Page to Stage Guidelines
Below are answers to some questions you might have about the Page to Stage process: chiefly casting, performance, staging and script formatting. If you’re new to Page to Stage, take a few minutes to acquaint yourself.
Don’t forget to read our play-writing tips too, to help you to get started with your writing.
Don’t forget to read our play-writing tips too, to help you to get started with your writing.
The quick summary: sensible considerations
In light of the casting and staging details that follow below, writers would be well advised to:
All of that said, it is theatre and you are welcome to invite your audience to imagine anything you wish! Please don’t let these guidelines stifle your ambition, but do use them to inform your expectations.
- Avoid very large casts
- Avoid scenes that place large numbers of people on stage at once.
- Avoid scripts reliant on children, animals or characters that volunteer actors are unlikely to be able to approximate.
- Avoid stories heavily reliant on swift action, complex movement, small but significant actions that might not be seen from the back, a shipping container full of props or the sort of monumental spectacle that makes Hollywood producers turn pale.
All of that said, it is theatre and you are welcome to invite your audience to imagine anything you wish! Please don’t let these guidelines stifle your ambition, but do use them to inform your expectations.
How the plays will be performed
The plays will be performed by other delegates at the Summer School who have volunteered, either out of enthusiasm or a desire to help. Their experience with acting may range from considerable to none at all. Please bear this in mind as you write your script, and (if your script is selected) as you watch its performance. We are not an acting school and Page to Stage thrives on good will and positivity.
Performances are expected to be script-in-hand, due to the brief rehearsal time available. The focus of the performances is on the clear, accurate presentation of the script, which is usually better served by a confident reading than an uncertain recollection.
Performances are expected to be script-in-hand, due to the brief rehearsal time available. The focus of the performances is on the clear, accurate presentation of the script, which is usually better served by a confident reading than an uncertain recollection.
Casting
In response to feedback from previous years’ participants, all casting for this year’s Page to Stage plays will be handled by the Page to Stage organisers. We appreciate that some returning writers might hesitate to embrace this decision, as it precludes self-casting and the recruitment of reliable friends in advance of the week. However, we are committed to providing a level playing field for first-timers and veterans alike, and to maintaining Page to Stage’s primary focus on script development by ensuring that all plays are suitably cast, rather than allowing some to benefit at the cost of others. Volunteer actors will be matched to roles as appropriately and equitably as possible and all selected scripts will be subjected to the same process. Random chance will be used to settle any conflicts.
Play length
There is a five-minute limit for scripts. This usually allows for seven plays to be performed on the Page to Stage evening. You may well find that your script runs a little longer than you anticipated in performances; for this reason, participating writers often make cuts to their scripts during the rehearsal process at the Summer School. However, plays that are clearly a lot longer than five minutes in length will not be selected for performance.
Format
As the first of the writing tips notes, it’s a good idea to write in standard theatre script format, or something close to it. Guidelines and templates can be found easily online; here are a couple of pages providing such:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/writers-lab/medium-and-format – head to the bottom of the page for a usable UK stage format template.
http://www.thewritersguide.co.uk/stageplay.html - advice, with a clear example shown mid-page.
https://pwcenter.org/playwriting-toolkit/how-format-your-script – an American site with another downloadable template.
Another perfectly good approach is to have a published play script to hand and to simply copy its layout. (Get used to pressing the Tab key.)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/writers-lab/medium-and-format – head to the bottom of the page for a usable UK stage format template.
http://www.thewritersguide.co.uk/stageplay.html - advice, with a clear example shown mid-page.
https://pwcenter.org/playwriting-toolkit/how-format-your-script – an American site with another downloadable template.
Another perfectly good approach is to have a published play script to hand and to simply copy its layout. (Get used to pressing the Tab key.)
Your name and your play's name
We will send an anonymous copy of your play to our judging panel. It would be helpful to us if you could assist with this by leaving your name off the script you submit. (Certainly don’t put your name on each page, as we’ll simply have to remove each appearance of it.) However, it would be helpful to include the name of the play on each page, along with page numbers, purely to help to avoid any potential confusion between scripts later.
The performance space
This will be a simple raised area, probably at one end of a large hall. In order to help the audience to hear, we will place microphones along the front of the stage. The approximate dimensions of the performance area are in the region of four-to-five metres across, and two-to-the metres from back to front. We will attempt to provide basic wings to screen waiting actors on either side, but the exact set up will be dictated by available resources at the venue. You should definitely think of this in terms of rough-and-ready fringe theatre, rather than an opening night at the NT!
Technical provision
Continuing the ‘fringe theatre’ theme, please note that we cannot provide theatre lights or an impressive sound system. Lighting is limited to the lights in the hall itself, which can (of course) be turned on and off. It is usually possible to play music or a sound effect over the hall’s speakers, if these are provided in a usable format (e.g. .wav or .mp3 files on a CD or USB stick) but it is wise to keep such requests to a minimum – partly to reduce the risk of technical failure, and partly because it won’t be your decision to use squeaky_door_2.wav at the climax of your narrative but your memorable characters and sparkling dialogue that’ll win the day.
Props and furniture
Many plays need a couple of chairs and a table or so. These, we can provide – along with the other sorts of item that can easily be found at a conference centre (bins, biros, glasses of water, etc). Anything more unusual, however, will need to be provided by the writer. The Page to Stage organisers cannot undertake to procure props and furniture for each play.
Please also limit your property ambitions to such items as can easily and swiftly be set and removed within about a minute before and after the performance, by your cast. We will, of course, provide help if necessary, to speed up the transitions, but please don’t write a play about a blacksmith comparing three potential new anvils – unless you have a lot of faith in the power of mime…
Please also limit your property ambitions to such items as can easily and swiftly be set and removed within about a minute before and after the performance, by your cast. We will, of course, provide help if necessary, to speed up the transitions, but please don’t write a play about a blacksmith comparing three potential new anvils – unless you have a lot of faith in the power of mime…
Finally, remember to take a look at our play-writing tips to help you along the way to five golden minutes of theatre…
