Revisions Due! Brainstorming the Historical Play; Picasso at the Lapin Agile: Day 1

Lab: (1st Period)

2nd drafts (or 3rd drafts) are due today, Nov. 27 after lab (by 2nd period). Please proofread, prepare, print, and turn in your drafts.

If you complete your rewrite & revision, please take a look at the following information this morning:

Writing a historical play:
5 Lessons Learnt In Writing a Historical Play (video)
Try your own beginning research by choosing one of these areas and learning about it. Take notes of things, people, or places from that time period that you find interesting.

• Elizabethan Period
• Elizabethan Period & Historical Figures & Events
• American Colonialism
• Famous African Americans
• British/English Historical Figures
• Ancient Greek Figures
• Historical Asian Figures
• Famous Egyptians
• Famous Hispanic Leaders/Events
• Famous Female Leaders
• Famous historical leaders
• Chinese Dynasties
• Roman Historical Figures
• Historical Periods & Important Events
• Lesser Known American History
• Famous Inventors
• Famous Artists

Advice from Paula Vogel (and Mr. Craddock):

Once you have chosen a time period for your setting, consider HOW you will plot your story. How many scenes will you write? How may you combine time and scenes to tell your story? Consider:

Plot: (what happens on stage) off stage is part of the story, not part of the plot

a.     Pick a historical person, or set your play in a historical time period. Your play may deal with a fictional protagonist(s) in an otherwise historical setting. 

b.     Ask: Where would you start a play? Each writer will start a plot somewhere different. Write a short play with that plot in mind. Example:

1. Hamlet can be told from a variety of plots. Where we start Hamlet suggests a different story as varied as the writer writing the play.
2. Fortinbras, by Lee Blessing for example, starts his play at the end of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Hamlet could also be a minor character (for example in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead)
3. 3. Desdemona by Paula Vogel tells the story of Desdemona in Othello: plot can be told from the perspective of a different character

Four ways of writing plot:

1. Linear (syllogistic): events happen in chronological order 
2. Circular: events start at a point in time then flashback and come back to the present by the end of the play.
3. Pattern plot: event, event, event, then repeat 1st event, 2nd event, 3rd event, etc. Your plot should form a specific pattern.
4. Genre/archetype: impose one genre or form on another. Combine mystery, romance, western, musical, realist, etc. Include a wedding, funeral, or graduation. Alternate celebrations with tragedy and vice versa. If we look at Henry V as an example, the play ends with a wedding after a terrible battle. Take the same plot, but include elements of the generic genre or archetype.

As for plotting plays and stories: George Polti has determined that there are only 36 different plots in literature. We can use these plots in a variety of different ways to create thousands of unique and interesting plot. Take a look here. (It's also on the sidebar to your right to link to!)

Period 2: (Classroom)

Steve Martin: Picasso At the Lapin Agile

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso

Today, before 2nd period, please read a little about our next author/playwright.

Steve Martin

The contemporary writer, actor, producer, performer, comedian Steve Martin wrote the play Picasso At the Lapin Agile in 1993. His plays The Zig Zag Woman, Patter for the Floating Lady, Wasp were to follow. His musical Bright Star opened in San Diego. He co-wrote and wrote many of his comic films, has collections of short fiction, novels, wrote his own stand-up comedy routine, and is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine.  Check here for an interview with Steve Martin.

Picasso At the Lapin Agile takes two very well known modernists (the scientist/genius Einstein and the artist famous for creating cubism, Pablo Picasso) and drops them in a Parisian bar in Montmartre, the Bohemian-artsy-avant-garde neighborhood of Paris. His historical play reminds us that writing history can be playful, fun, and, to a large extent, completely made-up.

Charleston Stage Advertisement (Picasso At the Lapin Agile sample production)

Some of Steve Martin's films:

The Jerk

The Man With Two Brains

Top 10 Steve Martin performances

You should be familiar with two historical figures used in the play:

Picasso & Einstein (click on their links for info)

READING: As we read the play, notice how the author introduces characters, situations, complications, and how he handles dramatic and comedic situations while presenting a theme and a reason for people to pay to see a play. His use of dialogue is snappy and effective and we can learn a lot about contemporary playwriting by reading this play.

Let's also look for some of Polti's plot lines (see handout) to see if we can identify any. Okay? So let's go to it!

HOMEWORK: None. Bring your scripts to next class.