Thursday, October 20, 2016

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf: Day 3; Character Design Exercise

Today, let's finish watching Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

Character Design:

For your 10-minute play, you will have 3-4 characters. Let's get to know them.
For each character in your play, do the following:

  • Make sure you have a name for each character in your play. It's also a good idea to give them an occupation: what do they do for a living; how do they survive in the outside world of the play?
  • Describe each one of your characters in one single word. Blanche, for example, might describe herself as "genteel", but Stanley might call her a "floozy." George might be a "victim" but Martha might call him a "swamp". Give your characters a single word that encapsulates them.  
  • Then add a second word for greater meaning. Blanche might be a "genteel aristocrat", or Stanley might call her a "phony floozy." George might be a "misunderstood victim", but Martha might call him a "desperate swamp."
  • Create a metaphor for each of your character. Blanche might be a moth. Stanley might be a brutish bull-headed rutting pig. Martha might be a braying donkey with grand delusions. George might be a slow-burning coal pit or a broken puppet. 
  • Then give your character a positive action: Blanche tries to save Stella from Stanley. In her mind, Stanley is a brutish pig. He's uncouth. Give each of your characters a reason to act in a positive way (with motivations they believe are true--whether they are or not).
  • Finally, give each of your characters a selfish or negative action: Blanche is running away from her past. She invades the small home of her sister Stella. Two's company, but three's a crowd. Her arrival causes a lot of conflict in Stanley and Stella's "happy" home.

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