/r/Theatre

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Theatre theory, design, news and community.

This sub is aimed at professionals in the theatre community working in the industry, but is open to everyone, including students, community artists, and fans of the artform.

Interesting news from the theatre world.


Check out our Wiki for a number of resources and other information:


Rules
  1. Civility: Racist, homophobic, sexist, transphobic, insulting, or otherwise hateful or bigoted comments will be removed, and will result in a warning or a ban. Please try to remain civil. Attempts to annoy or harass may result in a ban. Trolling is not tolerated.
  2. No copyright infringement: All requests for and directions toward copyrighted materials must be for legally accessible sources, such as script publishers and officially licensed videos. Do not ask for or offer access to pirated copyrighted materials. This includes but is not limited to PDFs, Google Drive links, unofficial YouTube links, search terms, Dropbox links, or any other form of sheet music, bootlegs, scripts or any form of copyrighted work whatsoever.
  3. No posting rants/vents or audition material requests: We have regularly sticked threads for both of these topics, and ask you to keep them contained there. If you are looking for solution to a problem, you may post an ‘Advice’ Thread which contains some venting, but the focal point must be to figure out how to fix the situation you’re in. Similarly, individual posts looking for guidance in an audition are allowed so long as they are not requesting monologues or songs.
  4. Do your own homework: We are not here to do your homework for you. If you are struggling with a particular concept or have a more specific question, you may post a question with context that demonstrates how you have already put in work and addresses where you need clarity, but we will not write your essay analyzing Shakespeare for you. (You should also probably go to your instructor for help.)
  5. No self-promotion: This isn't a space to advertise your projects, products, or services. Treat it similar to Wikipedia: if your story is interesting enough to be posted, someone else will post it. Videos of you performing is not an exception, nor is posting reviews of your own shows. These can all instead be shared on the weekly Saturday Showcase.
  6. Follow link submission guidelines: All links must be accompanied by a quick blurb stating why the link is valuable or worth reading for the whole community—something short that gets the conversation going. This applies to news and opinion articles and blogs, video essays and interviews, production reviews, etc. Rule 5 still applies to reviews, but articles or videos you produce are allowed.
  7. Review posts need to be appealing to people outside the theater's region: Generally this means productions at major institutions whose work can impact the whole industry, but can also include regional or community productions that have a particularly insightful quality to them, such as uplifting marginalized voices or taking an especially unique approach to crafting the production. Otherwise, reviews of shows you enjoyed should be contained to the weekly Reviews thread posted every Monday. (See this thread for more on what this means.)
  8. No surveys/studies, crowdfunding, selling tickets, etc.: Due to an influx of spam and catfishing attempts, we do not allow surveys or studies, requests for people to support your crowdfund, or requests to buy or sell tickets or discount codes. These may be better suited to your local subreddits.
  9. No memes: This includes media like TikTok videos. Those belong in spaces like /r/theatrememes and /r/broadwaymemes.
  10. Do not comment out an entire paywalled article: Paywalls are part of our industry. A lot of content is behind a soft or hard paywall, especially the New York Times. You may share a snippet or preview (roughly 3-5 paragraphs), but not the whole thing. Sharing gift links when applicable is encouraged, if possible, but not required.
Posting Guidelines
  • Content: We encourage articles about news, developments, and other interesting information about theatre. We also allow discussion about experiences and approaches to theatre. Some topics have been asked about a lot, so while you’re welcome to make a new posts asking questions, we do request you search first to see if something has been asked before.
  • No spam: Videos and other seemingly-random links should have some sort of context indicating its value, or it’ll likely be assumed to be self-promotion.
  • Put your question in the title: It makes it much easier for readers to know what you’re looking for if you don’t bury it in the text body, and in turn makes it easier for you to get the responses you want.
  • Don't post your title in all-caps. It's just annoying, rarely justified, and is more likely to turn people away rather than actually getting them to help you.
  • Avoid low-effort questions: Some examples of posts that are low effort: Gift suggestions for my teacher/director/significant other in the cast; “Hi, I just got cast as X, any advice?”; “Does anyone else get nervous waiting for the cast list?!”; etc. Posts like this are frequent and add very little to the conversation.
  • Student Theatre: While posts from secondary school and college/university students are allowed, be conscientious of what you’re contributing to the subreddit and what you’re trying to get out of doing so. If you wish to complain about not getting cast, or drama between friends, or whatever, bring it to the vent/rant thread. If you’re looking for career advice, or trying to solve a certain problem in your school’s production, be clear about where you are in the process and what you need.
Flair Guide
  • News/Article/Review: External links to articles and analyses about theatre. (Reviews must not be for productions you are involved in or are paid to talk about - see Rule 5.)
  • Seeking Play Recommendations: Seeking ideas for plays or scenes to perform. Please indicate cast size and required genders in the title (if needed), and specify any other requirements in the text body.
  • Advice: Seeking help on certain problems, such as technical issues, problems with management, etc.
  • Discussion: General discussion on experiences, interests, theories, and other thoughts about theatre.
  • Help Finding Script/Video: When you know what play you're trying to read or watch but can't figure out how (must respect copyright - see Rule 2).
  • High School/College Student: Students may face similar issues as professional and community theatre members, but there’s often an element to those problems that makes them different in a school context. As such, while another flair may also be appropriate to your post, we ask that students generally tag their posts as being from a Student perspective. (The main exception to this is Play Recommendations, though in that case do specify elsewhere that this is a student show.)
  • Theatre Educator: For teachers, professors, and instructors seeking guidance on how to run their classes or programs.
  • Miscellaneous: Anything that doesn’t clearly fit the other flairs.

