Cue the Comedies: Choosing the Right Play: Where Artistic Vision Meets Production Reality - Part 1
Updated: Oct 8
As a playwright, I love the easy parts—dreaming up characters, creating outrageous situations and finally getting to what I enjoy most: writing the dialogue.
But somewhere between the brilliant idea and the final curtain, reality taps me on the shoulder and asks a few annoying but necessary questions.
Can theatres actually produce this play?
Will they be able to cast it?
Can they build the set without breaking the bank?
Will the technical requirements excite the crew—or cause them to quietly change their phone numbers?
Most importantly, will audiences want to spend an evening with these characters and laugh along with them?
I imagine that for directors, choosing a play must be one of the most exciting—and complicated—parts of the job. You aren’t simply choosing the play you like best. You’re choosing one your theatre can successfully produce. And doing it without exhausting the budget, overwhelming the stage crew, sending your volunteers into hiding, determining whether anyone knows where to find that impossible prop mentioned on page 37 and most importantly, wondering if the play will appeal to your audiences.
After all, ticket sales help ensure there will be another season—and another opportunity to wear all those hats.
So, you see, playwrights and directors aren’t that far apart—we’re simply worrying about the same things from opposite sides of the script. The artistic vision begins the conversation, but eventually, production reality enters the room, pulls up a chair and reminds us that someone still has to build the set.
That is why choosing the right play, when you have to do a lot with a little, really matters.
Key Takeaways for Busy Theatre People
A single set does not mean “simple background.” It can and should do more than just look pretty.
A good comedy set establishes where the characters are. A great comedy set helps get them into trouble.
Cast size tells you how many actors you need. It does not tell you what you are asking them to do.
The playwright creates the possibilities, but the director must make those possibilities work with real actors, on a real stage, within a very real budget.
What the Playwright Hid In The Script
A Set That Does More Than Look Pretty
When my late husband Michael and I began writing plays, we decided that single sets would make life easier for theatres. Before writing, the first thing was to design the set to help generate the action. But “single set” does not mean “simple background.”
The set is so important that it actually becomes a part of the play in a farce. The entrances and exits control the timing and pace, as well as the flow of the comedy. With so many doors, sometimes I had to stop and ask, “Wait—who did we leave behind door number two?”
If I can’t remember, imagine what the poor director will go through. That’s why the scripts are so specific as to who should be where.
Doors: A Set Builder’s Nightmare, a Farce’s Best Friend
The numerous doors that cause a set builder to question the playwright’s sanity are the very doors that help the comedy work.
"Farce is all about geometry and architecture. If the distance between two doors is too long, the joke dies. The set is a machine for panic." — John Cleese
They help build anticipation, provide hiding places and create opportunities for physical comedy. The audience may know exactly who is about to walk through a door—even when the character onstage has absolutely no idea. That anticipation is part of the fun.
When a director reads the set description, I think the first question to ask is, “What does the audience need to see for the story—and the comedy—to work?” You don’t necessarily have to build every detail exactly as the playwright imagined it. (We do have very vivid imaginations.) As the brilliant director, Orson Welles said:
“I want to give the audience a hint of a scene. No more than that. Give them too much and they won't contribute anything themselves. Give them just a suggestion and you get them working with you. That's what gives the theater meaning: when it becomes a social act."
Director beware: of course, if it’s a farce, those pesky doors do need to be in the right places. Trust me, we put them there for a reason. In a farce, actors must be able to race through those doors faster than a stage manager can call, “Places!
When the Set Gets in on the Act
Walls and furniture must also earn their place. Walls can hold props, pictures and decorations that become part of the visual humor. And in a farce, a sofa is never merely a sofa when someone must hide behind it, trip over it or land on it at precisely the right moment.
In Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses – our most popular romantic comedy – the single beach-hotel setting uses doors, wall props (the oars) and furnishings to support the comedy while giving the set designer room to establish the atmosphere. A few tropical details, carefully chosen furniture and the right colors can transport the audience to a seaside resort without requiring the theatre to build one.
So when considering a Parker Play comedy, ask yourself:
Does the set merely provide an attractive background, or does it help drive the action?
Is it practical for our stage and budget?
Can the entrances, exits and furniture support the necessary pace?
Will the set help create the humor—or leave the actors fighting against it?
A good comedy set establishes where the characters are. A great comedy set helps get them into trouble.
Cast Size Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
Honestly, I’m not trying to trick you. But tucked inside every script are deliberate choices the playwright made long before the first actor arrived to audition.
For example, two eight-character comedies can have very different casting demands. One may be a true ensemble piece. Another may have two leading roles supported by six smaller ones. A third may include a few characters who breeze in, earn several big laughs and disappear before anyone asks them to help move the set.
Take Whose Wives Are They Anyway?. It calls for eight actors—three men and five women— and is described as an ensemble cast, but they do not all carry the same comedic workload.
Eight actors, yes—but eight different casting decisions.
As a director, that distinction matters, as you know your available acting pool. Perhaps you have two strong performers you want to showcase. Maybe you need smaller roles for newcomers or actors with limited rehearsal time. And a character with fewer lines may still require exceptional comic timing, physical agility or the ability to change costumes faster than Superman in a phone booth.
Counting Actors Is the Easy Part
With each addition to the Parker Plays catalogue, as playwrights, we became more aware of how every role functions within the comedy. It was important to track and count stage time, line loads, entrances and exits, physical comedy and costume changes. Playwrights sure know how to have a good time.
Cast size tells you how many actors you need. It does not tell you what you are asking them to do.
For a director, producer or play reading committee considering a script, my suggestion is to look beyond the cast number and ask:
How evenly are the lines and stage time distributed?
Which roles require the greatest stamina or comic timing?
Does the comedy depend on physical business or precisely timed entrances?
Are there fast costume changes or props that must appear at exactly the right moment?
Do the ages and gender balance suit your available performers?
Are there substantial roles for experienced actors and suitable opportunities for newcomers?
Is any casting flexible without weakening the characters or comedy?
Where the Page Meets the Stage
I believe that the playwright creates the possibilities, but the director must make those possibilities work with real actors, on a real stage, within a very real budget. The best scripts respect those realities without allowing them to limit the imagination. And I understand that!
Parker Play scripts are written with production realities in mind. They include practical staging insights and production tips—to help theatres spend less time reinventing the wheel and more time making the comedy work.
To offer some guidance, I developed the Parker Plays website, with the enormous help of some very talented people, for directors, producers and play-reading committees looking for a comedy that is just right for their theatre.
There you will find the full 15 play catalogue, as well as the unique parker-plays.com/directors-producers page. This page features a FAQ and a free guide for those looking for a comedy their theatre can actually produce - and their audience will love.
Choosing the right play matters to everyone, the director, actors, crew, volunteers, box office and, yes, even the playwright. After all, if the production succeeds, we all get to share in the applause. If it doesn’t…well, my name is still there on the poster.
Coming in November, Part Two of Choosing the Right Play: Where Artistic Vision Meets Production Reality will look at what happens after you find the right script - including rehearsal demands, technical surprises and the one essential comedy tool no theatre can purchase: comedic timing.
See you at the theatre!
FUN FACTS
Blast from the past: The world premiere of Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses, Feb. 9, 2018, by the Ritz Company Players, Hawly,PA.
Currently playing: Stockholm, Sweden
Directors Quote: Whose Wives Are They Anyway? “We're having a terrific time with it. And so is our audience.”
Donnie Bowes- Artistic Director, Upper Canada Playhouse
My Thoughts: Trust me, you don’t want me to build your set—my husband has banned me from using power tools. At 5 feet tall I can’t hang your lights, and I certainly can’t memorize your cast’s lines. I can’t remember what I had for breakfast sometimes.
But I can help guide you on your journey to finding the right Parker Play for your theatre. Just reach out.
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