;If the editor&amp;rsquo;s curiosity is piqued by your query letter, you&amp;rsquo;ve already got your foot in the door. The forthcoming script is going to get a much more favorable reading than if it is dropped unceremoniously on his or her desk along with dozens of other unrequested scripts. Submitting a &amp;ldquo;requested manuscript&amp;rdquo; is a sure way of moving your script to the top of the heap.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;Some publishers don&amp;rsquo;t mind if you submit your play to multiple publishers. Others are offended by the practice of multiple submissions, so respect their policies.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;Most of the plays I&amp;rsquo;ve submitted to publishers lately have been by e-mail, rather than snail mail. I&amp;rsquo;ve found that editors respond to e-mails very quickly, and it saves loads on photocopying and postage. I suspect publishers like this too, because it&amp;rsquo;s easier to edit a file than typeset a script submitted in hardcopy. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;However you send it, be prepared to wait. Most theatrical publishers receive hundreds of scripts each year, and publish only a fraction of them. Once you&amp;rsquo;ve gotten a play &amp;ldquo;out there,&amp;rdquo; start working immediately on your next one. Rejection is easier to take if you&amp;rsquo;ve got another project in the works, and if your script is accepted, you&amp;rsquo;ve got another show in the pipeline to show them. Publishers like working with reliable playwrights over and over again, and they&amp;rsquo;ll be eager to hear about your next big hit!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;</Description>
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                   <Title>Pioneer Drama Service Playwriting Contest</Title>

                   <Synopsis>At Pioneer Drama Service, our editors are constantly on the look out for new plays.</Synopsis>

                   <URL>http://www.pioneerdrama.com/playwrights/submit.asp</URL>

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                  <Link>
                   <Title>Young Playwrights Festival</Title>

                   <Synopsis>Read about the 2005 Young Playwrights Festival - the 19th season! </Synopsis>

                   <URL>http://www.tresser.com/festival.htm</URL>

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         <Name>My Worst Theatre Disasters</Name>
         <Summary>Be Prepared--You Never Know When They Will Happen</Summary>
         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Sometimes, onstage disasters get a little help from mischievous types. In a production of &amp;quot;A Midsummer Night's Dream,&amp;quot; I wore tight-fitting, orange suede cloth pants, which ripped out in the crotch two nights in a row during a sword-fighting scene. &amp;quot;Don't lunge so far,&amp;quot; the costumer, who was tired of making the repairs warned. I asked him to sew it extra well and he scowled at me. The next night I felt a prickling sensation and had to modify the fight scene, scaling my swashbuckling back dramatically. Checking my trousers at intermission, I found a row of straight pins, which the costumer claimed he must have &amp;quot;accidentally&amp;quot; left there after making the repairs!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Even as a professional actor, accidents happen. After more than 50 performances in a dinner theater production of &amp;quot;Fiddler on the Roof,&amp;quot; in which I played one of the &amp;quot;bottle dancers&amp;quot; during the wedding scene, I had still never dropped the bottle balanced on my head. But I must have been off that night because down the bottle went. I caught it in mid-air, grinned sheepishly at the audience and then walked off stage, forgetting completely that my dance partner needed me for the acrobatic ending. He had to improvise a little dance on his own, and came off looking like a goon. This is what I call a chain reaction flub.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</Description>
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         <Name>What in the world is wrong with science fiction?</Name>
         <Summary>Lightsaber duels and laser-blasting snub fighters dogfighting in deep space. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?</Summary>
         <Description>&lt;font size="2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;Science fiction has been a popular and enduring genre in novels, television and movies, boldly taking us to fantastic worlds where no one has gone before for more than 50 years.&lt;p&gt;So where are the top-selling science fiction plays? Look through the catalogs, and you'll see lots of fantasy, some horror (especially spoofs), but almost no science fiction, except the occasional comedy about bug-eyed monsters. What is it about sci fi that doesn't seem to be able to translate successfully to the stage?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's not that the special effects are too challenging. There are plenty of other kinds of plays that require a lot of technical support. And some of the most memorable sci fi shows have cheesy effects anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It can't be the campy style of acting, either. Melodramas are immensely popular, and they serve up ham in epic proportions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure, but I think that the failure of sci fi to capture our theatrical imagination has to do with stage conventions and our willing suspension of disbelief. We can accept a brainless scarecrow or a stringless marionette, but put an alien onstage, and all we see is a kid in a rubber mask. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Science fiction writers have to work extra hard to create and sustain a sense of reality, even in the most far-fetched settings. They have to define an entirely different world for their audiences, and the aesthetic distance the television or movie screen provides actually helps. Audiences will accept images and situations on a flat screen that they just won't buy on a stage. On a screen, we can pretend we are watching through a window into another world, but onstage, we are actually participating at some level, and exist within the overall setting. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Also, the emphasis that sci fi places on technology appeals more to our rational, objective minds, even while engaging the imagination. Our hearts want to explore the far reaches of the universe, but our sense of reality keeps reminding us that this is just a play. Because the appeal of fantasy and horror is essentially non-rational, we are more willing to suspend disbelief.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's too bad, too, because sci fi is one of the richest resources we have for exploring human behavior, gaining multi-cultural perspectives and debating moral uncertainties.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;What do you think? What would it take to make sci fi work onstage?&lt;/p&gt;</Description>
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                   <Title>DR. WHO</Title>