Mods might change a post’s flair to something more appropriate, if applicable.


Useful Links

News and reviews:

How to audition and find monologues:

Audition Notices:

Finding and buying scripts:

Local Resources:

Other Related Active Subreddits:

/r/Theatre

81,946 Subscribers

3

What questions should I ask the cast of Cursed Child?

In a few days I have a talkback with the whole cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway I know one of the actors, but otherwise what should I ask them?

3 Comments
2024/03/17
05:26 UTC

2

Looking for songs that give you the feeling of curtain call

Everyone who’s finished a show knows the feeling I’m talking about. My cast and I are trying to compile a playlist of songs that give off a similar feeling, as this is the last show of our community theatre’s season (sad I know😥) and we are all gonna miss that little rush.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

5 Comments
2024/03/17
02:39 UTC

7

Actor fall of stage | Technical and Saftey

We are wanting to have a person be thrown offstage for their death but what would make this safe it’s a good 4’ 6” off the ground and the seats are like 5 ish feet from stage to seats without a percussion pit. We can block the first row of seats if needed. We aren’t sure how to ensure actor safety. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

3 Comments
2024/03/16
23:26 UTC

0

NY/Upstate residents; How was moving to the city for your career? How did/do you plan for that?

Or if you moved up steer or plan to. I just graduated college and have a goal to move to NYC by the end of the year. The thing is how does one prepare for that financially and apartment wise? I plan to ask my boyfriend if he wants to find a place together since he‘ll be attending NYU in the fall; So on paper it looks like a perfect opportunity to get my ducks in a row. But in case that turns around I would love some advice on moving “blindly“ when it comes to apartment hunting and staying on a budget and job hunting While still becoming a professional performer.

Does anyone have tips or experience that one could receive? I’m saving now and job hunting for a remote job so that it’ll be easier to move when I do and not have to stress to much for a job. I would absolutely LOVE and tips or stories that could help or at least give insight.

0 Comments
2024/03/16
22:33 UTC

1

Snippets of script in audition packet a copyright violation?

I'm directing a show at a community theater. The producer is saying that the audition packet to be made available in advance should have snippets of the script for each character so actors can prepare for their audition. It's been my understanding that copyright includes prohibiting reproducing in whole or in part. To me, that would say this shouldn't be done. I've directed at other CTs, never had this request. This (new to me) group has been around for over 40 years. Am I wrong for pushing back? The producer is a published playwright, seems he should know?

2 Comments
2024/03/16
22:32 UTC

6

What should I know about working with an intimacy coordinator for a play reading?

I'm the director of a reading of a play, and one of my friends reccommended having a content meeting with my actors and an intimacy coordinator before starting the rehearsal process, because there is a rape scene in the play. Even though nothing will be actually staged, I want to give my actors as much support as I can.

What do intimacy coordinators actually do in this case? There's no actual physical contact because the play will only be read, so I don't know what to expect in working with an IC. How can I help my actors be comfortable?

6 Comments
2024/03/16
20:09 UTC

54

I dislike this casting situation. Am I wrong?

I recently auditioned for a show. I went through to final rounds of auditions and was not cast. I was upset because I later found out that the director/writer wrote the part for a person they ended up casting for that part. They auditioned me and so many others. I was the diversity option so I think that’s why they decided to keep me to the last round but ultimately decided I didn’t fit a family of white people. I’m upset about feeling like the role was pretty much being pre-cast and I was asked to waste my time when they already knew who they wanted.

Plus, the person who auditioned (I was able to see their audition) did not take the directors notes and instead did the same thing they did on the first read, but stronger, they also refused to drunk-sing a part, yet they still got the part because it was written for them….im just confused. Maybe I should be friends with more writers and directors too.

Although I thought I did well, I could have easily not done as well as I thought. Overall, I just feel like my time was wasted and they should have been upfront about pretty much being cast.

Am I wrong for feeling like I wasted my time? Does this count as pre-casting? How do you let something like this go? Is this standard practice in the industry? Is it worth telling them how I feel? I don’t want to burn bridges.

TLDR: I was asked to audition for a show that was written for someone else. They ended up casting the person they wrote it for. I feel like I wasted my time.

36 Comments
2024/03/16
16:17 UTC

2

What are the basics I need for a face of stage makeup?

I’m going shopping today and I lack a ton of products, I only have lipstick, a small eyeshadow palette, brow gel, and mascara. What will I need?

3 Comments
2024/03/16
15:03 UTC

3

Any tips for acting as this character?

I'm unsure if this is the most appropriate place to ask this, but if not please do suggest another community for me! :)

I am a teenager who attends drama out of school, and the play we are doing is about pretty much about Greek mythology. We're basically telling multiple of their stories.

My character I am concerned about not being good enough at is Princess Cassandra. For those who don't know, most simply explained: Cassandra was given the gift of foresight by Apollo as he was in love with her, but she rejected him and he got angry, especially the fact that he couldn't take away the gift of prophecy. Because of this, he cursed her so that nobody would believe anything Cassandra was prophecising. She saw that in the future the Greeks had a plan to trick their way into Troy's city gates, to murder all of the men and take all of the women into slavery, she attempted to save everyone, but everybody would think that she was just crazy. In the end, Troy loses and the Greeks are revelling about how they won the 10 years of raging war.

I'm looking for tips to basically help act more anxious and terrified as I, of course am anxious as heck that the production is next week! I kinda just want some tips for facial expressions, voice and physicality as I want to do the absolute best I can. I as much research as I could about my characters, but just that feeling of extra preparation really helps :)

Other characters I have that might be worth to look at are Hades and basically this hippie acting dude, but I'm most concerned about Cassandra. Thank you so much!!

1 Comment
2024/03/16
14:25 UTC

23

Anxiety over stage kissing

I have been cast in a show, where I have to kiss on stage, my first time stage kissing. My scene partner is awesome and we have both talked about it, considering the kiss is sensual and intense. My girlfriend was a little sceptical at first, but she has told me that she is cool with the scene, as well.

So far, we have been going with cheek kisses, but the director told us that she would like us to move on to kissing on the lips soon, so that the kiss can be choreographed properly.

I am feeling a little weirded out by it. I know it's not cheating and it doesn't mean anything but I keep having this nagging feeling that I am cheating on my girlfriend, even though she has assured me that she doesn't feel that way, at all, and I am also terrified of getting an erection during the kiss. I also have bad breath for which I generally use chewing gum, but is there anything else I can take for it?

So any tips or advice for me? How do I get over my own fears and ensure that this goes properly for me and my scene partner? And is there anything I should know before?

31 Comments
2024/03/16
14:21 UTC

6

What's the best and cheapest way to dampen the sound of a multi-purpose hall?

I'm putting on a musical at a multi-purpose hall in a client school I teach (Drama teachers in Malaysia tend to be freelancers/part-timers). An adaptation of "Sing" (Not my choice).

It's one of those school halls that doubles up as a badminton court/assembly hall, with rubber flooring to boot.

The facility team at the school says it's 60% soundproofed. The first 3 meters/10 feet of the walls from the ground up are cement, and the next 15/20 meters are covered with soundproofed board (the facility team says it's a dumb designing choice. I absolutely agree). Tech team says the sound will bounce like mad.

I'm thinking of lining the exposed cement with either 400 meters of cloth, or 400 meters of PE foam (as in those found in Fedex packages) as someone mentioned that's a good cheap way to soundproof rooms. Currently my calculations are that 400 meters of cloth cost around 450 ringgit (Roughly 120USD) and PE foam cost about double to triple that amount.

