ConversationPlanning a Play: Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and an employee at the campus theater. Student: Hello, are you the scheduling administrator for the Agatha Theater building? Employee: Yes, that's right. How can I help you? Student: Oh, good. I've been running around trying to find the right person. So it's a relief to finally found you. Can you tell me what the best way would be for me to book the main theater for a play that I'm producing now? Employee: Hold on, let's start from the beginning. Tell me a little bit about this play. What is it about? Student: Oh, sure, we're working on a stage version of the movie, A Few Good Men, you know, starring Tom Cruise, the movie is one of my favorites. But the stage version is really exciting too. The dialogue is excellent and we've been fortunate enough to have cast some of the best student actors on campus. Employee: Well, it sounds like a worthy play for our theater then. It's a great movie. So I'd love to see a stage performance myself. So to the important question, what date are you considering? Student: Actually, we want, um, because we really like to present our player tag thought were totally open as to the date. Any available weekend in February or March would work. Employee: You know, I don't hear that enough. Let's see. I think I can fit it in on the weekend of March third through the fifth. Uh, how does that work? Student: That's perfect. It give us enough time to rehearse without pushing the performance dates too late into the month and bumping up against spring break. Employee: That was easy enough there. Now we just have to iron out the details. Student: Sure. What else do you need to know? We're only at the beginning stages of working out like props and things, but maybe we can make a plan for when I can give you whatever else you need to know. Employee: Yes, that will be just fine. We have some time to plan everything out before the spring. It's only October after all. Student: So what information can I give you now? Employee: Well, even if you're not positive about all of the props, do you have a rough idea of how elaborate your set will be? Uh, will you need lots of stairs, extra levels, or the like? Student: Oh, that's a good question. Uh, so far, I think the answer is no. We have a very simple set in mind. We want to focus on the content of the dialogue. It's pretty dense. Employee: Right. I remember that from the movie, but anyway, that'll make planning easier if we don't have to worry too much about extra work to get the set ready. And how many actors will there be altogether? Student: Oh, um, a lot. We'll have a total of 43, I think, oh, we don't worry. There won't be more than about 20 on stage at once. In fact, there are only a few scenes with anywhere near even that many people on the same stage. Those are the scenes in the court room where there has to be a jury of 12 people. Employee: Um. This sounds like it'll be interesting. The numbers shouldn't cause a problem, and the stage is definitely big enough to host that many actors at a time. Student: Actually, now that I think of it, I have a question for you. Employee: True. Student: I know that we'll need to use the real stage for rehearsals for a few days before we put on the play. So, um, could we use Agatha a few days before our performance dates? Employee: Oh, naturally, you'll be able to use the stage from the monday before the first show on word. So that should give you about one week. Then on the Sunday after your last show, you'll just need to clean up and get all of your play materials out, uh, off the stage. Student: That's great. We'll clean up after ourselves. No problem. Thank you so much for your help and all the information. Employee: My pleasure. We'll speak again soon. Student: Till then.