by Monica Cross
The third part of this series is for writers who might want to write SFF plays. This article will provide concrete advice, illuminate aspects that need consideration, and offer a potential shift in perspective when moving into dramatic writing.
Advice: Read, See, and Make Theater
In the second part of this series, I outlined a few plays that I think exemplify how the stage can invigorate certain SFF themes. Beyond that short list, there is a database compiled by Dr. Christos Callow, Jr. on his website: The Internet Science Fiction Theatre Database. . For access to the most recent work in this area, go to New Play Exchange and use their search function to look at what playwrights are currently doing in the realm of SFF (also check out horror!).
When you aren’t reading plays, go to see all sorts of theater. SFF theater is a must but not always available at local venues. I recommend also going to see living-room dramas, historical plays, and everything that you can, because all of it will give you a sense of what you like to see on stage, what you don’t like to see on stage, and what you really want to write.
If you live in any area with a vibrant theater scene, volunteer at one of the companies near you. Community theaters are always looking for new people to work on productions. Even if you don’t want to step on stage, volunteer as a stagehand, painting sets, making costumes, or as an assistant to the director. These things will get you in the rehearsal rooms and behind the scenes. You can see how a play goes from words on a page to a full production. Even volunteering as an usher at a regional theater will get you into the lobby before the rest of the audience and might provide a deeper understanding of how all the moving parts of a production fit together.
Consideration: What Does Stageable Mean?
There are two seemingly competing trains of thought when it comes to writing for the stage:
- Know what can and can’t be staged and write what can be staged.
- Write the story you need to tell and leave it up to the designers to figure out how to put it on stage.
For the first piece of advice: It is very practical but can lead to somewhat stagnant theater. And for every idea I can think of that I would consider “unstageable,” I can think of an example of someone making it work on stage. Be it Shakespeare’s infamous “Exit, Pursued by a Bear” or a stage direction in Heiner Müller’s postmodernist play HamletMachine, which simply reads “Ice Age.” One time, I saw a play (and I wish I could remember any of the details about it to be able to properly attribute it here, but alas) where identical twins played the same person in different parts of a timeline so that a time traveler could meet herself. So, limiting oneself to what can be staged is really a matter of what can be imagined and created.
That brings me to the second piece of advice for writers: Let the designers figure it out. This is wonderful advice to a point. Designers often specialize in cool and super-niche ways to achieve spectacle in their given area. As a sometimes-designer myself, I love jumping at the chance to fabricate off-the-wall props or intricate costumes. I have a list of bizarre things I would love to be asked to make. I am not alone in relishing creating seemingly impossible effects. So, then what could be wrong with this way of thinking?
A script needs to be able to reach a designer in order for them to create theater magic, which means that it needs to be read as producible to a producer first. I believe that rather than being opposed, these two lines of thinking are interlinked. Think about what works on stage, but then write in such a way as to push a designer—and the theater producing your work—to want to bring something previously impossible to the stage for your work. This means being strategic about not only the stories you want to tell, but how you want to tell them.
Perspective: The Goal Is Performance, so Find a Way to Get It on Its Feet
Performance, not publication, is the primary goal of a script. Most plays are published only after a significant production or two has been successfully staged. This is because scripts go through development much in the same way novels go to beta readers. Plays go through readings, workshops, and premiere productions with the expectation that the script is still evolving.
So if you are writing a play, I recommend connecting with actors, directors, and theatermakers. Once you have a draft, invite artists to read your script. You do not need a theater or producer to make it happen. It is something you can host in your living room or virtually. If in person, I recommend feeding actors. This can be as simple as ordering pizza. Assign parts, have the actors read, don’t forget to time it to see how long the script is running (scripts rarely run a perfect one minute per page), and ask everyone in attendance for feedback.
Be it a DIY reading or a development opportunity at a prestigious theater, surround yourself with people who are excited about the type of SFF theater you are writing, and always feel free to only engage with the feedback that propels your play in the direction you want to take it.
Conclusion: Just Write!
If you want to write SFF plays, please do. Write and rewrite and rewrite again. Then submit it far and wide. Post it on New Play Exchange and share the word about it on social media. It is hard to get a play produced, but the first steps are to get it written and submitted to theaters. Only then can theaters take a chance on it!
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Monica Cross is a playwright based out of Wisconsin. She has an extensive background in theater, including acting, directing, dramaturgy, and design.
Monica has taught at New College of Florida, Ringling College of Art and Design, and University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. She has worked at the American Shakespeare Center, Urbanite Theatre, and Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival.
Monica’s plays have been produced by Silk Moth Stage, Whiskey Theatre Factory, The Sarasota Players, MadLab, Theatre Odyssey, The Hippodrome, and various Fringe Festivals across the United States. Her work has been a semifinalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries, and a finalist for Wisconsin Wrights. Her writing has been published in The Best 10-Minute Plays 2023, The Best Men’s Stage Monologues 2024, The Best Men’s Stage Monologues 2025, and The Best Women’s Stage Monologues 2025 (all through Smith & Kraus), as well as Ten-Minute Play Festival, Volume Four: 2018 – 2021 by Theatre Odyssey.Monica holds an M.Litt. and MFA from Mary Baldwin College and has most recently trained at the Kennedy Center Summer Playwright Intensive. In addition to being a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, she is also a member of the Dramatists Guild. For more, visit her website at www.monicacross.com and her portfolio on NPX.