Wanted: one scene from a play

February 27, 2008 7:01 AM

On behalf of a friend: looking for a single scene from a play that would work well as a standalone piece, for a drama class showcase.

This question is on behalf of a friend and I don't have access to much info, sorry. And I know pretty much nothing about drama. All I have is:

- as part of an end-of-year showcase, she needs to locate a short piece to perform, to show off newly-acquired skills
- a single scene from a play has been suggested as the way forward
- the single scene should stand alone, and make sense outside the context of the play
- it can't have extravagant set or cast requirements
- a small number (3?) of equally-sized parts would be ideal
- the actors' experience will on the whole be one year of evening drama classes (not sure if this is relevant)

So, any ideas? Thankyou!

posted by thoughtless to media & arts (23 comments total)

Glengarry Glen Ross is an excellent film based on a play. Alec Baldwin's opening speech is superb, has interactions with other actors, and stands alone outside the context of the play.
posted by DWRoelands at 7:04 AM on February 27

I'm directing a play right now called "Our Country's Good." It's very popular in your country. It has great scenes for women, several of them short with just a few cast members.

It's hard to saw more without knowing your friend's age, but she should take a look at Michael Frayn's Chekhov translations. (For an American actress, I would recommend David Mamet's versions.) There are wonderful scenes in "Uncle Vanya" and "The Three Sisters."
posted by grumblebee at 7:07 AM on February 27

"Glengarry Glen Ross" has no parts for women in it.
posted by grumblebee at 7:08 AM on February 27

Also, the Baldwin speech isn't in the play. It was written specially for the movie version.
posted by grumblebee at 7:08 AM on February 27

She should also look at Harold Pinter's "Betrayal." Just three cast members (one woman, two men); many stand-alone scenes.
posted by grumblebee at 7:10 AM on February 27

how about parts of "art"?
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 7:48 AM on February 27

Perhaps a part of Macbeth? The play has various different moods to it and the story is at least somewhat familiar so even if they don't totally stand alone, things like the witches scene or the banquet might work. Lots of it is a Macbeth/Lady Macbeth two-hander though.
posted by patricio at 8:03 AM on February 27

"Golden Boy" by Clifford Odets.
Boy and Girl on park bench.
Excellent, timeless writing, high stakes, sharply defined characters.
(the scene starts with "Some nights, I wake up...")

"Frankie and Johnny" by Terence McNally.
Boy and Girl in the bedroom.
Honest, tender, funny.
(the scene starts with "It's ok, you know...)

"A Lie of the Mind" by Sam Shepard.
"Brain-damaged" girl, captive boy.
Scary, bold choices, dark given circumstances.
(the scene starts with "Do you think you could put your shirt on?")

Good luck!
posted by Dizzy at 8:24 AM on February 27

Whoops--
The "Frankie and Johnny" scene starts with "Is that Charles Bronson?
See also "Beyond Therapy" (the opening scene) and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (any of the Brick and Maggie scenes, but the most potent is the one where she is combing her hair at the vanity-- the "Make that your last drink" scene.
Scenes for three people?
Yikes. Tough to find balanced ones. I'll dig through my files... (I teach acting at University...)
posted by Dizzy at 8:30 AM on February 27

"No Exit" has three equally-sized main parts - two women and one man. I think you could pretty easily take a few pages from that and use it as a stand-alone piece. How long should the piece be?

There's about a 10-15 minute section in "No Exit" where each character is confessing why they've been condemned to Hell. It's basically a soliloquy from each character peppered with some probing questions from the others.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:38 AM on February 27

'night, Mother by Marsha Norman is a two-woman play. I remember doing it for Speech, and it was easy to take bits out of it that made sense.
posted by bryghtrose at 8:41 AM on February 27

So it has to be part of a single play? One of my favorite scenes/one-acts/I don't know what you call its is "Sure Thing," from All In The Timing. It's a two-person scene with a lot of opportunity to show off quick changes in emotion/setting. Might work...
posted by Madamina at 8:58 AM on February 27

The Gentleman Caller scene from The Glass Menagerie?
posted by infinitewindow at 9:49 AM on February 27

This is actually a hard question to answer without knowing the exact cast breakdown (number, gender, and rough age range of characters). I'm also not sure if comedy is ok, or if your friend is exclusively looking for drama. However, I can give you some suggestions based on my experience casting showcases like these.

1. Comedy. My go-to playwrights for short comedies are David Ives (see All in the Timing)and Christopher Durang (see 27 Short Plays and Christopher Durang Explains it All For You). I strongly recommend Ives' "The Philadelphia" (3 characters, 2 men, 1 woman), but there's plenty of good material to choose from in those books.

