For my play, I need to have 'Martin' have flashbacks/dreams, and I my idea was to have the stage go dark, except for a small area, where there might be a fog machine. The flashback/dream would play out there.

My question is, how annoying would you find this and if it wasn't annoying at first, how many times would it be before it became annoying?

Thank you in advance for your help!

It sounds like a good idea and a good way to do flashbacks. I would be wary about the fog getting too thick after awhile, and I would say personally that the fifth time would be getting tiring, although it depends on how many acts and the length of the script.

I'm with shadow. You have a great way to treat flashbacks, but be very sparing with the fog. I was once in a show that used fog very heavily as an effect and we ended up choking both our actors and our audience. Don't get me wrong, I love fog, it adds a great ambiance to a show, but it shouldn't be used constantly.

One of Arthur Miller's plays (and sorry, but I forget the title) is nothing *but* flashbacks, and he handles it almost matter-of-factly. His main character, a man, is talking to someone (by which Miller means he talks to the audience), and when he mentions a particular name, that character just... appears. Walks on, says something that we come to realize is part of the MC's memory, then runs off into the shadows. It's a great way to involve the audience because it takes a while to figure out what's going on.

Having worked on a production that used the little light area for flashbacks, I can say, with all blunt honesty, dont do it. It distances the audience too much.

The great part about playwrighting is that you don't have to worry about how it happens.... that's for the directors and designers who pick up your awesome script later on down the road. Just write "flashback" and let the pros worry about how. I can tell you that, as a director, I would shy away from a script that tells me I need a fog machine. I would, however, feel excited to let my design team come up with an ingenious way to do the flashbacks. (Even if it involved a fog machine!)

Break a leg!

Do you mean "After the Fall"?

I usually handle flashbacks with the character playing out the scene, by telling/remembering it. Usually the flashback is connected to other characters so they participate.

But all in all, I think flashbacks are not necessary for a well done play because, in my opinion, play is very much here-and-now thing and characters wouldn't really "need" a flashback unless they all agree on having one, just as intense as the play is.

I don't understand this new phenomenon where everything needs to have a special effect or whatever.

Back in Shakespeare's day a person would walk onstage and someone would say that its midnight and that was enough even thought it was probably 1 pm and everything was in open air and the audience and the stage was completely visible.

A flashback can just be someone walking onstage and the older character watching them and remembering. If you don't want the older character onstage at the same time you could have the older character say something like "I remember when I was younger I would love lollipops" and lights fade out and back up to the younger character onstage with a lollipop.

The beauty of the stage is the audience knows you're not always capable of producing elaborate productions. They came to experience a story or get a few laughs. If they want huge special effects and huge intricate sets and no actor audience interaction they should just go see a movie

sorry if I come off strong but I'm a theatre fundamentalist and I just like to voice my opinion. Sometimes my opinions aren't always right despite the way I may speak (type?) about them.

p.s. as an actor that's worked with a show that had a fog machine running the whole time about 10 minutes of fog and everyone is sick. If you must get fog go with the slightly more expensive but scented fog juice.

hey you can always go the "Family Guy" direction: push something until it is annoying. push it some more until it's funny. push it some more until it's insanely annoying. push it some more until the audience is peeing themselves laughing... that might not fit with your plot... but it would be awesome. you decide.