Booklist Reviews
The Writing and Staging Plays series gives readers pro tips on mounting productions that will appeal to those behind and in front of the curtain. Producing funny plays might be a particular challenge for young peopleāas they say, dying is easy; comedy is hard. This book makes things less difficult by giving solid advice about choosing material and writing a script (with short samples included), and supplying advice for actors, directors, and crew, as well as offering ideas for publicizing. Smartly, the book uses Alice in Wonderland as a through line, showing how to break down that story into scenes and characters and giving examples for lighting and sound effects (like a slide whistle for going down the rabbit hole). The colorful, attractive format, with its velvet curtain border, invites readers to settle in and enjoy the show. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
Horn Book Guide Reviews
The series imparts a decent variety of information and focuses on producing one's own plays rather than analyzing professional productions. Touching on writing (e.g., characterization, dialogue) and production aspects (casting, lighting), the texts address young playwrights as well as directors and other theater roles. The clean page design includes informative sidebars, photos, and case studies; improv games appended. Reading list. Glos., ind. [Review covers the following Writing and Staging Plays titles: Writing and Staging Funny Plays[cf1 and Writing and Staging Real-Life Plays.] Copyright 2016 Horn Book Guide Reviews.