Are there any steampunk plays?

[Lady Chrystal]

I've seen a few stage productions which call themselves Steampunk. The plays were mostly very amateur, relying more on effects than script or acting, I'm afraid. The Forster story would be a great startpoint for stage adaptation.

I would suggest anyone trying to stage a Steampunk play needs to be aware that their props / effects will never look convincing, so it's important that the script / characters / plot all have to carry the audience along.

I would think that a SP play would be a wonderful opportunity to cut loose with Tesla coils, Jacob's ladders, fog machines, prop guns, back lighting, shadow plays, strobes, and all sort of over the top toys.  A school should be able to draft the Physics Club and go to town.  Still lots of work for a good fight choreographer too.  I also agree with you that a good script is what makes a play. 

A lot of the subtle baubles (cameos, gears, cravat pins) that we are so proud of would just be too small to be seen on stage but not bad for mingling with the patrons afterwards. 

We have about 4 1/2 theater companies in Juneau (which is not too bad for a landlocked town of 31K) and they have always tried to vary their plays as much as possible.  It might not be impossible to persuade them to put on a SP play if they had a good enough script to read.

Delireus - since I shall probably never have a chance to see The Adding Machine - would you mind sharing how it ended? 

Alas, most of the works I've seen are more of the "stick a cog on it" style. Tesla coils et al would be wonderful - but I wonder if they'd be allowed in a public space. Even fog machines would help, but I have yet to see them. One production had all the characters walking about commenting on how thick the fog was - without generating any.

For me, the Steampunk elements need to be woven into the story, not just stuck on as an afterthought. And using a story from another genre with a few Steamy icons taking the parts of the main characters just isn't cricket.

Sorry for ranting - I so want to see a good Steampunk production on stage, but have been disappointed more often than not.

[Captain]

http://www.cheapdjgear.us/Fog_Machines_and_Fog_Juice_s/22.htm  Fog machines are fairly cheap (I know most theater groups have virtually no budget or credit though  )  and I seem to recall an even cheaper dry ice trick. 

I do not see why a Tesla coil on stage would be a problem.  I seem to recall concerns about Van de Graff generators putting off broad band radio waves: http://www.mos.org/sln/toe/history.html and Jacob's Ladders present a high voltage risk unless enclosed.  These folks might have some other useful gadgets: http://www.amazing1.com/tesla.htm

Ultimately, like good fight choreography, the special effects need to help tell tell the story. 

[Captain]

A not quite steamy (but very Pythonian) Penny Dreadful audio play:

Horatius 1.01. (1/3) - The Penny Dreadfuls Present ~ The Brothers Faversham

[ionescofan]

I am currently writing one based on the difference engine as an analytical machine used to calculate societal choices.  If anyone is interested in giving it a read I would be grateful for feedback.  You can find some of my previous plays at Brooklyn publishing and in the fall of 2015 at Dramatic Publishing.

[GCCC]

This was brought to my attention:

http://www.mrshawking.com/

Apparently written with Steampunk intent.

[RFDutch]

As indicated by the majority of responses it is quite difficult to find any truly STEAMPUNK plays. Most attempts I've seen, as noted, take existing scripts and layer on either costuming and/or a variety of anachronistic looking set pieces, props and effects. Some more successful than others of course. One example was a production of "Les Miserable" which did a fantastic job costuming the "Master of the House" in full-on STEAMPUNK. Unfortunately it stuck out like a sore thumb because they didn't follow the concept through the whole production. Pretty much everything else was presented in essentially modern dress. Never could figure out the connection between the two concepts. Many companies like to throw "Sweeney Todd" into the STEAMPUNK slipstream. The play does really lend itself nicely to concept and reads about as close an anything I've seen to a STEAMPUNK genre story. Jules Verne is an obvious front runner but difficult to stage. Frankenstein is another natural choice that works very well. But new works written from the ground up as STEAMPUNK are rare and hard to find. To that effect I made my own attempt at an adaptation of DRACULA set into a STEAMPUNK universe. Though I admit it's not wholly original the fit worked nicely and got good audience response. Nevertheless I continue to do rewrites to better shape the script into a truly STEAMPUNK genre play. That effort lead me to another scheme.

