Shakespeare's Theater; Intro to Titus Andronicus; One Act Play Project (Continued)

Shakespeare's Theater

Please take notes on what you learn on the graphic organizer. Turn this in as participation credit at the end of our class today.

Crash Course Theatre: The English Renaissance and Not Shakespeare
Crash Course Theater: Straight Outta Stratford-Upon-Avon: Early Shakespeare
Crash Course Theatre: The Tragedies

Theater, as we know it in Shakespeare's day being performed in a typical PLAYHOUSE, didn't occur until 1576. It was James Burbage who built the first playhouse called, appropriately, "the Theater"--a permanent building dedicated to showing plays for commercial interest. Before then, plays were generally performed in courtyards, tennis courts, inns or guild houses. Private showings for the nobles or upper classes would be commissioned as well in indoor theaters where anyone could afford a ticket.

Actors joined an acting company. Shakespeare, for example, first belonged to the Chamberlain's Men, then to the King's Men (after Elizabeth's death). Only men were allowed to act in the Elizabethan theater. Younger actors (boys) often played the female roles because they would have looked more like women (i.e., no beard). This helps to explain why so many of Shakespeare's plays include cross-dressing. Consider that Juliet, for example, would have been played by a boy to the older actor playing Romeo. New actors were often given smaller roles so as to train with the experienced actors--who often played the major roles. Shakespeare himself was recorded as playing various small roles in his plays. The most famous example was the ghost of Hamlet's father in Hamlet.

Plays were written (often in collaboration) by the actors in the company (who also doubled as the house manager, director, props master, producer, etc.) This helps to explain why some characters in Shakespeare's plays disappear mid-play or return as new characters in the 4th or 5th acts. It's hard to be on stage while also taking money at the door.

Lines for a play were written on sides and distributed to the company members. It would be rare for an actor to have a complete script (the writer would, of course) but printing costs money, so copies were kept to a minimum. This helps explain why there are A sides and B sides to Shakespeare's works. Some lines or sides were changed by the actors or the writer during the performances. Famous actors might even change the author's lines by slipping in a bit of well-rehearsed and well-known comedic business for the audience's benefit.

Finally, having one's works collected in a folio book or quarto would have been rare. Scripts that got out of the hands of a company could be stolen by other theater companies, so copies were not passed around generally. The King's Men must have thought a lot about Shakespeare to have his works printed and bound! Luckily they did--or we could not frustrate future high school students by forcing them to read his plays!

The structure of a Shakespearean play (most 5 act plays) is:

ACT ONE: Exposition, Inciting incident, Major Dramatic Question is introduced, sometimes the protagonist has made a Major Decision. Often a complication occurs to disrupt the status quo.
ACT TWO: Rising Action, Complication(s), Establishment/development of the Major Conflict, sometimes the protagonist has made a Major Decision. Introduction to subplot (minor plot).
ACT THREE: Crisis or Turning Point, Dark Moment, Major Decision.
ACT FOUR: Enlightenment, development or Resolution of minor plots.
ACT FIVE: Final climax, Resolution of minor and major plots, falling action. Major Dramatic Question is answered.

Titus Andronicus is believed to be Shakespeare's first tragedy. He may have co-authored it with George Peele (although we can't be certain) between 1588 and 1593. Popular in his day, the play is thought to be needlessly violent and the most bloody of all his plays. It has common Shakespearean themes of revenge and madness. Common motifs can be found below...

The play is set at the end of the Roman Empire and tells the fictional story of a Roman general, Titus, who runs afoul of Tamora, Queen of the Goths.

