Set your story backstage at the theater.

Posted in Halloween on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 30 stories

“Maryam Francis: Mother to Our Soul” by Leotie Review

Submitted to Contest #123

The show is over and Maryam Francis sits on the floor, legs crossed with animated hand gestures, a pow-wow of actors around her as though they are her apostles. They pass joints and bottles of wine. Her hair is almost an angelic white and unkempt. She blows loose strands out of her face, touches others on the shoulders, nods in agreement, rifles up to her feet occasionally while in the sonic moments of telling a story, and laughs with ease and laughs often. When I introduce myself, she is finishing up an anecdote on her third husband, s...

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“And This is the Royalty of Albion” by Essy Dean

Submitted to Contest #123

It wasn't that Chloe was nervous - or maybe she was and she was trying to convince herself that she wasn't so she could get through this. She should be focusing on Queen Margaret. Margaret. She-Wolf of France and leader of the Lancastrian cause in England. Margaret had always been a figure from history Chloe had looked up to. If you cared to look, history was full of women who fought through their menfolk to get what they wanted or waited in the darkness pretending to be someone they weren't until the opportunity presented itself. Margaret...

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“Play” by Vincent Paiement Désilets

Submitted to Contest #123

The play starts at 9 p.m. “What time is it?” everyone asks. “8:54,” someone says. Backstage, the actors swarm around like frantic bees. Sparks fly as they brush against each other. Costumes are picked up and dropped. Props thrown around. Lights flicker. Walls are painted dirty green. Evaporated tears and sweat hit the ceiling and taint the wood darker. 8:57 “There’s no more time. ...

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“ENTERTAINMENT FROM AND FOR ALL AGES” by Charlotte Corrao

Submitted to Contest #123

ENTERTAINMENT FROM AND FOR ALL AGESThe invitation went out from the local dancing school to the community for singers and dancers. The owner came right to our local senior center and asked for volunteers. The participants were to work with the dancing school students for the upcoming holiday recital. I had chosen to audition for singing. The song I had decided to sing was, Brenda Lee’s “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree”.“Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” is a very upbeat song and very easy for the students to dance too. I was somewhat skep...

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“Their Finale ” by June O'conner

Submitted to Contest #123

The girl seemed alright. In the dark shadows behind the stage, she seemed to glow. Ms. Americana, Madam president, the Czarina of the theatre. Romeo found her dead. A spotlight shown on her body, illuminating the dark shadows under her eyes, the glitter on her cheeks like a haunted sugar skull, left by the world to end it all in one glorious finale. People laughed, people cheered as Romeo found her body, shock etched into the lines of his butterscotch face. I remember cheering, her performance so perfect, so eerily real. I recall...

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“limelight puppets” by Amanda Raynor

Submitted to Contest #123

Theatre was my life. I was a Kean for God’s sake. My ancestors acted for Shakespeare. I mean, I debuted Hamlet at Covent Garden for the Prince. But, I must sorely admit my limelight fading; all but extinguished some would say. I assure you, it had absolutely nothing to do with waning talent-those stories you hear of old actors hanging on beyond their worth, becoming clichéd caricatures of themselves-that is not the tale told here. A minor in-house scandal, then a spreading gossip plagued through the community, an unfounded defamation of my i...

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“Backstage v/s Life’s Stage” by Peter Schaper

Submitted to Contest #123

I fell in love with theatre when I was nine years old, acting and singing in my first ever school concert. I was a shy child, a tag-along kid, an outsider even in my birth family, but on stage I was somebody else, and I enjoyed the interaction with the audience. It wasn’t about celebrity, it really was about acting, about playing a role. I was good at that, and I loved doing it.In High School I played Gilbert & Sullivan: a policeman in The Pirates of Penzance and the Duke of Plaza Toro in The Gondoliers. In the Port Moresby Arts Council ...

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“Claire-A-Belle Theatre” by Tanya Forsyth Taylor

Submitted to Contest #123

A solitary lady stood on the catwalk six metres above the show. She gazed down, making out the figures on the stage below. Heat rose around her as the suspended lights glowed brightly. The bridge walkway both alarmed and exhilarated her, even after all the years being a part of the theatre. She giggled, remembering the fear she once felt on the catwalk. Her manager would make her come up whenever she made a mistake in her work at the theatre. ‘Claire, if you are to learn focus, you must develop discipline. Up you go and close the barn doors...