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                   <URL>http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Doctor%20Who%20intro.htm</URL>

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                   <Title>Fantasy in the Theatre </Title>

                   <Synopsis>Fantasy in the theatre is as old as theatre itself.</Synopsis>

                   <URL>http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/review_essays/indick61.htm</URL>

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                   <Title>The Empress of Othernow</Title>

                   <Synopsis>"The Empress of Othernow" was a Doctor Who stageplay written for Huntingdon Drama Club, as one of the plays presented to celebrate the Club's 50th Anniversary.</Synopsis>

                   <URL>http://www.mhorann.demon.co.uk/whopage.htm</URL>

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                   <Title>ATTACK OF THE GIANT GRASSHOPPERS</Title>

                   <Synopsis>At the science fair, the exhibits are goofy: vegetarian piranha fish, Hamburger Helper face cream and wrinkle-free bacon. </Synopsis>

                   <URL>http://www.pioneerdrama.com/searchdetail.asp?pc=ATTACKOFTH&amp;id=0</URL>

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         <Name>Sometimes directors need to step in to help out at the last minute</Name>
         <Summary>Rely on your actors, no matter what happens</Summary>
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         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; When my son was about four years old, I got a job as a theater critic for a daily newspaper. For the next eight years, I saw about 100 shows a year--that's roughly two a week. I made it a point to take him to every show that was age appropriate, and when my daughter, who's three years younger got old enough, I took her too. So during their formative years, they saw far more plays than movies. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; I had taught college theater classes for years, and some of the school's former students started Colorado ACTS, a performance-oriented theater school. They asked me to write, teach and direct for the 8-12 year olds, and since my children fit in that age group, I readily agreed. During the next five or six years I wrote several plays which are now available through Pioneer, including &amp;quot;Poultry in Motion,&amp;quot; (which my daughter helped write) &amp;quot;The Beggar and the Wolf,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Sir Nose the Burger Rat,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;The Three Bully Goats Griff&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;Blather, Blarney and Balderdash.&amp;quot; It was fun to be a resident playwright and develop those shows with students I had trained, including my children.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Casting and working with my own children was lots of fun. There was never any concern about favoritism, and we have many very positive father-son and father-daughter memories of working and playing together.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Eventually, my son went on to do plays at his high school, and my daughter decided to give up acting, but they both love going to the theater and seeing plays, especially musicals. We play Broadway showtunes at home, and have an extensive video collection of musical theater. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; This winter my son and I are going to write a play together, a slapstick spoof of the epic poem &amp;quot;Beowulf.&amp;quot; That should be a lot of fun. From dad, to director, to colleagues in comedy.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</Description>
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                   <Synopsis> Keeping an unpublished manuscript in a drawer and not sharing it with an audience, even if it is a small audience of friends and acquaintances, is a mistake. </Synopsis>

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                   <Title>Teaching Creative Writing</Title>

                   <Synopsis>Creative writing is hard work. It requires students to use their imaginations, a difficult thing for students to do in a video-oriented epoch.</Synopsis>