I should also mention that I'll have to remove everything after the show is done, and reinstall them next year when I'm directing Les Mis (That IS my choice).

Any advice on the most cost effective way to dampen/reduce the feedback that those walls will do would be much appreciated. Please and thank you.

1 Comment
2024/03/16
13:57 UTC

2

Saturday Showcase | Tell us about your latest theatre projects, or share something you're working on!

Wanna share photos of your latest stage design? A clip from something you just directed? A passage of something you're writing? Cute theatre-related crafts you made for fun? Good review you want to brag about? This weekend thread is the place to show off!

Contributions can be from professional productions, community theatre, educational or student plays, hobby work, or anything else you want to share. The purpose of this is to be fun and not self-promotional, though we won't discourage networking with people who are comfortable with it.

1 Comment
2024/03/16
12:00 UTC

5

Tell me about your injuries on stage.

Recently hurt my shoulder joint on stage and I can't even move without it hurting like hell. Have you ever been hurt on stage? Tell us your story.

30 Comments
2024/03/16
10:31 UTC

7

Does anyone know a good scene for two young women from arthur miller or tennessee wilson

My scene partner and I are both 19! We’ve been tasked to find a 3 minute scene. We’re open to gender bending!! all suggestions will be very appreciated 🫶🏽

Thank you!!

11 Comments
2024/03/16
07:05 UTC

0

Theatre Games

Hello!

I’ve recently gotten a job as a summer theater camp director and need some help coming up with theater games that I can have the kids play! These kids will be range rising kindergarten to rising 8th grade. Thankfully they will be separated into age categories. This camp runs 7 weeks and I’ll be running the theatre section 3-4 times a day for around an hour each section. This is my first time teaching drama (I am currently in college now) so I am a bit nervous. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and suggestions for games would also be great! Thank you all so much!

4 Comments
2024/03/16
05:07 UTC

14

How to eat more on stage

I am in the importance of being earnest and I play Algernon which eats A LOT. But I’m a pretty short skinny guy who doesn’t eat much. How should I practice eating more while also saying lines since I’m a very slow eater

7 Comments
2024/03/16
02:35 UTC

21

Messed up

hiya... im a 14 year old girl and ive just done my 1st show of this panto... (its cinderella and im playing buttons) and i have the most lines in the show, but at my introduction to the 150 people audience i completely fumbled and started stuttering and had to he prompted. it was annoying because i knew i could do it. the rest of the show went amazingly but i cant help but wish i didnt do that? idk im just feeling really bad about it

20 Comments
2024/03/16
01:57 UTC

1

Looking for crazy dada-esque show!

Hi, I’m looking for a video of a show I saw a few years ago. There’s not a lot of talking (if any) and it has some crazy stuff going on. At one point there is a guy falling off of a treadmill i think? And there’s a chair involved somehow. A lot of the audience is standing in the middle and get involved at some points. I think there was music but not much? Please help, this has been plaguing my mind since I saw it. Thanks so much!

Edit: there WAS music, it was strange

3 Comments
2024/03/16
00:17 UTC

6

Advice on post-show depression

I'm in 8th grade and our production of HSMJR ended yesterday. During the two to three months of hard work and practice, I always felt so happy that we would be running a show, but now I just feel so empty. The cast became a tight-knit family of its own and now it doesn't feel the same. This was my first show and it meant a lot to me. Even though I go to school with everyone, the thrill of running rehearsals and everything else is always on my mind. I heard that this is normal, but still. When I think of the show, I breathe pretty heavily, I get nervous/anxious for some reason, and sad overall. I've been reading on the web about some things I could do, but I figured that it is better to get advice from people who have first-hand experience with this. Thanks, everyone.

4 Comments
2024/03/16
00:08 UTC

0

Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano in true west

I have been trying to find a recording of this play but I had no luck. Does anyone yone know a way to watch it?

1 Comment
2024/03/15
21:01 UTC

7

New, free, online equitable make up and hair course!

The University of Michigan just launched a free online course (or you can pay for a certificate) about equitable makeup and hair for stage and camera on Coursera with a super talented and diverse cast of instructors with testimonials from performers! If you are a performer who wants to learn how to do their own or someone who wants to develop this a career skill this is a fantastic resource! Or if you want to browse through the course and have it on hand to help with instruction too! This is the first time their theatre department has done something like this so it will be evolving but all of the content is there. They are also having a booth at USITT this year! They are open to feedback.