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“Gustav's Monologue” by Jeremiah Benson

Submitted to Contest #123

It's something about the way he moves, I swear.See, right there! The way his heel slightly elevated off the floor, it was masterful.Take notes fellas, we're watching a genius of theater in the flesh.I hope he stays longer, he said he's only going to be here for a couple of shows.I can feel myself getting better already. His presence is rubbing off.Yeah, me too.Silence, he's about to perform the monologue.Gosh he's amazing.At the end of Gustav's performance, all the actors and actresses left the vicinity. There was no use, they thought, indee...

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“Tamora” by Roland Hacker

Submitted to Contest #123

“There’s someone with a delivery for the play director around back of the theater, Jerry,” “Thanks, I’ll be there in a sec,” replied Jerry. No matter his preparation or instruction, show days always proved to be the most chaotic and hectic on the schedule. The delivery being referenced was a day late, assuming Jerry was guessing correctly what he’d find behind the building. Samantha, the female lead portraying Tamora, was already half an hour late for make-up. He’d caught two stagehands, Zach and Eddie, firing up a spliff in the bathroom...

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“Christmas Talent Show” by Amanda Partenheimer

Submitted to Contest #123

The Christmas Talent Show was the talk of my junior high school, Dozens of students had made it into the show, and I could not believe I made it into one of the acts. It was a chilly winter night; the school had cranked the heat and the packed stage was smoldering. After taking off my coat, I finished putting together my costume. Others ignored me but continued doing the same, a few of the students dressed in Santa and reindeer get ups, but most were already dressed either in formal or Sunday’s best. Cookies and drinks lined one wall bac...

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“The Velvet Curtain” by Madi Love

Submitted to Contest #123

Breathe. The breath she takes is deep; her blush red lips quiver from the thought of the moment approaching. The light shines down the curtains edge, illuminating the velvet texture. Suddenly everything becomes bright and the colors heighten in contrast, revealing the beauty of all that is. She can feel her heart pulsating in finger tips as she raises her hand to touch the soft velvet curtain. Her focus tunes in; she drowns out the music from the performance on stage. Her mind goes back to the days, weeks, months, years of practice and the d...

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“Who Is Vera?” by Kelli Blackwell

Submitted to Contest #123

ELEVATOR OUT. Tami stared at the sign on the elevator doors, as if it were in a foreign language. That sign sent her into a ten second childish tantrum. “No. No. No. Not again!” Tami protested. With no other options, she turned and slowly headed for the stairs. As Tami made her way up the backstairs to the fourth floor dressing rooms, she stopped on every landing to catch her breath. At each one she cursed the name of the person who decided performers should enter the theatre through a “secret” or “VIP” door. “Why is it we ...

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“Leahs Church” by Kathy Philpott

Submitted to Contest #123

Leah's Church Leah walks through the theater's stage door and tries to shake her umbrella outside as she holds the door open with her rear end. The rain has been brutal all day and filled the gutters with streams of water. This could have been a night like so many others in her theater career, but this night is different. Leah is prepared to have a great show and not get too mired down with emotions. She checks in at the desk, smiles, and hugs the stage manager, and begins her kind of superstitious routine to get ready for the show. Sh...

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“Why Didn't They Fly?” by Dee Dee Brown

Submitted to Contest #123

The irony of doves doing a swan dive into the asphalt of the parking lot. Because, you know they’re doves. Their bodies slammed into the asphalt, some exploding, others crumpling is distortion. The ones that looked perfectly fine except for the puddle of blood that slowly spread outward. Those were the most interesting. It looked like the blood was trying to escape. Really quickly too. Like when you’re running to the meter to drop another quarter in before the meter cop, who is steps away and has his hand on the ticket pa...

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Set your story backstage at the theater.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 30 stories

“Maryam Francis: Mother to Our Soul” by Leotie Review

“And This is the Royalty of Albion” by Essy Dean

“Play” by Vincent Paiement Désilets

“ENTERTAINMENT FROM AND FOR ALL AGES” by Charlotte Corrao

“Their Finale ” by June O'conner

“limelight puppets” by Amanda Raynor

“Backstage v/s Life’s Stage” by Peter Schaper

“Claire-A-Belle Theatre” by Tanya Forsyth Taylor

“Gustav's Monologue” by Jeremiah Benson

“Tamora” by Roland Hacker

“Christmas Talent Show” by Amanda Partenheimer

“The Velvet Curtain” by Madi Love

“Who Is Vera?” by Kelli Blackwell

“Leahs Church” by Kathy Philpott

“Why Didn't They Fly?” by Dee Dee Brown

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story looking down from a stage.

Write about a character who always wears a mask (physical or metaphorical).

Begin or end your story with “Well, that was dramatic.”

Write a story about a character practising a speech in front of the mirror. What are they preparing for?

Contest #123

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

212

Contest entries

134

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: