Kids as Characters

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > STRUCTURE > CHARACTERS > KIDS

'Part of learning about writing is learning how to distinguish your good stuff from your bad stuff. I write some perfectly awful stuff . . .. I write bad scenes, I mean, whole scenes that just don't work, that don't build, the people don't sound right. The important thing is to be able to recognize them, so they won't end up in the play.'

-- August Wilson

Films like ET and HOME ALONE make kids look easy, but they're not. And they're expensive. When you need real kids, they come with a lot of baggage: tutors and nannies and strict limits on rehearsal time. And the theatre producing your play has to foot the bill for all this.

A Rule with only a handful of exceptions . . .

Kids less than 13 or 14 years old usually don't work well in the theatre. They're best left to Film where the camera does most of the work.

The Trapp Family in THE SOUND OF MUSIC aside, the safest way to deal with Kids -- if you're determined to have them as characters . . .

Boost their ages so an 18-year-old can play them
It's fairly easy to find 18-or-older performers who can do a fine job of playing as young as 12 or 13 in appearance as well as vocal impression.
Limit Kids played by real kids to a maximum of 1
You'll have enough headaches with one; two will give you -- and your director -- a migraine for 6.

Having said all this, David Mamet pulled this off in THE CRYPTOGRAM with a 10-year-old as a significant character -- played by a kid. It is possible. But should you do it if you're not David Mamet yet? Only if you're driven by the story you want to tell and can't think of writing anything else.

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