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PerformingWrites.com

A new website for writers and companies

Although PerformingWrites.com has nothing to do with Lynne Harvey or the Playwrights' FAQ, it's appropriate to mention it in this section of the Guide because, like Lynne's FAQ, it's a very useful resource for new writers who are looking for markets for their plays.

This is how the site describes itself:

The aim of this site is:

• To encourage the production of plays for the stage.
• To provide a resource for theatre companies looking for new scripts and ideas.
• To provide an outlet for writers who want to see their work performed
• To bring writers and performers together

How it works for writers:

You can add one or more scripts to the online library by submitting a synopsis and details that will be helpful to a company looking for material to perform. Optionally, you can offer a free download of all, or just a sample of your script as well. If a Company is interested in your work, they will be encouraged to contact you directly to negotiate performing rights, in which case any charges you make are at your discretion. Alternatively, we can handle administration and distribution on your behalf for a small fee.

How it works for theatre companies:

If you are looking for works to perform, you must first register with PerformingWrites (which costs nothing) to gain access to our play library. This can be searched by author, type, number and gender of characters, length etc. to give a shortlist of possibilities. Each entry includes a synopsis and some include a script which you can download and view. All files are in Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) format.You can download a copy of the Acrobat reader at no charge from here. In most cases, you should contact the Author directly to negotiate rights to perform any work.

Once you are on the site, you can register as a playright or a theatre company (which you must do if you want to search the database), add work to the library or search it. There's also a page of links which are useful for writers, but that has nothing on it the day I visited. And, of course, there's an information page which gives details of the site and why it was set up.

Who's behind it?

An amateur company from Bristol, Crumbling Walls (lovely name!). They are keen on doing new work rather than the "standards" of the amateur theatre world, and they include some writers among their number.

How does it work?

Once you've registered, you can go to the are which most interests you, wither to add a play to the database or to search it if you are looking for a new piece.

As a writer, you supply certain information about yourself and your play, together with a synopsis, a sample of the script, or even the complete script in PDF format. As part of your registration process, you also supply your address, phone number and email address. The email addess will appear on your entry, so that inetrested companies can conact you direct.

As a company, you simply indicate the kind of play you are interested in, the length (in minutes) and the number and gender of the characters, and up will come all te plays in the database which match your requirements.

Is it useful?

To be really honest, it is too early to say. Sites like this are as valuable as the number and quality of the plays listed. At the moment (1st December, 2001) there are very few, but the site has only been online for a few days. My search of the database revealed that all the plays brought to my attention originate in Bristol, so I suspect that at present the only plays there are those performed by Crumbling Walls.

Given that my company is small and that we can't really afford to do productions with more than four actors, I asked the database for plays which use two males and two females. None came up: the two suggestions each had eight males in the cast, and the total casts were ten and eleven respectively.

There are very few professional companies which can afford casts of that size, so I would suspect that currently the plays are only suitable for amateur performance. But, of course, this can change. If other writers decide that they will add their plays, then choice becomes wider and so the site becomes more of an attractive proposition to companies hunting for new plays.

Time will tell!

Some quibbles!

I rejected two plays without looking at them, simply on the basis of the size of the cast. However, one or both may actually have been OK if parts could be doubled. I don't have time to read through plays which may well prove of no use to me, but if the anotation had said that the male parts could be doubled, then I probably would have taken a closer look. I would suggest, therefore, that doubling information should be included.

And please, Webmaster, add some internal links! I hate having to go back to the main page in order to move on through the site. Thanks to [COPY] and [PASTE], it takes no effort to add a navgation bar on every page, and it does speed things up for the visitor.

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©Peter Lathan 2001