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Types of Introductions – Part 2

In the last post I talked about two types of introductions, using questions and telling a short story. This post will focus on a third, a direct start where you take a few moments to set the scene and start the play. As you do, though, try to find one thing to have the audience look for in the play.

We have a series of plays that take place in a soda shop. For a new audience, we need to set the scene and give a bit of background so that when a puppet asks for a root beer float the audience doesn’t think he is being rude.

In this type of introduction, I usually set the scene such as: “Mr. Quimper runs a soda shop and to do that it takes money. He has to buy the ice cream, soda, toppings, and other food items. He also has to buy cups, bowls, glasses, forks, spoons, and a lot of other stuff. Then he also has to pay for electricity, light bulbs, and a lot of other things we seldom think about. Mr. Quimper has reached a point where he doesn’t have enough money to pay for his bills. If that continues long enough, he could lose his business. What’s he going to do? What would you do? During the play, look to see what solution he chooses to follow and whether or not it is the right one.”

Then go right into the play and afterwards review the solution with the audience and challenge them to make the right choice when they face a problem they don’t know how to handle.

Sometimes the best introduction is just a simple setting of the scene and going right into the play. Just make sure you have the audience looking for something specific as they watch.

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