I am struggling now with driving a message home to the crowd. Often I do shows in a religious setting, but since I perform for different denominations, I try to focus on character building (patience, teamwork, etc.). However, it seems that I always end up "preaching" in-between skits/routines because I'm afraid that the routine itself won't portray the message well enough. I'd love to not have to do ANY "preaching" to get the message across--Everyone would rather hear the characters talk anyway.
What experiences has anyone else had with this? Do you find that the routine can be written so that no explanation is needed afterward?
I have purchased tons of other people's scripts to see how they do it. Often, the biblical ones include a paragraph monologue inside the routine where the vent drives a message home. This doesn't really seem to be the answer either, since the vent is just "preaching" with the puppet next door.
For those of you who have done these for a while, how do you know when they've gotten the message? In the same vein, how much "preaching" must be done in-between to tie everything together? Should a well-written routine and set be able to tie itself together?
It is funny--in this business, once you get the basics down, there is still so much more to polish. It's great! The learning never stops.
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