New Play Vitals
House of Many Rooms
The new play is called “House of Many Rooms.” This one set, small cast comedy-drama is about a question we’ve all faced—How do we move on from tragedy?
Specific Audience
As a dramedy, this show has broad appeal. The specific audience for “House of Many Rooms” includes anyone who cares about, or deals, with children. I can see this show doing well in high school and college theaters as well as community theaters.
Plot
A therapist is going about his day at a quiet little mental hospital when a young woman comes in. She sits down confidently and says, “I need to talk with you about something vitally important to all of us, and the thing is, I’m really betraying a sort of family trust to talk with you about it. I’m certain some people suspect what’s happened to us, but, well, we just don’t talk about it, and if we don’t start talking about it soon, someone is going to get hurt (averts her eyes) again.”
Cast
- 2 hospital cameo voice-overs before the rise
- Corinthia, who appears, at first, to be the dominant personality
- Cookie, the matron who makes everything okay
- Mr. Fixit, who fixes things and always knows what to say
- The Twins–Jack and Jill–who can’t keep their hands off each other
- Mr. Marbro, anger personified
- Jeffery, the patient and
- Dr. Branson, the therapist
Publicity Support
You should know that the author not only allows, but encourages, a wide range of promotional activities, including: commercials, contests and special events. Because the show comes around to address the aftermath of childhood abuse, “House of Many Rooms” is a natural tie-in with local schools, mental health agencies, clinics, hospitals and churches. Because the show is a drama, it works well as a catalyst to provoke discussion about important social issues. At the same time, the play is a comedy and includes fun sponsorship opportunities for a local restaurant, bakery, resort or cooking school. If you are clever, you will also sell a ton of Calla Lilly cookies during intermission (when you read the script, you’ll understand why).
Show Business
This play is fully protected by U. S. copyright. All rights are controlled exclusively by the author who is committed to the play’s success. To that end, the performance contract allows producers wide latitude in promoting “House of Many Rooms,” including:
- Creating previews for special audiences
- Staging the show as a full production or as reader’s theater
- Using material from the play during television and radio appearances
- Producing and running commercials, and even
- Recording and posting selected scenes on social media and the company website
There is a one-time up-front performance rights fee of $100.00. In addition, royalties are calculated based on a percentage of the nightly gross box office receipts (ticket sales). The royalty starts at just 5%.
Using a royalty-based fee schedule makes business simple, transparent, reliable and predictable. For details, ask the author for a free copy of the Plain English contract.
Your Next Step
Contact Rodney Robbins to request a free reading copy of the play. “I’d love to learn more about your theater,” says Rodney. To contact Rodney Robbins directly, call 828-461-1306.