Major Characters:

• Titus Andronicus – A renowned Roman general
• Tamora – Queen of the Goths; afterward Empress of Rome
• Aaron– a Moor; involved in a sexual relationship with Tamora
• Lucius – Titus's eldest son
• Lavinia – Titus's daughter
• Marcus Andronicus – Titus's brother
• Demetrius – Tamora's son
• Chiron – Tamora's other son; allusion to the centaur Chiron
• Saturninus – Son of the late Roman Emperor; afterward declared Emperor
• Bassianus – Saturninus's brother; in love with Lavinia

Minor Characters:

• Quintus – Titus's son
• Martius – Titus's son
• Mutius – Titus's son
• Young Lucius – Lucius's son 
• Publius – Marcus's son 
• Nurse
• A Clown
• Sempronius – Titus's kinsman
• Caius – Titus's kinsman
• Valentine – Titus's kinsman 
• Alarbus – Tamora's son (non-speaking role)

Themes/Motifs:

• Revenge
• Human Kindness & Pity (and its limitations) (Cruelty, as its opposite as well)
• Limbs (usually being hacked off--"parts" of the body, just as children are "part" of the parent's "body", and citizens are part of the body politic...)
• Animals (particularly fierce bestial animals...like a wilderness of tigers, but also birds of prey, and their victims)
• Astrology (a reference to Fate and the stars)

Allusions:

Ovid's Metamorphoses (the story of Philomela, in particular)
Seneca's play Thyestes (the myth of the House of Atreus--, and, of course, Aeschylus' The Orestia)

Turn in your graphic organizer by the end of class today on Elizabethan theater.

HOMEWORK: Complete your reading of Titus Andronicus. Keep writing your play projects! Your drafts will be due the week you return from Winter Break. Have a great winter break!

Agamemnon: Day 2 (Conclusion); Play Project Writing

We will complete our viewing of Peter Hall's production of Agamemnon. You should refer to your script with any questions about the play or its episodes. Analysis viewing sheets are due by the end of class! Please make sure you turn them in if you want credit for this open-book/film test. No late work accepted (unless you are absent).

With time remaining in class, please continue working on your one-act play script projects. As you write, review advice, articles, and assignments from the beginning of this course. Your work should reflect what you have learned about playwriting and writing for the theater!

HOMEWORK:  Continue your one-act play project. Use your sketched outline (see the assignment in the posts below) and, using at least one of Polti's 36 Dramatic Situations, write a one-act play. Your play draft will be due the week we get back from Winter Break (Jan. 2).

Agamemnon: Day 1

Please complete and turn in your analysis of Antigone to our Google Classroom!

AGAMEMNON by Aeschylus:

The Oresteia by Aeschylus is the only complete Greek trilogy. These three plays: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, the Eumenides tell the story of the House of Atreus in Argos. Today and this week we will be watching the production of Peter Hall's Agamemnon, translated by Tony Harrison. In Harrison's script, you will note the use of alliteration and kenning. These literary devices and techniques are Anglo Saxon in origin, not Greek. The Greeks had their own cadence and rhythm to their plays. Other elements, such as the use of masks, flutes, drums, and an all-male cast are standard Greek tragedy style.

Key mortal characters in the myth are: Thyestes, Atreus, Aegisthus, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Odysseus, Helen, Paris, Priam, Cassandra, Iphigenia, Orestes, and Electra.

Key immortal characters include: Zeus, Apollo, Artemis, The Furies (Eumenides...also called the Erinyes, the Kindly Ones, The Daughters of the Night were spirits of vengeance, murder, and jealousy. Their names are Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto).

Exposition:

• Atreus and Thyestes (brothers, sons of Pelops) fought because Thyestes challenged the throne of Argos and seduced Atreus’ wife.
• Thyestes was defeated by his brother and driven out of Argos, but returned as a suppliant with his children. A suppliant is like a homeless beggar.
• Atreus invited the family to a feast (where he slaughtered Thyestes children and served them to their father as dinner).
• Thyestes ate his children, unknowingly.
• When he found out what had happened, he cursed the house of Atreus and fled with his remaining son, Aegisthus.
• Agamemnon and Menelaus are the sons of Atreus, inheriting Argos.
• Agamemnon married Clytemnestra
• Menelaus married Helen.
• Helen ran off with Paris (or Paris, like Thyestes, seduced Helen) and this started the Trojan War.
• Agamemnon and Clytemnestra had three children: Iphigeneia, Electra, and Orestes.
• Menelaus convinced his brother Agamemnon to help him get his wife back from Troy.
• The gods (Artemis) were protecting the Trojans and didn’t bring them the wind needed to sail to Troy
• Calchas, the prophet, divined that the gods were angry and wanted a sacrifice.
• Calchas and Menelaus encouraged Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter Iphigeneia.
• Agamemnon did so and gained favor and wind from Zeus; the Athenians sailed to Troy, won the war and sacked Troy. The battle lasted 10 years. This is, of course, the Trojan War.
• At beginning, Aegisthus has returned to Argos, now the lover of Clytemnestra (think Penelope and Odysseus), and exiled Orestes (he’s the rightful ruler, you see).
• Greek torchbearers or Messengers will light the beacon fire when Troy has fallen.
• Agamemnon, with his “prize” Cassandra (the daughter of Priam, king of Troy), returns after the war to a “warm” welcome.

