Last fall, the Des Moines Community Playhouse took a chance on an original play penned by a local author who had never written a play before. 

It was a huge risk, but one that paid off big.

Last October, “Girls’ Weekend,” a modern comedy farce written by Karen Schaeffer of Des Moines, brought in $110,000 in ticket sales, exceeding its goal nearly threefold.

But the success of “Girls’ Weekend” will not stop in Des Moines. In fact, a community theater in Lawrence, Kan., already added the show to its 2015-16 season. For a number of reasons, this spells good news for Schaeffer, who — in addition to at least two new plays the public has yet to see — has big plans for her first project, such as seeing it on more stages outside Des Moines and, ultimately, publication.

Originally from Texas, the Schaeffers moved to Des Moines in 1986. Both Karen and her husband, Maxwell, a radio personality on 93.3 KIOA who helps his wife with the business side of being a playwright, have been involved in community theater for years.

At one point, though, 49-year-old Karen eventually stepped back to look at the shows included in the seasons of Des Moines’ local playhouses.

“There was nothing for women in my age group,” Karen said. “You usually play someone’s mom, and they have an expectation of what you should look like as a mom, and I didn’t look that way.”

So, in Karen’s words, she stopped complaining and did something about it. Karen finished the first draft of “Girls’ Weekend” in two weeks. 

It took two years to perfect. 

“It’s the kind of play that has fun, contemporary characters and strong female leads,” she said. “It’s a modern farce, and women were doing physical comedy alongside the men. The men were still intelligent and had great comedy too, but I wanted the women to be central in the story.” 

Word of Karen’s play made it to John Viars, executive director of the Des Moines Community Playhouse. After he read the play, he asked to hold a table read. Close to 150 people showed up for the table read, Karen said, adding that a typical turnout is about 50. 

It was a good omen for “Girls’ Weekend,” and it wasn’t long before the play became part of the Playhouse’s 2014-15 season. It was the first original play to be performed on the Playhouse’s main stage in the history of the organization.

Karen attributes that success to how the play was marketed prior to its debut.

“Since it was brand new, people wanted to see these characters before it hit the stage. We did some video of actors playing their characters, and focused a lot on social media,” Karen said. “We told the actors and actresses, ‘You have to get your friends involved. And  in order to make sure this show sells, you have to get people to follow you as your character.’ We did a lot of things ahead of time just so word of mouth would carry us through the weekend.”

Behind the scenes, the Schaeffers, along with Playhouse staff, used standard figures set by the Dramatists Guild for licensing a play. The Playhouse set a ticket revenue goal of $30,000. Of the $110,000 earned by “Girls’ Weekend” in ticket sales, Karen received 5 percent. 

“We hit that goal by the end of the first weekend,” she said.

Now that the play has finished its run in Des Moines, the end goal for “Girls’ Weekend” is to publish it. But there are steps the Schaeffers must takes and boxes to check off before that becomes reality.

“You can’t get a play publisher to look at a script unless it’s been produced in at least a couple reputable places,” Maxwell said. “Publishers also prefer it not just be in local theaters.”

And because “Girls’ Weekend” is unpublished, the Schaeffers are required to do the necessary work to make sure the play is seen and marketed to theaters outside Des Moines. 

Karen joined the Dramatists Guild, which provides a good template for the business side of both licensing and publishing her play. 

The community theater in Lawrence approached the Schaeffers about producing “Girls’ Weekend.” In turn, the Schaeffers presented the production to the theater board. The goal was to convince board members the production would be a good investment. Ultimately, the board approved adding “Girls’ Weekend” to Theatre Lawrence’s 2015-16 season.

Will the Schaeffers make as much money as they did in Des Moines? Probably not, Maxwell said.

“The (Des Moines) Playhouse has more shows, and they can sell more seats,” he said. “When you license a play, your pay is based on the size of the house, what size market it’s in, if it’s a nonprofit or for-profit — all those things change the rate.”

Standard rates paid to playwrights by small venues like Theatre Lawrence range from $50 to $100 per performance, Maxwell said, published or unpublished. 

“Someone might write something that plays on Broadway, but then a small theater with 3,000 seats licenses it, the author of that play might only make $300. Unless you get a hundred theaters doing your show, you’re not going to get rich,” he said. “But Karen and I grew up in community theaters. We understand the value of a venue producing your play. It’s not necessarily about making money.”

Although “Girls’ Weekend” is to be on stage in Lawrence sometime early next year, the Schaeffers can’t leverage that as a second venue to publish the play until it’s performed. Meanwhile, they will continue to look for more theaters that accept unsolicited scripts, Maxwell said, to get “Girls’ Weekend” that much closer to publication. 

“It might be another year or so before we can even think about publishing it,” Karen said, “but most scripts are being read in August and September so playhouses can select the shows for the next season. It would be fabulous if we could get ‘Girls’ Weekend’ in three or four more venues.”

Maxwell said a theater is Florida has expressed interest, but there was hesitation since “Girls’ Weekend” is unpublished.

Another challenge, in addition to the play being unpublished, is gender-based. Breaking that barrier is a challenge in itself, Maxwell said. Fewer than 20 percent of plays are written and produced by female authors, and even fewer get published, he added. 

“It’s tough for female authors to break into the higher levels of playwright,” he said. “I think ‘Girls’ Weekend’ will catch fire when it’s published. It has that marketability. But for now, we must be patient and get it in front of as many people as possible.”

Once “Girls’ Weekend” does appear on stages outside Des Moines, the play will be billed as “first produced at the Des Moines Community Playhouse.” The Schaeffers also have agreed to donate back a percentage of what they make on “Girls’ Weekend” to the organization. 

Meanwhile, Karen has finished writing two new romantic comedies. “Choices” saw its first table read at the Des Moines Playhouse on May 4, and “Forgotten” has been through two table reads. In between the two new plays and her full-time job as an administrative assistant at Iowa Public Television, Karen wonders what it might be like to write a musical. 

And still, the people of Des Moines continue to rally behind “Girls’ Weekend,” from simply spreading the word to offering to foot the bill for airfare costs when the Schaeffers travel to theaters interested in producing the play. 

The momentum is there, and the Schaeffers have their eyes set firmly on their goal. 

“It’s a matter of trying to get published. How do you get published? The play has to be produced,” Maxwell said. “In order to do that, you need to start developing relationships like anyone else. That, and a little bit of luck.”

---

Next on stage from Karen Schaeffer

“FORGOTTEN” | COMEDY
A woman hits her head and can’t remember the last ten years. As she slowly regains her memory, the ruse her ex-husband, who is about to head off on a honeymoon with his new wife, created to protect her from emotional distress starts to unravel in many hilarious ways.

“CHOICES” | ROMANTIC COMEDY
The owner of a popular cupcake business re-enters the dating scene a couple years after losing her husband and soon finds herself in a love triangle with two suitors — one younger, one older — vying for her heart. Her two best friends harbor a secret involving the suitors in a sexy, hilarious romp.