Ten minute plays – a short history and a plea for them!

Why do I write ten minute plays? Well, apart from the fact that I’ve had about ten of them produced in various places around the world (which is always nice for any writer); they are an extraordinarily disciplined form of writing.

Although considering the time and energy taken up, they are no easier to write than a full length play. However with all the opportunities for possible production; it seems they may be easier to get staged in front of audiences than a full length piece.  Remember there are over thirty ten minute plays festivals world wide and there are even opportunities for them in this country with a growing interest. I recently came across a theatre company based in Brighton who have been putting on collections of them for the past two years.

My interest in the format started some six years ago, when the Pint Sized Plays was launched in Pembrokeshire – initially on a local basis - but with the internet,  it has now grown into an international competition.

The format itself is over thirty five years old and was started at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville in Kentucky, USA. There it has just grown and grown, until now it seems there is a ten minute play festival running somewhere in the USA every week (that’s a slight exaggeration, but nearly true).

The Short and Sweet Festival in Australia (or rather throughout the Southern Hemisphere) has a total of five major festivals  in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaya and a number of off shoot festivals. They are aiming for world domination. Watch this space.

The ten minute play has been described as “a streak of lightning” – and unlike a sketch is a true play in that it does not rely on a punch line but is structured with a beginning, middle and an end (usually with something happening two pages in which changes the initial course of the story).

The play can usually be written in any style and this can give the writer an opportunity to try out different styles . Something which might be too experimental for a full length piece.  It needs a clear narrative with characters who have a gaol that needs to be achieved.  Usually characters are limited to a maximum of four and the action needs to be set in one location. Very often the producing companies are small scale theatres –studio theatres with little resources, a small stage and limited back stage area.

The Pint Sized plays, for instance, are initially performed in pubs, so that they  need very little in the way of furniture, apart what you find in a pub, limited exits and entrances and a small selection of props.

The Heartland Theatre Company in Normal, Illinois (you may have heard of them – see past blogs) set a theme – this year it was Parcel, Package or Present – another company insist that one prop (this year it was a tennis racquet) has to be featured in some way in the play. Others want plays that fit a particular time of year – one of my plays called Closure was performed on Halloween in East London last year.

Easy to write? Yes and No. If you have a good idea, you can write a draft script in just over an hour, when the muse takes you. But then comes the hard work, as with any play – the rewrites and the editing. And remember it does have to fit – be shoe horned- into a ten minute slot. Some companies say no more than ten pages (If you write eleven, they stop reading!)  – some companies insist on no more than 2000 words or even less.

All of this needs careful crafting without losing the initial impetus for the work.

Several books have now been written – in America of course – about the writing of the ten minute play – that’s how important they are taken in that country. And collections of them are published –  again in America– but there are small beginnings in this country. My own collection Nursery Rhyme Crimes was published last year for instance. Pint Sized Plays are bringing out an anthology of their plays later in the year.

From all of this you’ll gather I just love writing them – and they don’t stop me from tackling larger pieces – but in tackling them I’m able to use all the lessons learnt from writing the short pieces. Want to have go? – Good luck and enjoy!www.doc-watson.com