Hello all.

When term resumes after the holiday Ligeia will be rounding up new interest for the theatre club, the Hogwarts Players. This is the thread to generate some ideas.

What We Need

Play Idea: It would be fun to have members working towards a production for all or most of the term, depending on how big it is.

Leaders: Would anyone like to co-lead with Ligeia? Said student character shares the IC and OOC drive to create club threads, organize and lead discussions such as this (so I don't do everything ) Send a PM to Ligeia if interested.

Faculty Advisor: An optional request. There could be none or multiple depending on expertise. Hogwarts staff only.

Other Questions

What projects should the club have? Two smaller productions a term? One? Musical or stage play?

Are group ideas best determined OOC or IC? (eg there could be a thread early in the term where characters come up with ideas for production)

What kinds of threads would you like to see? Ideas include:

• Auditions
• Theatre exercises, improv
• IC production meetings
• Rehearsals
• Vocal Training
• Performances
• Audience threads for performances?
• Other

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Who Can Be a Hogwarts Player Member?

Anyone who's a student! Visiting Tournament students are welcome this year. Club roster will be updated on the wiki page. Don't fret if your character is in the wrong place, 'twill be updated once it's determined who wants to be active in the club.

No requirements to post! But please have the characters you say will show up to meetings participating in Hogwarts Players threads. Can't very well be a member if character X did nothing but fill up a spot on the roster.

And of course, other lovely ideas from you!

I'd like to include Frank.  He's always up for extra activities! FUNTIVITIES! 

I think it'd be fun to...

• Audition
• Have someone come in to teach them acting, or have another student teach
• Have a play 'event' where we can have backstage shenanigans

Maybe we can come up with a play that exists in the Potterverse.  We don't need a proper full script, just a synopsis and we can just wing it when it comes to writing out lines.  :) Maybe base one on some of the Tales of Beedle the Bard, or something like that.

Warren could probably get into this. 

Count Waverly and Odessa in, Odie needs to express her creative side, and Waverly just like joining things.

In total agreement with Niobe about a Potterverse play. That would be really fun

I don't think I have any characters who would be involved in the club (though Evie could probably be coerced into working tech, assuming it involves pretty charmwork), but I do have an interest in theatre IRL, so I can't help but get enthusiastic for my own sake – haha!

As far as Potterverse plays...

According to the commentary after The Fountain of Fair Fortune in Tales of Beetle the Bard, a dramatic adaptation of the story has been presented at Hogwarts in the past. As far as technical effects and cool scenery, Rowling writes  that there was “a fully functioning Fountain of Fair Fortune and a miniature grassy hill, up which our three heroines and hero would appear to march while it sank slowly into the stage and out of sight.” The role of the worm in the play was even played by an engorged ashwinder which, in hindsight, probably wasn't a great choice. There are three strong female leads and a single male lead, which isn't a huge cast, but I think there is room for either doubling, swinging, or understudying, which could be fun IC-ly for the characters involved in the production. There also may or may not be pressure to call the whole thing off, since the story involves a major romance between a witch and a muggle which, in some circles, may be considered to be in bad taste.

It could easily be performed as a straight play, but in case you haven't heard of it, there is also a short Wrock Opera called 'Fair Fortune' based on the story, written by Lena Gabrielle (Of 'The Butterbeer Experience' and best friend of Lauren Fairweather-Maggiacomo of 'The Moaning Myrtles' fame, if you're into the old school muggle wizard wrock scene). It's about 20 minutes in length, so if you wanted to sort of “borrow” it as an in-character musical, you might have to either use it as the basis and pretend the actual show is longer, or use it as part of a longer short play/musical festival of sorts.

Thanks to the magic of youtube and the internet, you can watch the whole thing right now!

Here is the first ever performance from earlier in 2009, which has the entire thing all in one video.

And here is part one of the show, performed again, this time at Azkatraz in Summer '09, and here is part two.

And if neither of those are quite clear enough for you, you can listen to the soundtrack to the whole thing (with all dialogue included) here, on bandcamp and you do not have to pay for anything unless you download it.

Roles in this version of the show include:
-Amata (great part for an ingenue type)
-Asha (great part for someone dramatic and ridiculous -plenty of writhing in agony)
-Altheda (great part for an all around  strong performer)
-Sir Luckless (excellent comedic part)
-Narrator (which can technically be split many ways and become 3-5 roles for males or females, if necessary)
-The worm (probably wouldn't want to use an ashwinder again – might be a fun part for two students to play...)

There could also be a chorus/ensemble added, if you were interested in depicting the many, many hopeful individuals who traveled to the garden in pursuit of a dip in the fountain. There's no number like that in the version I linked to, but there's no reason why we can't add one!

So that's potentially as many as 11 named parts... if you doubled the leads it could be as many as 15, plus ensemble. So, in theory, this production could accommodate a cast of 20-30, assuming the ensemble doesn't mind appearing in like... one number, and potentially a finale.

This sounds amazing! Even if my character didn't get a part, it'd be fun to audition, etc.   

I have highly considered the club's motto should be "No Ashwinders in our Fountain of Fair Fortune" because I didn't know of this bit of trivia.

I never expected there have been actual productions of it!

Random but wholly sensible mottoes are the best mottoes. When I worked backstage in high school, mine was 'Five is not constant.' Because apparently, when you need to measure pieces of wood for set-building, anything 5 cm or over never measures the same way twice. True story.

I've been reading this thread wistfully, knowing I don't really have an thespian students, but it occurs to me that Pax, arts-and-crafts aficionado that he is, could be useful working set/props crew. So if anyone does want to go the 'backstage shenanigans' route and could use some extra stage hands, you can totally count Pax in.

I totally love the Fountain of Fair Fortune idea, incidentally. Sounds like a good staple for new thesps to cut their teeth on while still having scope for things to go amusingly wrong if necessary. Even if Pax doesn't get involved I will totally need to have at least one of my characters watch the production.