Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Character Brainstorm & Talking With

Looking at pictures and watching people can be a goldmine for character building. As a playwright, one of the most important tasks you will have to accomplish is creating interesting characters. Boring characters make for boring plays, so it's helpful to have a few ideas about character design before jumping into the pool of monologues, scenes, and plays.

Task #1: Brainstorming Characters:

IN YOUR JOURNAL, NOTEBOOK, or on PAPER, please complete the following exercise. DO NOT TURN THIS IN. Instead, you will use it for our first writing assignment.

Please take a look at the photos of people below. For each photo, give the person a name, age or age range, and 1-sentence physical description. Follow this up with a 1-sentence goal or urgent desire.

For example:

GEORGETTE MINSKY, female, age 25-30. Georgette always wears a baseball glove (even to church) and too much lipstick. She wants to witness a miracle first hand or at least win her minor-league softball team's championship trophy in memory of her dead grandma.

Create a character for any 3 of these pictures (you may do all of them, if you'd like):










Once you have completed this exercise, please begin reading Talking With by Jane Martin. As you read, pay close attention to how the playwright uses conflict, language, and a character's desire or goal(s) to move the action of the story forward. Choose one of these monologues (there are several in the play) and write out your answers to your observations. Hand this in as homework participation next class (as well as finish reading and thinking about the play).

You may read alone, or with 1-2 partners. Read until the end of the period please.

See post below for homework details.

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