Titanic Plays

[Steve Krienke]

My names Steve Krienke, this is my 2nd post. I am a play writer, and I wrote two plays about the titanic.

While I was writing the other night I realized, Oh my God, look what I am doing. I am taking real people, and writing about them. Now keep in mind Im not playing the James Game, to see how many people you can fasely portray, all the things in my plays are real.

It was a good feeling though. Im sure they are all sitting above looking down at the people that make them apart of there daily lives. I have wrote so much, I now feel like I knew the Thayers and the Strauses, not to mention Captain Smith.

Its all so very touching...Were keeping there memorys alive.

Steve Krienke
[email protected]

 

[Steve Krienke]

All,

I write plays. I know alot about the Titanic. I wrote my schools play, about the titanic. I am also writing a play for a theatre in a big nearby town - also about the Titanic.

I Want to know what you would like to see in a play. I have a budget of $6000..which about $1500 was already been estimated to be spent.

Who would you want to see, what would you want to see. You tell me, and I will write about it. I already have the whole layout for the play, I have not wrote line for line yet, so please if you have an idea, dont be afraid to tell me!

Also, if you have any info about previous Titanic plays, I would love to discuss them with you.

Thanks,

Steve Krienke
[email protected]

 

[Fiona Nitschke]

G'day Steve and welcome to ET.

Your posts about plays have been moved to the appropriate forum: Art, Photography and Music. The different sections of the board make it straightforward for people to find discussions on particular topics, join in or start new discussions as appropriate. As you can see from other threads in this section, the Titanic musical gets quite a bit of interest.

There's quite a few Titanic plays about. Even though I'm yet to see even one of them live, I've read a number of published playscripts. If you're interested, I'll post a list of what I've got / read later, as I don't have access to my collection right now.

You wrote that you've already written a couple of Titanic plays and are now working on a new one. What's the angle you're taking this time around? What part(s) of Titanic's myriad stories are you inspired to translate on to the stage?

 

[Steve Krienke]

I will tell the story

I was going to go to this big school where I knew everyone, and they all knew me. I had plans for a big 100 person play, but we ended up moving to the next town over! Where there was only about 200 people in the school, compared to the 2 thousand I was just getting use to.

The small school would not allow me to bring the people I had ready in the big school. So, I wrote a much smaller 10 person for there school play, which is being put on this friday.

But I am still writing a huge 100 person play for a big theatre in Alexandria (Minnesota) (Thats the town I had just came from)

I divided the play into four acts

Act one - pre titanic - the dinner party....bascially the major events for the designing, construction

Act two - Titanic - boatdock..loading of the passengers...everything before the iceberg

Act three - The Iceberg - the bridge, the crowsnest, the loading of the boats...

Act four - Post Titanic - who died, who didnt, peoples post titanic life

I take you around the ship, I show what was going through peoples minds, I show the bravery, the cowerdness, the love, the confusion.

Its basically everything the movie wasent

The main goal is to show people what really happend...to show the truth.

If anyone has any questions, I am on the msn messanger and the yahoo messenger. Ask for my addresses. I would love to know where I could get a copy of the scripts, if at all possible.

Thanks,

Steve Krienke
[email protected]

 

[Brandon Whited]

Hello Steve,

Your play sounds very intriguing. I'm glad you're setting out to tell the truth about what happened, instead of blending it with fiction (or ditching it entirely!).

I want to see pictures of those sets once they're completed!

 

[Steve Krienke]

Brandon,

I am very pleased you took notice of my play. I to am glad I am able to tell the truth, I just cannot possibly imagine fasley portraying things, or even making them up!

Of course, there will be hundreds of pictures, the play is not untill next year though! I'd be more than happy to you posted though on any new information!

Thanks,

Steve Krienke
[email protected]

 

[Brandon Whited]

Steve,

Sounds good. Do please keep us posted. I'm a play lover myself, and I'm lucky enough to live near an historic theatre. Several celebrities got their start there, including one actor who later became huge during the first half of the 20th century. And yet his name escapes me!

 

[Brandon Whited]

Ah! It was Gregory Peck! They have a wooden tail gate rail from an old farm truck displayed on one of the walls, and painted in white letters on it is the statement, "GREGORY PECK DROVE THIS TRUCK!"

You may want to check it out: http://www.bartertheatre.com/

 

[Steve Krienke]

haha,

sounds like something that would happen to me, forget something big!

If you, or anyone, has any input they would like to share on the play, please feel free to let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,
Steve Krienke

[email protected]

 

[Steve Krienke]

well,

the cat it outta the bag haha.

any input for the play? i would love to here what people would like to see/not see!

steve krienke

 

[Rachel Walker]

Hi Steve,
I'm a huge drama freak. I'm always starring in my school plays and helping adapt the scripts and direct. So when I saw your thread, I was thrilled.
Something I don't think you should put in your play is anything fictional. (Characters, relationships etc.)I've had enough of that.
You might want to consider making Ismay and Andrew some of the key roles. Also, I would suggest stressing the differences between 3rd and 1st class. Mention 1st class only losing one child, while 3rd class lost about 45. It makes for some good drama. You know...1st class mocking steerage and so on because when you think about it, steerage people were probably more respectable than those rich people.
Oh yeah, use those fun words like port and aft and such.
Hope I could help.
Good luck with your play
~Rachel~

 

[Steve Krienke]

Rachel,

I'm glad to see there are other geeks..err..i mean drama people out there! hahaha

My school play (9 people) was preformed Nov. 12, 2004. It was a hit with the town. Well over $200 in admission, free will donations. Thats pretty good for a town with less then 600. I'm not going to explain what was in it..because I have tried doing that before, and messed myself up haha.

My next Titanic play will be ready in the Spring of 2005. That is a $6000 production right there, with a cast of 100, including 40 extras. That will be fun. But before that one happens, I will be having a play on the British Royal Family. Its called "A Princess, or Love" Its about Princess Margaret. For those of you that dont know, Margaret was Queen Elizabeth II's sister. The reason I call it A Princess, or Love is because she had to choose between marrying a married man, or staying a princess. Its all so very touching.

If anyone here holds a fasination about the British Royal Family, or would like to learn about them, Email me! I changed my email..its now [email protected]

Please feel free to email me with questions regarding the B.R.F or the titanic!

Steve Wiechman

 

[Bob Godfrey]

You might need to update the background a bit for that other play, Steve. It was widely believed until very recently that Princess Margaret would have needed to give up all rights and privileges, including her title and her official income, in order to marry Peter Townsend but this was not the case. Official papers made public this year reveal that Margaret had received the personal assurance of the Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden, that in any event she would remain 'Her Royal Highness' and that her income, lifestyle and official duties as a member of the Royal Family would be unaffected. Far from Margaret being demoted to the level of a commoner, it is likely that Townsend would have been granted a title in accordance with his new status. Their children, however, would have had no rights of succession to the throne and Margaret herself would have lost any such right. That was the personal loss she had to consider, along with the devotion and respect of her family and of the nation.
.

 

[Steve Krienke]

Bob,

Thank you for that information. As much research as I do, I failed to see that anywhere. I will have to look into it. Thank you very much for the information!
Steve

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Steve, there are some interesting details and speculations here:

http://www.etoile.co.uk/Columns/RoyalScribe/040412.html