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Lazy Bee Scripts - Frequently Asked Questions |
| Why won't the script on the web site display in
my browser? The most common problem is that the "Java Virtual Machine" (JVM) is disabled in your browser. This is very easy to fix, but how you do it depends on which browser (and which version) you are using. Internet Explorer users with a 2004 version will need a free download. Microsoft used to bundle their own version of the JVM with Internet Explorer. They stopped doing that in 2004. (If you have this version of Explorer, you will see a square with a red cross in it in the top left of the frame where the Java applet should be.) To solve this problem, download the (free) Java Runtime Environment from Sun. Go to http://java.com/en/index.jsp. You should see a green box in the top right of your window, with a yellow "Get it Now" button. Click that button to download and install the Java Runtime Environment. (That may take a few minutes, but if you follow the "automatic installation" it is painless.) When you return to the script you were trying to view, press the "refresh" button on your browser, which should force the page to reload, including running Java. For earlier editions of Internet Explorer 6, look under <Tools><Internet Options><Advanced>; scroll down till you find "Microsoft VM" and ensure that the box marked "JIT compiler for virtual machine enabled" is checked. (Also checking the box marked "Java console enabled" will do no harm.) Older version of IE have the same controls via a different menu path. For Netscape 6, look under <Edit><Preferences><Advanced> and make sure that the "Enable Java" box is checked. (Anyone using another browser is doing so because of a conscious choice and doesn't need any help from me!) Internet Explorer 'Security' settings may also block Java, but these usually generate a warning message to say that the security settings are blocking access. To sort out the security, look under <Tools><Internet Options><Security><Custom Level> and look for the settings of the Java Virtual Machine (also called Microsoft VM). Anything other than "Disable Java" should work! |
| Can I read the scripts off-line? Yes. This is useful if you are being charged by the minute for your time on-line. Wait till the java applet has loaded (i.e. you can see the first page of a script, usually a cast list), then click "Work Offline" under the file menu of your browser, and then shut down your modem link to your service provider (you know, that little icon in your task bar, with the little blinking screens). You can then read the whole of the script without your bank account being sucked down your phone line. (The java applet closes as soon as you change the page or close the browser, so you can't save the script on your PC.) |
| I can't print the script! That's the whole point. If you want a printed copy of the script, you have to buy one. |
| Which currencies can I use to buy your scripts? Lazy Bee Scripts is based in the UK and works in: GB Pounds. If you buy a script using a Credit or Debit Card, then we will charge you in GBP (and your card company will apply an exchange rate and bill you in your local currency.) We can accept cheques in GBP and checks (sic) in US Dollars. Other currencies are possible, but there is a surcharge equivalent to GB £10 per transaction. (Charges for scripts are deliberately low, so the £10 exchange fee charged by the bank has to be passed on directly to customers.) The basic script charge will be converted from the GB pound scale at the exchange rate charged on the day that Lazy Bee Scripts accepts your order. Purchasers in Canada may wish to know that Canadian Postal Money Orders can be purchased from the Post Office in GB Pounds - so you can avoid the transaction fee. Some Irish and Australian banks have no problems providing cheques in GB Pounds. (I assume that they provide this service free, or at low cost.) |
| Can I modify the scripts? You can only create your own specific version of a script from this site if you have the permission of Lazy Bee Scripts; for that you have to purchase a copy of the script and (usually) a performance licence. The authors of the scripts take a very flexible attitude towards production - recognising that a one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate, particularly for pantomimes and plays for schools. However, all the material is copyrighted, and using any of the material without the permission of Lazy Bee Scripts is plagiarism and breach of copyright. (Breach of copyright is actionable in a court of law.) |
| How do you do it? (How do you get scripts
on line which can't be printed?) Let me get the smart answer out of the way first: I taught myself to program in Java. (This answer has all the characteristics of a Windows error message: it is completely accurate and totally useless.) The serious answer is that the Java language has a "paint" method, which is used for displaying graphics. What the applet does is to convert text into graphics and paint it on the screen, thus your screen does not see it as text and the scripts can't be stolen by the normal copy and paste. If the above answer is technically daunting, but you want to publish your own scripts on line, see the next question. |
| I've written
a play/pantomime. Will Lazy
Bee Scripts publish
it? Possibly. Like all other publishers, Lazy Bee Scripts will take a fee from any sales of your script. There are no up-front charges (this is not a "vanity publishing" service), provided that the script is submitted in a format prescribed by Lazy Bee Scripts. See the details of the submission process. |
| Are the
scripts suitable for children? (And is this site safe for children?) This site has been rated using the SafeSurf rating system. This is a voluntary system which encourages webmasters to use self-rating. Recent versions of web browsers are able to use this rating in conjunction with the browser's "child suitability" settings, to block pages which are unsuitable. (See SafeSurf for details.) Self-rating has the obvious problem that one person may judge something as harmless, whilst another judges it as offensive. Generally the rating done for this site has been on the cautious side. All of Geoff Bamber's scripts for junior schools (in the Plays for Kids page) have been performed by "elementary school" children; "Role Play" is explicitly aimed at teenagers, and includes issues of teenage pregnancy, mild religious/racial intolerance and mild use of swearing, whilst "The Phantom Thief" is aimed at young teenagers (but suitable for playing to younger children). All of the pantomimes have played to audiences including young children. (That said, all British pantomime includes mild innuendo, and traditionally includes a pantomime dame - a man playing the character of a lewd middle-aged woman.) |
| How do
I contact Lazy Bee Scripts Please visit our Contacts page! |
| Can Lazy Bee Scripts send me updates? We occasionally send out e-mail updates (with information about new scripts and other news) if you want to receive an update then (A blank e-mail to us with the title "Add me to the Lazy Bee Scripts Mailing List" is enough! We won't bombard you with spam, and we won't give your e-mail address to anyone else.) |
| Why doesn't Lazy Bee Scripts provide Loan Copies? A 'loan service' is provided by some publishers. Loan copies of their scripts are lent to customers a low cost - cheaper than buying. Lazy Bee Scripts does NOT do this. There are two reasons: the first is that loan copies are provided so that potential buyers can read a script that they have not seen before. Lazy Bee Scripts does not need to do this, as potential buyers can read the complete script on line before they buy a copy. The second reason is that loan copies/returns generally come back in a state in which they are unsaleable. (Users fold pages, scribble marginal notes, and so on.) Therefore we do not provide a loans service. If you have bought a review copy of a script, you have paid for it, and you keep it. |
| What are the Lazy Bee Scripts "Terms and Conditions"? What? All of them? There's a very long set of terms and conditions mainly concerned with your rights and duties when you buy scripts from us. Read them here or go to the buying pages, where most of the terms are available in pop-up windows, and it may be easier to find what you are after. If you are after Publishing terms, then look on the Publishing Pages. |