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         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;In the play production process, the scariest part for me has always been auditions. Once I was cast, everything was all right...until opening night jitters reared their ugly little heads and turned my insides into a quivering mass of Jello.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The cure for opening night queasiness was easy: go out there with my friends and do what I was trained to do. Fear quickly turned into excitement, and then joy. But I never got to the point where I felt comfortable at an audition, even when I knew the director personally, and I never walked away from an audition feeling I had &amp;quot;aced&amp;quot; it.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Auditions just aren't natural! There you are, standing up onstage all alone, doing a monologue completely out of context of the play it's from, with no costumes, makeup, sets, props or even other actors to lean on. And why are you up there, feeling exposed and alone? To convince someone to like you and give you a part. They have all the power, and you have none. And even though they say &amp;quot;thank you,&amp;quot; what you suspect they really mean is &amp;quot;go away,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;we don't want you,&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;you're just not good enough.&amp;quot; You have every right to feel self-conscious.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Some people breeze through auditions, win or lose. Some are exhibitionists who don't care if you like them or not so long as you look at them. Others are extroverts whose self-esteem is secure enough to take occasional hits. Some are simply professionals who realize that getting rejected for a part is nothing personal, that this is how show business works, that even failure can be a learning experience, and even a rejection can lead to a job later on down the line if you make the right connections.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; But what are the rest of us supposed to do? If we don't audition, we won't get cast. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There are several books available on audition techniques, selecting monologues, etc., but the point of this blog is to reassure you that the best way to overcome the fear of auditioning is to face it, and take control of any areas you can.. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Auditions are a necessary evil, and we can make the best of them. It's sort of like going to the dentist. You've got to do it, but you can do things ahead of time&amp;nbsp;to make it as painless as possible.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; You do have some say. You can begin by selecting the right monologue. Don't do something outside your comfort zone, and one area of insecurity is eliminated. Choose a character you feel comfortable with, and that the director could easily see you playing.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Next, be prepared. If you go to an audition under-rehearsed, you deserve to be afraid. Put as much work into your monologue as you would into a full production. Practice it over and over, out loud and in front of your friends until you have it cold. One of the worst fears associated with auditioning is worrying about messing up. Building confidence in your preparation will help prevent that.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Getting through an audition is never easy, but with experience you can reduce the fear, and spend the rest of your energy worrying about when the cast list will be posted!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</Description>
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                   <Title>The Theatre Audition Book</Title>

                   <Synopsis>144 Monologs from Contemporary, Modern, Period, Shakespeare and Classical Plays</Synopsis>

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                   <Title>The Ultimate Audition Book For Teens</Title>

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         <Name>Not-Quite-Shakespeare in Love</Name>
         <Summary>There are many things to love and hate about being a published playwright, often at the same time.</Summary>
         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;Getting a contract in the mail is fun, but getting a rejection letter isn&amp;rsquo;t. 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It takes all my attention, waking and sleeping. I imagine spending time in the world of my play. I get to know my characters&amp;rsquo; innermost feelings and thoughts. If I&amp;rsquo;m away from my computer for any length of time during these periods of creativity, I long to get back to it. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;Last month my laptop and I went away for a week together in the mountains, and I wrote a new medieval Christmas play called &amp;ldquo;O Holy Knight.&amp;rdquo; I came back from that creative getaway dancing with honeymoon giddiness. My wife once called the computer &amp;ldquo;my mistress.&amp;rdquo; If she only knew&amp;hellip;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;On the other hand, when I&amp;rsquo;m in between projects, with no ideas forthcoming, I sulk and brood. I do the laundry and wash the dishes. My laptop ignores me, cycling the screen saver through images of places I&amp;rsquo;d rather be than at home, sitting down to write. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;Sometimes I can almost hear it mocking me. &amp;ldquo;You call yourself a playwright? So why aren&amp;rsquo;t you writing?&amp;rdquo; I grumble and complain at the prospect of&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;having to actually &amp;ldquo;work&amp;rdquo; at writing. I read through some of the half-hearted, abortive attempts at ill-conceived play ideas I&amp;rsquo;ve come up with and throw them down in disgust. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;That&amp;rsquo;s when I know it&amp;rsquo;s time to chat with my theater friends, or visit the library and browse the stacks for fairy tales, myths and legends. Sometimes I&amp;rsquo;ll listen to soundtracks and cast recordings of my favorite musicals. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;But by far the most inspiring thing I can do during those doldrum times is go see a play. Live theater. An actual production with real actors. Lights, curtains, an audience laughing (or crying), and best of all, a story come to life. 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                   <Synopsis>Whether you're a seasoned actor or a non-actor with vocal presence, this outstanding handbook offers an expert's insight into launching a career and find work in voice-overs.</Synopsis>

