One of the nice things about drama, especially with students, is that it recruits for itself. A good drama program will attract more people with an interest in acting. I've seen this play out both in church drama ministries and in school theater programs.
The problem is, you may not get the mix of people - male and female - that you need or want. Matter of fact, I can pretty much guarantee that in most circumstances, you're going to struggle to find guys. When I was with Youth for Christ, attempting to stage "The Waiting Room," we were so hard up for guys for a play, we set up a table at a local youth rally and had some of the students hold a sign that read, "Join Drama, Meet Girls."
It was a joke - mostly. I later wrote the real life incident into the play "The Bearded Ladies Christmas," a play about a church drama team attempting to stage the Nativity story with no guys.
Seriously, though, finding guys for a drama ministry can be very challenging, and when you do get guys in the group (it was not uncommon to have a 1 to 8 or 1 to 10 ratio) you can burn them out very fast. You can fight it, you can beg and plead, but if God doesn't lead them in the door, you may have to get creative.
A few of the things we did over the years to compensate for the lack of guys include:
1. Writing or choosing more scripts for just girls. The aforementioned "Bearded Ladies" play and its Easter-themed sequel were written for just that purpose.
2. Modifying skits with a lot of male roles so more females could play them. Not always possible, but it works more often than you'd think. Remember, the audience doesn't have your script. They don't know how it was originally written.
3. Choosing scripts with smaller casts. Using fewer people (and guys) on a weekly basis keeps them from burning out.
4. Allowing students to participate more in the creative process. This gives them more ownership in the material we did, and it kept the guys (and the ladies) more engaged.
5. Play to the group's internal interests. What shows do they like? What movies? What SNL sketches? Can they be adapted and used on stage?
6. Allow the guys to have guy time, using them in skits together when possible. This may seem counterintuitive because it would seem the best strategy would be to spread them out and use them sparingly, but it can be very beneficial in a number of ways. The overwhelming female numbers are often a big reason more guys don't come and some guys end up leaving. Giving the guys time on stage without the girls is not only good for them, it may also attract a few more into the fold.
Oh, good! I thought this was only a problem with OUR drama team. I thought I was doing something to drive the guys away!
I'm the drama director at my church, and our "team" is a mixture of adults and teens. Whenever I'm looking for scripts, like I am right now for our fall production (a night of themed skits), I have to always keep in mind that I will never have enough male volunteers of any age for the parts I need to fill. Don't get me wrong, the guys I have are GREAT, but they're far from numerous. I have more teen girls on the signup sheets than I know what to do with.
I've been looking for all-female or mostly-female casts of late, because I was kind of at a loss as to how to combat this problem. I have definitely done the "modify the script" thing more than once. I hadn't thought about the scripts with smaller casts angle. I guess I always assume that that's limiting the number of people who can be involved. (Some people inevitably get left without a part every time.)
As far as involving them more in the creative process, that's a great idea. In fact, I've mentioned to the team recently the idea of having a drama workshop, since we only do two major productions each year and don't really do a whole lot in the interim to stay connected. This would also give them a chance to have their say as to what they'd like to see us do, what they are interested in, etc. Maybe we could even all write some scripts together. Who knows?
Anyway, I know this was a bit rambling, I just wanted you to know that I've been there (and I am there) too, and I understand. Thanks for the tips! I will definitely put them in practice.
By the way, we did your skit "Coffee and Christ" at last year's fall production to an overwhelmingly positive response. I am looking at possibly doing "Lust" and/or "An Annoying Little Sin" this fall, pending approval by the leadership staff. Thank you for sharing your gifts with fellow believers!
Grace and peace,
Jason Hill
Posted by: Lazyspleen.blogspot.com | May 11, 2011 at 11:19 AM
You are definitely NOT alone. Glad you found the blog and are using some of the scripts. Send me your email address at johncosper@yahoo.com and I'll send you the Bearded Ladies scripts. I think you'd get a kick out of them.
Posted by: John Cosper | May 11, 2011 at 01:07 PM