My new play is set in an apartment building, so I have four or five characters on stage on once, in their respective apartments. Is it right to say, "Manager and Sharon talk, MOS, in his office."

Or should I write, "Manager and Sharon's voices aren't heard while they talk in his office."

Is it okay to put screenwriting terms in a play?

I'd use MOS, only because it saves space.


Phil

Thanks, Phil.

You can also use:  "Mary and John talk amongst themselves."

I would actually go with this one, incase the MOS is wrong.



Phil

All right.

Thanks again.

Quoted from ABennettWriter MOS

for those of you unfamiliar with the term "MOS" it means "Mit Out Sound" (without sound).  'Mit' being German for "with".  Some translate it as "moment of silence" which I don't think actually refers to what is intented.  You can check out this and other screenwriting terms at: http://www.simplyscripts.com/WR_glossary.html

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I can use the term in a play, right?

And thanks for the vocab lesson, Mr Don.

Quoted from ABennettWriter I can use the term in a play, right?

I haven't the faintest idea if you can use it in a play.  Ask Shelton.  He's the theatre guy.  

Don

I wouldn't use it in a play because very few people would understand it.   I think one of the points of writing something down is that you want other people to understand it.

You never see that in a play.  You see what phil said, that they talk ammongst themselves.  I'm not sure if that makes it "Wrong" but I know I've never seen it.

I saw this post earlier, but wasn't sure how to answer at first so I mulled it over for a bit.

My opinion?  Don't use MOS.  It's a screenwriting term, and I don't think it applies to the stage.

With stageplays, at least from what I've seen, you've got a lot more liberty as far as space and description goes because you don't need to adhere to the page a minute rule.  You can REALLY spell it out.

The conversation continues but is now muted as the lights fade slightly overhead.  They continue to speak in silence as the lights in "so and so's" room brighten.

So and So
"dialogue"

Kinda going with the "conversation fades with the lights" method.

Do you have the block written out and are just struggling with that part?  It may help to have a visual reference.

Here's what I have:

      (TALL MOVER enters through front door.
        He and the Manager communicate, MOS.
        Tall Mover exits.)

Basically, the manager tells the tall mover which apartment Aaron's in, while Aaron has a scene with Cindy in his apartment. Their lips move. Maybe some hand gestures. But nothing is spoken aloud.

PS: So I'm chatting with one of my professional theatre friends and she's never seen the term in a play before, so I'm changing it to something else. I'm not sure what, though. I'll keep ya posted.