{"id":287,"date":"2023-05-25T11:42:14","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T11:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/playscripts.ca\/?page_id=287"},"modified":"2025-04-14T20:44:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T03:44:26","slug":"faq","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/playscripts.ca\/?page_id=287","title":{"rendered":"FAQ"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Your play script Shadows on the Beach<\/em> really grabbed my attention and I enjoy the context and style of the play. Such aspects as the ‘He’ and ‘She’ characters without names, the setting and the discussion made me decide to want to direct your play.<\/p>

I feel that there were quite a few meanings behind the play that can be interpreted by the reader in different ways. So I was hoping to gain some insight from you about the play as there doesn’t seem to be a lot of background\u00a0 Knowledge or general information that is easily accessible about the play.<\/p>

Hopefully you can provide some basic information to me that will be useful in mounting the production.<\/p>

\u2013Lenora<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I have had the occasional request to shed light on Shadows on the Beach<\/em> (no pun intended), mostly from student directors wanting to produce this short play. I usually tell them to look at the reasons they chose the play in the first place, read it aloud alone and with their actors, then play with it, find what it is that speaks to them. Is there a climax or perhaps a focal or turning point? In short, as a playwright I don’t tell any directors how to interpret the play but encourage them to embark on this road of discovery themselves.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Let me quote from another of my plays, Dropping Balast, where one character is trying to teach another about the “meaning” of poetry.<\/p>

BERT: But what are poems good for?<\/p>

NEL: They give you something that makes sense out of this whole mess we live in.<\/p>

BERT: Yeah, that’d be nice, except it’s only words.<\/p>

NEL: First there are only words.<\/p>

BERT: That’s what I said.<\/p>

NEL: And then, after a while, you’ll find a word or a line stuck away somewhere that reminds you of something.<\/p>

BERT: Maybe… after a really long while.<\/p>

NEL: You can take your time. It’s your poem now, as much as anybody else’s.<\/p>

So use your own creativity, read the play again and again, then trust your dominant feelings and go from there. Sure, I am the creative artist, but you — as directors and actors — are interpretative artists and will thus become co-creators of the play on your stage. I wish you success as you embark on that journey.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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May I and my friends perform your plays for free? We are particularly interested in producing Cassie<\/em>.<\/p>

I have just graduated from college and we are starting a theatre troupe. We\u2019ll start this venture by performing in parks and charge admission by donation only.<\/p>

You see this is a shoestring operation and we\u2019re trying to save money wherever we can.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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While I make some of my plays available on the internet, public performances are subject to royalty fees \u2013 whether or not you charge admission. Public performances are those where the public (that includes friends and family) are invited to view a showing. This even includes an in-school theatre group charging admission or requesting donations. The notable exception would be an in-class performance that is part of the director’s or another participant’s class work, and here audience attendance is restricted to teachers and students.<\/p>

Forgive me for stepping on the soap box for a moment. You see, journalists get paid by the word or contract or salary, novelists by the book, as do short story writers and poets (in addition to public readings).<\/p>

So shouldn’t the poor playwright receive compensation when someone wants to perform his \/her plays? It’s little enough for the sweat and ink, labouring in the bitterly cold garret by the dim light of the last candle with nothing much for sustenance but a crust of stale bread and potato soup… (blah, blah) while dozens or even thousands of people watch the characters come to life! Talk about a one-person shoestring operation!<\/p>

Of course, I am pleased when someone decides to perform or publish one of my plays. But I feel that any person’s intellectual property must remain in his\/her control. I post my plays \u2013 or excerpts of them \u2013 on the internet. You can print them out for reading, perusal and study purposes. That’s it. That’s all you are authorized to do. Anything beyond that, you need my written consent. You mentioned that you formed a theatre group and want to perform Cassie. So it sounds as if this is not a class project. Can you tell me what audience this is for, and other details about the production? Otherwise, the royalty fees are as listed on the royalties page of this web site.<\/p>

If you decide to go ahead with rehearsals \u2013 no matter what the conditions we may agree on \u2013 I will next ask a few details about the who, what, where, and when, to be written into the mandatory performance contract which I can email to you. It spells out the conditions for your production of my play. You or your producer would countersign and send it back to me. It’s a quick and simple procedure, but more about that later. Meanwhile, all the best with you troupe. It’s an exciting field of endeavour!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your play script Shadows on the Beach really grabbed my attention and I enjoy the context and style of the play. Such aspects as the ‘He’ and ‘She’ characters without names, the setting and the discussion made me decide to want to direct your play. I feel that there were quite a few meanings behind … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-287","page","type-page","status-publish"],"yoast_head":"\nFAQ - Play Scripts by Heldor Schafer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/playscripts.ca\/?page_id=287\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FAQ - Play Scripts by Heldor Schafer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Your play script Shadows on the Beach really grabbed my attention and I enjoy the context and style of the play. 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