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         <Summary>Sometimes directors need to step in to help out at the last minute.</Summary>
         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;When I directed Pioneer's &amp;quot;Puss in Boots&amp;quot; at Colorado Christian University, I got a call five minutes before curtain that one of the actors had been in a car accident, had a head injury of indeterminate severity, and wouldn't be making it to the theater. I grabbed a script, put on his costume, went out to the audience before the show started and explained the situation. Because it was a Christian setting, we prayed for the young man (who was fine and came back for the very next performance), and went on with the show. What amazed me was that as director, I had carefully worked out the onstage blocking, and knew the character. However, I didn't know the backstage &amp;quot;traffic patterns&amp;quot; the actors had worked out. The actors were great, pushing me here, pulling me there so that I wouldn't miss an entrance. I was so proud of them because I was no longer in charge. It was THEIR show, and they led me around as if I was the inexperienced newcomer. I'll always remember how it felt for the shoe to be on the other foot, and I'll always treasure how great it felt to know I could rely on my young actors, no matter what happened.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt; </Description>
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                   <Synopsis>The show I loved but it was a disaster when I directed it!</Synopsis>

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         <Name>Early Stages: Beginning the Playwriting Process, part 1</Name>
         <Summary>I've just started a new play, and I thought it would be helpful for beginning playwrights to follow the show's development, from initial concept to publication (or rejection).</Summary>
         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;By Patrick Rainville Dorn&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;This isn't the only way to start writing a play. There are probably better ways. This is how it happened for me, and this is a pretty typical example of what has worked in the past.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;A few months ago I was browsing through the used paperback bookstore, trolling for ideas. I came across a collection of Washington Irving's writings, including &amp;quot;Rip Van Winkle,&amp;quot; a short story about a lazy, easy-going man who falls asleep a few years before the American Revolution, naps through the war and wakes up 20 years later. First published in 1819, I knew that the story was public domain, and therefore ripe for the picking.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;The story has always appealed to me, mostly because I'm a lazy, easy-going man who loves to nap! I'd discarded the idea of turning it into a play years ago because the story has far more male characters than female, and in the pivotal scene, Rip gets rip-roaring drunk with the spirits of Henry Hudson and his bowling buddies, precipitating his decades-long snooze-fest. That's a hard concept to pitch to a wholesome, family run publishing house like Pioneer Drama Service. So I let the idea rest--believe it or not, for nearly 20 years!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;I bought the paperback anyway, hoping that there might be a way to &amp;quot;fix&amp;quot; the problems of the story and make it work for middle and high school students. It was just a dollar, and there were lots of other stories in the book that might work out, even if they are less well known. I like Washington Irving's style, and I also knew that there are many, many stage versions of &amp;quot;The Headless Horseman,&amp;quot; so I ruled out &amp;quot;Sleepy Hollow.&amp;quot;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;Over the years, I had written &amp;quot;Blather, Blarney and Balderdash,&amp;quot; which incorporates narration, storytelling and dialogue right into the characters themselves. Then I wrote &amp;quot;The Beggar and the Wolf,&amp;quot; in which the townspeople serve as a collective character. As I re-read &amp;quot;Rip Van Winkle,&amp;quot; I realized that my skills and voice as a playwright had developed to the point where I could adapt the tale in such a way as to make it work for the Pioneer demographic and still stay true to the spirit and tone of the original story.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;Some playwrights like to &amp;quot;update&amp;quot; a story using modern teenage characters. Many of Pioneer's most successful comedies (like &amp;quot;Twinderella&amp;quot;) remix fairy tales with contemporary settings, characters and costumes. (This has been going on long before &amp;quot;Shrek.&amp;quot;) But I like the colonial/early republic setting for &amp;quot;Rip,&amp;quot; including the costumes and permission to avoid the issue of modern technology. Also, I felt that the &amp;quot;ghost&amp;quot; component wouldn't work as well in the modern world. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</Description>
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         <Name>Early Stages: Beginning the Playwriting Process, part 2</Name>
         <Summary>Once I'd decided to take a crack at adapting the "Rip Van Winkle" story into a play, it was time to do a little research.</Summary>
         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;Once I'd decided to take a crack at adapting the &amp;quot;Rip Van Winkle&amp;quot; story into a play, it was time to do a little research. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;I searched the Pioneer Drama Service online catalog, and found that they do not currently carry a &amp;quot;Rip Van Winkle&amp;quot; adaptation. I ran a search at &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.findaplay.com/"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#0000ff"&gt;www.findaplay.com&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt; and discovered that only four publishers had versions. So on the one hand, I identified a potential &amp;quot;hole&amp;quot; in the Pioneer offerings&amp;nbsp;(don't try to send Pioneer a &amp;quot;Cinderella,&amp;quot; they've got 10 different versions!), with a well-known story and title, and a little but not too much competition with other publishers, so I felt the market was ready for a new, hip &amp;quot;Rip.&amp;quot;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;I read the story, which is only about 20 pages long (a good length for a one-act adaptation!) very carefully, noting the locations, the principal characters, the plot and the thematic arc of the story. I ran an online search for &amp;quot;Rip Van Winkle&amp;quot; and came up with a study guide, biographical information on the author, illustrations from various printed versions of the story, and even a download of a 1906 silent film version filmed at Thomas Edison's studio and starring the legendary 19th century mega-star Joseph Jefferson!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;In the original story, Washington Irving provides an interesting lead-in to the actual tale, introducing a fictional Diedrich Knickerbocker, a collector of folk tales and legends, who purportedly had recorded and verified the Rip Van Winkle story. The Knickerbocker character (who I immediately changed into a female &amp;quot;Diedre&amp;quot;) was going to be my &amp;quot;outsider,&amp;quot; the one who goes looking for a story, and finds a play.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;Since the villagers &amp;quot;tell&amp;quot; (and act out) the story of Rip Van Winkle for Knickerbocker, I knew I would add numerous gender-neutral townspeople as narrators/storytellers, and maintain a theatrical element that allows for my broad style of physical humor, quirky characters and fast dialogue.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;Now I felt ready to begin writing. I created the file with all the proper formatting, wrote out the set description so I'd have a clear mental picture on which to stage the show in my imagination, and began listing the cast of characters. I wrote a quick sentence outline listing the &amp;quot;scenes&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;encounters&amp;quot; for the story, and key characters.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;I decided to make the &amp;quot;liquor&amp;quot; into enchanted (non-alcoholic) cherry cider dispensed from a flat, cut-out &amp;quot;barrel,&amp;quot; thereby downplaying the drinking element. 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                   <Title>To Search For a Play Title</Title>