Course includes

Color theory

Basic stage makeup

How to build your own kit

Wig prep

Age makeup

SFX

Drag (taught by Alexis Michelle!)

And more!

Here is the link:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/equitable-stage-makeup-and-hair

0 Comments
2024/03/15
19:47 UTC

2

A contemporary scene for 2 men in their 20s

My partner and I need a 5 min scene for our final assessment so I'm wondering if anyone has any good recommendations. We would prefer drama over comedy but it's not a requirement. The only requirement is that the scene is from a play written after 1990 and is ~5 minutes. Something else that would be great is if one of the characters was having a breakdown or panic attack or something

4 Comments
2024/03/15
17:37 UTC

0

How good is brown mfa?

Hey guys so I'm about to work with an acting coach who went to brown to their mfa in acting. I was just curious to know how good brown's program is compared to the likes of NYU, juilliard and yale.

I'd really appreciate any insight at all.

9 Comments
2024/03/15
17:19 UTC

2

Is Open Access the same as joining/becoming the union member?

Im a little confused to whether joining the union through Open access is considered still joining the union or if it’s considered as a gateway/path to fully becoming a union member. I read all through the site and the more I read the more confused I became. Why even join through open access? Is it really that much easier Or even worth it?

5 Comments
2024/03/15
16:31 UTC

3

How to make a smoking bottle?

Hi, friends! I was recently cast as Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins. I’d like to make my bottle of brimstone and treacle billow smoke/fog. Any ideas on how to pull that off?

16 Comments
2024/03/15
13:17 UTC

9

Mississippi accent

I’m doing a play set in 1970’s Mississippi. Our director told the cast they didn’t want us to have exaggerated southern drawls, so with that in mind I’ve been leaning more towards a Tennessee accent than Deep South. I lived in Missouri for years so it’s always been my go to.

The hardest words for me right now are anything ending in R. I’m from the Boston area so every time I lean into words like “year” all I can “heah” in my head is Mark Wahlburg. If I soften the hard R sounds it feels too gentile and southern gentlemanly for my liking, as I’m really just trying to go for a Everyman type character. When I hit “yee-urr” the other day, I was stopped and corrected to say “yee-uhh”. It doesn’t sound natural to me though.

It’s still quite early in the rehearsal process and no one has their dialect remotely close to nailed down yet, but I’m wondering if anyone has some source material in mind I could glean from. Thanks in advance, happy playing 🎭

8 Comments
2024/03/15
12:38 UTC

1

How do you handle Production Rentals?

How are folks handling keeping track of production rentals? I’m afraid the standard excel sheet is not really keeping it straight for my head. We rent out full productions and split to just props or costumes depending on the renters needs. There are times where I need to put a hold on a production and if others inquire I have to hope I don’t miss the already existing hold. Then I have to keep my team informed on all dates, regarding shipping there and back as well as sending a supervisor out for oversee the shows for load in and outs. I was doing some looking into Airtable to see their product can help keep it all straight, but I’m still pretty unsure.

Either way, the way it is now is kind of working, but I would like to make it better and eliminate the risk of screw ups.

Thanks for the advice!

1 Comment
2024/03/15
03:06 UTC

1

self-tape help?

hi, i have to submit a self-tape tomorrow including two monologues and a short snippet of a song. I've never done one before, so I'm wondering if each piece should be a separate take that I cut together at the end? or should it all be one long take? thanks!

1 Comment
2024/03/15
02:43 UTC

1

Short/flexible length plays for high school?

I'm looking for a shorter play to perform with a cast of high schoolers. We have about 20 actors but the play needs to be short (definitely under an hour) and school appropriate. Ideally, there would be multiple important roles.

Mainly looking for dramas, but a comedy would do as well.

Thanks for your help!

2 Comments
2024/03/15
02:16 UTC

9

How to find out if actor is AEA , online?

I'm potentially coming on last minute to quite the chaos of a production. Long story short, we are supposed to be NYC Showcase but the executive producer insists on having way more than 16 performances. We have at least 1 union actor. (Who will probably leave after 16 performances)

I'm being told no one else is union, but I don't quite believe it. Is there a reliable way to check whether a certain actor is or isn't Equity?

Thanks!

8 Comments
2024/03/15
01:27 UTC

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