'Night Mother: Part 2; 2-Person Monologue Scene Draft: Day 1

Lab: (until 8:00)

Please watch the following playwriting videos and take notes on what you learn:

• Video #1: Top Tips
• Video #2: Formatting a play script (optional viewing, for those who don't understand the form) and here if you still don't understand the format.

Then, brush off your monologue that you submitted/wrote last week. Choose to place this monologue in the beginning, middle or end of your short play scene.

Consider your status quo and inciting incident, use some of the tips you learned from the videos, and write.

Whichever position you choose for your monologue placement (beginning, middle, end...), create a second character and have that character enter before, just after, or during the monologue. Begin to build a short scene between this second character and your monologue character. Plan or write organically, but realize that some planning is a good idea so you don't get lost or hit a block.

Refer to the handout for play script format if you need to. Formatting counts.

This scene is not due yet.

If you haven't done so yet, read about Marsha Norman. 'Night Mother by Marsha Norman

Sign & check the participation sheet for this play. Note the page #'s you are responsible for if you choose to read a character part in the play.

Examine the following as we read:

• Structural Unity: all parts of the plot (exposition, rising action, turning point, climax, resolution, etc.) should work and fit together. Explain how the playwright has achieved structural unity in this play. How does exposition turn to rising action? How does the turning point (the play's crisis or a character's dark moment) lead to our climax? How does the playwright resolve the action of the play? How effectively do you feel this was done? Remember that the Inciting Incident is really part of the structural unity of the play: the point of attack, the inciting incident forces the protagonist into the action of the play's plot. What inciting incident occurs in the early scenes of the play? Identify when and what page this occurs on.
• Major Dramatic Question (MDQ): the hook that keeps an audience interested in a play; a dramatic question that a reader/viewer wants to be answered. What is the MDQ for this play?
• Major decision (x2): A decision a character makes in the plot that creates the turning point for their character. Choose either Jessie or Mama. What is the major decision for this character?
• The dark moment/crisis: the lowest moment of a character's struggle--when all the world seems lost, the fight unbeatable, the "darkest hour before dawn" -- a stunning reversal of fortune and sense of failure. Examining Mama's character, what moment would you say is her dark moment or crisis? 
• Enlightenment: When the protagonist understands how to defeat the antagonist. A revelation that begins the movement toward a climax. Does this play have an enlightenment? Which character(s) are involved in this enlightenment if it exists? If it does NOT exist, who might the author intend to have the "enlightenment"?
• Catharsis: Discuss the ending of this play with your partner. How did it affect you? If it did not affect you, why not? 
• Costumes/props: how are costumes and props used in the play. Which props become important? Why?

We will read and discuss part two of this play.

HOMEWORK: None.