                   <Synopsis>I ran a search and discovered that only four publishers had versions of Rip Van Winkle</Synopsis>

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         <Name>Early Stages: Beginning the Playwriting Process</Name>
         <Summary>Part Three</Summary>
         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;In my newly begun stage adaptation of&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Rip Van Winkle,&amp;quot; Knickerbocker enters an empty village looking for a story. A &amp;quot;dog&amp;quot; comes out and ignores her. (The dog later becomes a &amp;quot;player&amp;quot; in the Rip Van Winkle tale.) A female tavern keeper (work as many female roles in as possible!) appears suddenly, startling Knickerbocker. Just as suddenly, a host of villagers appear, ready and willing to act out the story of Rip Van Winkle's encounter with the 18th century equivalent of &amp;quot;The Twilight Zone.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;All of a sudden I knew that the play would end with Knickerbocker alone again in the deserted village, realizing that all the villagers had been spirits, and that the collector of legends had been invited to participate in her own ghost story! This theatrical device &amp;quot;bookends&amp;quot; the Rip Van Winkle story, and opens the door for all kinds of possibilities, while making the actual process of laying out the story much easier. Actors can double roles easily, females could have a bigger part to play in the action, scene changes can be narrated and accomplished in full view of the audience, the Hudson ghosts didn't have to be actual ghosts (or dwarves), etc. Eureka! I'd found the key to adapting the story into a unified, entertaining play.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;In one day, I wrote the &amp;quot;set-up&amp;quot; for the Rip Van Winkle story/play, and got the villagers onstage.&amp;nbsp;I keep the short story open next to my computer, read and re-read paragraphs, picture how it might work onstage, and then let my inner voice start dictating the dialogue as I watch the play unfold in my imagination. I instinctively sense when a joke or piece of comical business is needed, and when a scene has gone on long enough. Each sequence has its own rhythm.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;As I write, I keep a running tally of how many lines each villager has. Pioneer wants a minimum of 10 lines per actor. So I started with five villagers, and I'll keep adding more once they've reached the quota. Named characters will emerge from the group, so a narrator may become Rip's daughter for a scene (and also have 10 lines), then go back to the ensemble. This means a director can add extras or double up parts, depending on the size of the available cast. This worked really well for &amp;quot;Blather, Blarney and Balderdash,&amp;quot; which can have a cast of 15-60!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;So far I've written three pages of dialogue, which is a little less than six minutes. I've established the context of the show, and introduced the Rip Van Winkle character in relationship to the environment and the townspeople. In the next scene we'll meet his nagging wife, then it's off to the hills for his ghostly encounter with Hudson. I usually write 2-3 pages per day, and when I'm in the &amp;quot;groove,&amp;quot; I write about 6-10 pages per week. &amp;quot;Rip Van Winkle&amp;quot; will be 30 pages or less (closer to 20), so after revision and editing,&amp;nbsp;it'll be ready to workshop in about a month.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;But before I get into all that,&amp;nbsp; I think it's time for a nap! &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"&gt;&lt;span style="COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"&gt;&lt;span style="COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</Description>
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                   <Title>Rip van Winkle</Title>

