Town Hall/PTA Scene Form

[Kelly]

Can anyone offer a detailed breakdown of this scene form? I get the gist, but details would really help me out. For example, details on running the scene, length, hub bub, etc.

[Janes]

Hard to break down a sketch form without an example of a script on hand, but I'm an idiot and I'll try any way.

Basically, a townhall scene is a cast scene. One person will be the moderator, usually in the role of a teacher or chairperson. An issue is being debated, say, in the case of a PTA scene, sex ed in school. The rest of the cast fills out the people who would be there representing different opinions on the subject.

These can take many forms. Most are done in formal meeting settings, like a condo board. But I've seen them done in informal settings, such as a video store where the clerk acts as the moderator as the customers debate the issue of videos being edited for content by Blockbuster. The moderator's role is to keep things moving. They usually act as a voice of reason, as in a center and eccentrics scene.

The scene is typically over when something has been decided. As far as length goes, I think anytime you go over five pages, you better have a darn good reason. It's a good scene for creating characters with very clear points-of-view.

- Joe

[Janes]

Oh, and one more thing. Even though the emphasis is on character and point-of-view, writers often neglect the potential of relationship in these scenes. These people know each other and have thoughts and feelings about each other that can help fuel their emotional opinion and their agendas.

- Joe

[Stacey]

Are you looking to write or improvise it?

The "mayor" or press conference person or whomever calls the meeting to order, establishes what the topic is. The crowd should "rabble" loudly to keep the energy going, then the "mayor" calls on someone.

Each person should say their name and role - "I'm Jim, I own the hardware store" or "Judy, from Cat Fancy" to introduce their character. Then they make their point, then the crowd rabbles until someone else gets called on. There should never be dead time with nothing happening.

The "mayor" is the conductor. The people should always go through the conductor, even when relating with one another, so instead of fighting or arguing, like "Jim, your hardware store sucks!" the angry neighbor would say, "Mayor, Jim's hardware store sucks." This way, they relate to each other, but keep the conductor in charge.

ALSO! Important! The townspeople are stating their points of view, not asking the "mayor" person questions, and it is NOT a game of make the "mayor" come up with answers about the issue. It's the mayor gathering points of view. Once everyone has STATED their point of view, the mayor can suggest something using all the input, "I propose we do a spread of the hardware store in cat fancy. All those in favor" and then everyone says "I" and the motion passes.

This is a game of character and point of view. That's what it exercises. And townspeople should feel free to use this as a platform to spew their point of view on anything, like a real town hall, people show up to hear themselves talk and it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the topic on the agenda. Character, personal agenda. And people can be related to each other (as Joe said) and also to the mayor.

I love this game and think it's a great teaching tool.

[Kelly]

Thanks so much for the help!

[Kelly]

Oh and we are looking to improvise it!