Being the producer of an annual Theatre Festival which began soliciting for new and original scripts the spark ran through me like a jolt from an Edison's AC transformer. That year we initiated our first juried play writing contest, expressly focused on original STEAMPUNK scripts. If it can be done for literature and movies why should the theatre not partake of this, as yet, rarely explored territory. the results were quite satisfying with some of the best entries submitted and performed by several local high school students. Another being a sort of anthology of three separate but linked short one act plays. And one of my favorites was an especially moving story set in Pakistan of a woman living with scars left from acid thrown at her face by a group of men threatened by her pursuit of a college education. Exactly the sort of meaningful writing I was hoping for.

So it can be done intelligently and artfully.

[chicar]

Wicked have somes steam-ish elements. It is a little weak so late in the debate, but this the first thing who came to my mind.

There also quite a lot of Victorianised/industrialised version of  shakespearean play (macbeth, hamlet,dream of a midsummer night,King Lear,etc)

Lastly, i once dribbled on the idea of a steampunk version of Moliére's The Miser with La Fléche, Dame Claude, Brindavoine and La Merluche as automatons, Maitre Jacque wearing a mechanician uniform, the clerk sporting a portable writing machine strapped to his shoulder, Frosine with a mechanical eye prothestic,

Spoiler: ShowHide

Anselme having lost his childs Valére and Mariane in a airship accident instead of a sea ship ones ( nuance carried by a projected animated flashback)

and finally everyone wearing late victorian clothes at the exceptions of outdated Harpagon wearing a georgian apparel in addition of a plague mask and bird claw like mechanical hands ( reference to the fact than the old word Harpagon mean preybird). Feel free to "steal" my idea.

[The Corsair]

IIRC there's one around somewhere called 'Steampunk Western'. Lazy naming, and sounds already like a cash-in, but it could be worth looking into.

[Mechanic Williams]

There can be.

You just need to pick up a pen is all.

[Rockula]

'Rayguns in Aspic - Steampunk Comedy Show.'

As performed at Lincoln Asylum by Count Rostov and collected Steampunk reprobates.

It's more like a radio show than a play but does have the 'Crumpet by Caravan, By Crikey!' segments.

It's on CD and it's very funny.

[RFDutch]

As indicated by the majority of responses it is quite difficult to find any truly STEAMPUNK plays. Most attempts I've seen, as noted, take existing scripts and layer on either costuming and/or a variety of anachronistic looking set pieces, props and effects. Some more successful than others of course. Recently saw a production of "Les Miserable" which did a fantastic job costuming the "Master of the House" in full-on STEAMPUNK. Sadly it stuck out like a sore thumb because they didn't follow the concept through the whole production. Pretty much everything else was presented in essentially modern dress. Never could figure out the connection between the two concepts. Many companies like to throw "Sweeney Todd" into the STEAMPUNK slipstream. The play does really lend itself nicely to concept and reads about as close an anything I've seen to a STEAMPUNK genre story. Jules Verne is an obvious front runner but difficult to stage. Frankenstein is another natural choice that works very well. But new works written from the ground up as STEAMPUNK are rare and hard to find. To that effect I made my own attempt at an adaptation of DRACULA set into a STEAMPUNK universe. Though I admit it's not wholly original the fit worked nicely and got good audience response. Nevertheless I continue to do rewrites to better shape the script into a truly STEAMPUNK genre play. That effort lead me to another scheme.

Being the producer of an annual Theatre Festival; the spark ran through me like a jolt from an Edison's transformer to wit we began soliciting for new and original scripts. That year we are initiated our first juryed play writing contest, expressly focused on writing of STEAMPUNK scripts. If it can be done for literature and movies why should the theatre not partake of this, as yet, rarely explored territory. The results were quite promising with some really outstanding entries submitted and performed by several local high school students.

[RFDutch]

Well that was about a decade ago. Later in 2018 I wrote and produced a companion script to "DRACULA" titled "THE UNFORTUNATE CASE OF MR.RENFIELD" focusing solely on the character Renfield from Stoker's Dracula novel. This effort provided an even deeper immersion into a SP universe with a story both personal and steeped in the SP trope. Now free from full time teaching responsibilities I am delving back into the pursuit of creating SP written for the theatre and keeping on the lookout for others brave enough to venture into this, as yet, mostly undiscovered  country.

[Sorontar]

Welcome back to Brass Goggles.
Which aspects do you think will work well on stage?
What "special effects" would you like include? More than just "steam"?

Sorontar