                   <Synopsis>Rip van Winkle is a short story by Washington Irving published in 1819, as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist.</Synopsis>

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                   <Title>An Introduction to Rip Van Winklse</Title>

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                   <Synopsis>A great interview with playwright, screenwriter and film director Neil Labute. He talks to Anne Nicolson Weber about his latest show "Wrecks" and the Profiles Theatre production of "Fat Pig" which is now playing in Chicago.</Synopsis>

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         <Name>Politically Incorrect Plays and Characters</Name>
         <Summary>Theatre has always pushed the envelope when it comes to treating shocking and sometimes disturbing subjects.</Summary>
         <Description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&amp;ldquo;Oedipus Rex&amp;rdquo; is a tragedy about incest. &amp;ldquo;Tartuffe&amp;rdquo; satirizes religious hypocrites. &amp;ldquo;Fiddler on the Roof&amp;rdquo; takes on arranged marriages and the persecution of Russian Jews. &lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;Playwrights and directors should be encouraged to stage productions that raise important social questions. Sometimes the arts can help people sort through controversial subjects and grow in their world view.&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;But shock value isn&amp;rsquo;t necessarily a gauge of quality. Sometimes changing tastes and sensitivities render a formerly harmless subject or character unacceptable to audiences. This is especially true with comedies. &lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;Forty years ago, Jerry Lewis used to make audiences howl with laughter by playing a squinty-eyed, buck-toothed, heavily accented Japanese character. Nowadays, no one laughs at that kind of racial stereotyping. But sophisticated audiences seem to have no trouble enjoying the outrageously flamboyant, swishing and lisping homosexual characters in Mel Brooks&amp;rsquo; &amp;ldquo;The Producers.&amp;rdquo; Why is that?&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;I can remember a time when no-fault divorce and &amp;ldquo;blended families&amp;rdquo; became all the rage, and any fairy tale with a &amp;ldquo;wicked stepmother&amp;rdquo; was considered politically incorrect. At one time there was a whole sub-genre of &amp;ldquo;hillbilly&amp;rdquo; plays, poking fun at uneducated, unwashed mountain folk. The makers of Disney&amp;rsquo;s &amp;ldquo;Pocahontas&amp;rdquo; went to great lengths to portray Native Americans in a positive light, but weren&amp;rsquo;t the least bit concerned about negatively depicting the British characters as hopelessly clich&amp;eacute;d and offensive stereotypes. The Uncle Remus &amp;ldquo;Brer Rabbit&amp;rdquo; animal stories provide wonderful insights into human nature, but the use of a slave-based &amp;ldquo;negro dialect,&amp;rdquo; greatly praised when the stories came out in the 1880s, is problematic today.&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;Hopefully responsible directors will think twice about choosing a comedy about a &amp;ldquo;drunken Irishman&amp;rdquo; or a &amp;ldquo;promiscuous priest.&amp;rdquo; But what about &amp;ldquo;dumb blondes,&amp;rdquo; &amp;ldquo;gangsta rappers&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;surfer dudes&amp;rdquo;? Are they still fair game?&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;It all boils down to the play&amp;rsquo;s comedic spirit. Many, perhaps even most comedies get their laughs by degrading a person&amp;rsquo;s basic human dignity, by having supposedly adult people act like juveniles, by cutting people down, putting them in embarrassing situations or insulting them. It&amp;rsquo;s a cheap kind of laugh, and there&amp;rsquo;s really very little good that comes from that kind of humor.&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: