Cutting a Published Script for a One-Act Contest
A student director has chosen a published one-act for a regional contest with a strict 40-minute performance limit and a 10-minute penalty for overtime. At the first read-through, the script runs 48 minutes. The student director proposes cutting a six-minute monologue and rewriting the final scene so the protagonist survives. The license states that no changes may be made without written permission from the publisher. The cast has 12 actors; two are unavailable for the final two rehearsals before the contest. The faculty coach has asked you to advise. The contest also requires a 5-minute setup and a 5-minute strike, and the venue has no fly space. Your school's drama club has already paid the entry fee. The two actors have excused absences for a family obligation.
1. Identify the legal/ethical and dramaturgical issues, and the sequence of decisions you would follow.
Read the worked answer
There are two separate problems: rights and time. Legally and ethically, the license governs; rewriting the ending is a derivative change and is not allowed without written permission. Cutting a monologue is also a change, even if shorter. Dramaturgically, a 48-minute script in a 40-minute slot needs an eight-minute reduction; that cannot be solved by faster talking without damaging the play.
Sequence: confirm the contest rules on text cuts and licensing; contact the publisher in writing, explain the educational and contest use, and request permission for a specific cut list; if permission is denied or slow, choose a different script or accept that you cannot cut; do not rewrite. Also assess whether some time can come from staging and transitions rather than text: fewer blackouts, faster scene changes, trimmed music.
The faculty coach should not advise breaking the license. That would model unethical behavior, could disqualify the school, and would teach students that artistic pressure excuses contractual violation.
2. Offer at least two viable paths that preserve the production's educational goals, and compare their risks.
Read the worked answer
Path A: seek written permission for a specific cut list, with the student director justifying each cut dramaturgically. Risk: the publisher may refuse or reply late; reward: it preserves the chosen play and teaches professional process. Path B: replace the script with a published one-act that runs 35–38 minutes, or use a public-domain source adapted by the students if contest rules allow. Risk: lost rehearsal time and cast disappointment; reward: legal certainty and a realistic tech week. Path C: perform the full script as a classroom or staged-reading project and take a different piece to contest; this preserves the learning but changes the public product.
Compare on three criteria: rights compliance, student learning, and calendar. I would recommend A with a hard deadline of about five days; if no written permission arrives, move to B. Do not choose 'cut and hope.' The penalty and reputational risk are not worth it, and the students would learn the wrong lesson about artistic contracts.
3. How would you handle the two actors' absences and the eight-minute overage without violating rights?
Read the worked answer
First, do not use the absences as an excuse to rewrite. Reblock so understudies or swings cover their tracks; if the script allows doubling, reassign lines only with permission. For the overage, attack time in non-text areas: trim scene-change music, eliminate a full blackout, tighten cue calling, and rehearse transitions with a stopwatch. If text cuts are permitted, cut whole beats rather than random lines, and have the student director write a one-page justification.
If cuts are not permitted, the honest options are a different script or accepting the penalty. Communicate the plan to the cast: the goal is a complete, lawful performance, not a rushed one. The reasoning: contest deadlines expose the difference between artistic impulse and production management. The faculty role is to teach the process-rights, deadlines, contingencies-not to rescue the production by violating the license.