In order to produce a (musical) theatre, the first step is to choose an appropriate script. However it is not always easy to find one because of possible limitation of actors’ number and sex ratio, especially in schools. Therefore I start not by choosing a play but by writing a new one with all the participants. Here is my method.
1) People gather all together and talk about what each wants to share with others. Talking and exchanging their own ideas, people can find a common ground which could be the subject. (Or simply, the subject can be given from the outside.)
2) The subject chosen, a brainstorming process through which sufficient data will be accumulated starts about the subject.
3) With the data gathered, people think about the story. One proposes one, another person another one, and the other can add or remove some parties of it or another story can be suggested. In this process, all or part of data gathered can be used, or a new totally different story can also be acceptable. What is important is to make a good and persuasive story. Anyway, people build a story exchanging their ideas. That each person makes a story by deduction from what was gathered, or several people make story, or just one person invents a story… everything is possible and acceptable if a good script can be created. Every story needs to be developed with details at the length of around 100 minutes because anything less is too short, anything longer is boring. The whole story, the story of each act and each scene have to be made. The more detailed the story is, the easier the next step is.
4) The next step is to decide characters or roles to "act". Each person chooses his or her own role in the story. Thus it is also possible to introduce changes in the story according to the new characters suggested by people. If somebody introduces a new role, and if this role is very persuasive, this role can be accepted and the whole story may change along with the new role even though the role was not in the previously decided story.
5) The next step is to write lines. Each one writes their own lines. People choose a scene and exchange dialogues as their roles. They may do it by spontaneously exchanging dialogues which will be rearranged by the director who will oversee the working script.
6) Rehearsing
7) Performance
This method works very well and I worked more than 10 years in this way. In this process, the most important role is the director because he, first of all, has to complete the script. Of course, he has to direct the rehearsal with new ideas. For me and for many, one of the most important virtues of an artistic work is the concept of New.
