As a playwright and newbie filmmaker I know that play scripts are considered "too dialogue heavy" for film. But they do have the advantage of few (sometimes only one) location(s). Anyone have any tips for creating a film from a stage play? (In my own experience, I used lots of music to break up talky scenes). My favorite play turned film is Glengarry Glen Ross.
Screenwriting : Theatre scripts for filmmakers by Laura Lewis-Barr
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Hey Laura, this is Amanda from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Filmmaking / Directing to Screenwriting, as I think you might get some more advice there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!
So many great plays have been made into great films. I can't provide you with a tip, other than to keep the set pieces down to a minimum. like Tracy Letts did in Bug. I saw the original Glengarry Glen Ross play back in the 80's in Chicago, and that was a minimum set piece play, too. So that's pretty essential, I think. And I think the play The Browning Version was made into a film not just once, but four or five times, if I recall correctly. I'm copying this list of great plays, most of which were made into great films, from a previous post I did. I love live theater.
Henrick Ibsen - A Doll's House, An Enemy of the People
Lillian Hellman - The Little Foxes, Julia, The Children's Hour
Eugene O'Neill - Beyond the Horizon, Long Day's Journey Into Night, The Hairy Ape
Lorraine Hansbury - A Raisin in the Sun, The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window
Eugene Ionesco - Rhinoceros, Hunger and Thirst
Annie Baker - The Flick, Nocturama
David Mamet - Glengarry Glen Ross, American Buffalo, Sexual Perversity in Chicago (film name "About Last Night)
Paula Vogel - How I Learned to Drive, The Long Christmas Ride Home
Samuel Beckett - Happy Days, Rockaby
Suzan Lori Parks - In the Blood, Topdog/Underdog, Fucking A
Best fortunes to you in the Windy City, Laura!
EDITED TO ADD: It's truly a sad day in theater. Rest in Peace, Carol "Dolly Levi" Channing (January 31, 1921 - January 15, 2019)