PUTTING ON A PLAY

The collaborators behind The Young Producer's Video Book (1995, not reviewed) cast this book, subtitled ``The Young Playwright's Guide to Scripting, Directing, and Performing,'' in the same format: an easy-to-read how-to-do-it guide, with a welcome emphasis on the structure and content of the drama rather than on the technicalities of acting and production. The authors cover various types of plays (pantomime, improvisation, skits, etc.); steps to writing plays (character, setting, dialogue, action, conflict, plot, and theme); and stages in production (responsibilities of the various crew members, auditions and rehearsals, and the rudiments of acting and directing). Excerpts from five sample scripts, each from a different type of drama, bring the book to a close. An admirably lucid and concise presentation of the essentials of stagecraft, with plenty of encouragement for aspiring thespians. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-11)