2. Drama. There are bajillions of plays you can find good dramatic scenes in, but I'll suggest a few I've had good luck with. If the actors are youngish adults (20s-30s), I'd suggest looking at Neil Labute, particularly The Shape of Things, Fat Pig, and The Mercy Seat. These have lots of dramatic stand-alone scenes for 2-4 actors. If the actors are a little older (30+) you might try the play Looking For Normal (which was also made into an HBO movie called "Normal"), which has some very good scenes that include some excellent monologues.

If your friend doesn't object to one-act plays and has time to do some reading, I'd suggest the "Take Ten" anthologies (I, II, Laugh Lines, etc). Not all these plays are awesome, but there are a few gems and there's plenty of coverage for different age/gender breakdowns.

Also, just one word of advice -- I think a contemporary scene will probably work best for a showcase. It's difficult for most audiences (even a sympathetic audience of friends and classmates) to get into archaic language and period trappings within the space of a short scene.

If you can get any more information about the cast breakdown, I'd be happy to provide more specific suggestions. Tell your friend good luck!
posted by ourobouros at 10:36 AM on February 27

Seconding Christopher Durang.
posted by wittgenstein at 10:58 AM on February 27

A fantastic one scene play: The Boy Who Ate The Moon by Jane Martin.
(One boy, one woman)
It's in her collected works, which you should be able to turn up at the library.
I have used this scene for acting classes half a dozen times over the years and it always gets great results, particularly for younger actors.
posted by raygan at 11:22 AM on February 27

Thankyou all - lots of excellent material here to look at, which I'll forward on. If there's still no joy and I can get any more specifics, I shall come back to post them.
posted by thoughtless at 1:18 PM on February 27

There are a lot of good two- and three-person scenes in "Proof" by David Auburn. The movie was boring, but the scenes in the play can be really good, and they're excellent for relationship work. I'd go with either the opening scene (between Catherine and Robert) or the second scene in the second act (between Catherine, Claire and Hal). This is, of course, if the play isn't done to death in the showcase setting...which--let's face it--it probably is.
posted by zerbinetta at 1:20 PM on February 27

I have acquired a little bit more info, if it helps: the cast will be largely women (I think there's one man involved) aged from mid-twenties up to middle-aged. Two or three parts in the scene is the ideal. Either comedy or something more dramatic is okay. But due to a limited amount of time being available for reading through the material, being pointed to specific scenes (as in Dizzy's answer), if possible, would be supremely useful. Thanks to you all, once again.
posted by thoughtless at 3:16 PM on February 27

I would go out on a limb and say For Colored Girls...

This piece, a 20-section choreopoem, is frequently done by all-women casts of varying ages and ethnicities.

also, I love the hell out of it.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 3:19 PM on February 27

Here are some more specific suggestions. I've seen all of these work well in performance.

"Phyllis and Xenobia," by Christopher Durang (in 27 Short Plays). It's a short one-act comedy for two women who play crazy sisters -- good for character work.

"No Shoulder," by Nina Shengold (script). It's a one-act drama for two women, one younger (teens to early twenties) and one older (late twenties to early thirties). This one will make 'em cry.

"Collected Stories," by Donald Margulies (script). This is full-length drama for two women, one younger and one older, and the roles are very meaty. If you were going to take one scene, I think it would be the one where Ruth accuses Lisa of stealing her life story -- I can't remember exactly where it starts and stops, but it should be easy enough to find.

"Sex, Lies, and Videotape," by Stephen Soderbergh (free script online). There are several short stand-alone scenes here, including:

Ann & Cynthia: begins with "So, where's he from?" and ends with "Now, if you'll pardon me, I have to go to work."

Ann & Cynthia: begins with "He just asked me questions" and ends with "Then why do you keep asking about it?"

John & Anne: begins with "Yes. I just got busy." and ends with "You never used to say 'fucking.'"

It's still worth checking out Ives' "The Philadelphia" (in All in the Timing) -- it's written for two men, one woman, but if I recall correctly, it's flexible enough to cross-cast.
posted by ourobouros at 8:57 AM on February 28

I think you offer some truly helpful suggestions, ourobouros, but I must take exception to performing scenes from movies, a la "Sex, Lies..."
Don't do it. It is highly frowned upon.
posted by Dizzy at 12:40 PM on February 28

Depends where you are -- in a small town, at a small showcase, it's probably ok. In a major city, you've got to be much more careful.
posted by ourobouros at 2:41 PM on February 28