CLASSROOM: Agamemnon, Part 1. We will view Peter Hall's production of Agamemnon. You should refer to your script with any questions about the play or its episodes.

Please complete the questions regarding Agamemnon as you watch the play. Your answers are due when you finish viewing. The viewing sheet will count as a quiz grade for the marking period.

HOMEWORK:  Begin your one-act play project. Use your sketched outline (see the assignment in the post below) and, using at least one of Polti's 36 Dramatic Situations, write a one-act play. Your play draft will be due the week we get back from Winter Break (Jan. 2).

Extra credit: You may attend and review Elf, Jr. for extra credit. (1 paragraph summary of the play; 1-2 paragraph summary of your review--with specific examples to support your opinions!)

Antigone: Conclusion; Polti's 36 Dramatic Situations

Play Reading: We will read the rest of Antigone. As we read, please take notes/analyze the play using Aristotle's 20 points. Note key words/concepts. After reading the play, I will give you some time in class to write your analysis. Your analysis should be in paragraph (prose) form. Use Aristotle's 20 points on how to make an effective play and explain why Sophocles' play meets these criteria or not. Use textual evidence to support and back up your opinion/analysis. [Essay analysis should be at least 300 words to around 500.]

Period 2 (part)

Polti's 36 Dramatic Situations

"Drama requires characters who want things they don't have yet, who need things they don't recognize yet, who are in conflict with people and forces arrayed against them."

Please read the handout on plots by Georges Polti (or Johann Goethe or Carlo Gozzi):

• What is at the core of a good dramatic idea?

The article makes a point about the 36 dramatic situations by Georges Polti. Please link to this page on our link page to your right. Read a few of the 36 dramatic situations. Which ones interest you? Which ones can you relate to? Which ones have you seen in literature or film? Discuss these 36 dramatic situations with a neighbor today.

• Which one would you create a one-act play around?
• Choose 1 or 2 of the dramatic situations and begin outlining a one-act play based on the idea. 
• List style (drama, realism, situational comedy, absurdist, satire, romantic comedy, farce, dark comedy, historical drama, tragedy, agitation propaganda or political drama, musical, etc.) 
• List possible characters, setting(s), conflicts;  use the dramatic situation to create a theme, premise, and major dramatic question. 
• Create a breakdown of the structure of the possible play, consider what theatrical conventions you might use (see previous posts concerning theatrical conventions). 
• Sketch out your plan.
• Ex. Supplication:
• A young journalist has uncovered a big scandal in local politics and is threatened by the mayor and district attorney to keep the story under wraps. The journalist needs the help of a lawyer and her chief editor to run the story and expose the corruption. She is questioning her calling and needs support or encouragement.
• Possible characters: journalist, mayor, district attorney, lawyer, chief editor, a local laborer affected by the scandal in some way, perhaps a fellow journalist to act as a confidante.
• Setting: A small newspaper office.
• Conflict: person v. person (journalist v. mayor); person v. society (mayor v. public; media v. government); person v. self (should I expose the truth at the cost of my own job?); person v. nature (children are getting sick from lead poisoning)
• Premise: I will write a play about a journalist who has to risk her job to expose a scandal.
• MDQ: how can the journalist do the right thing and expose the scandal without getting fired? Will the newspaper print the truth? What is a journalist's civic and ethical responsibility?
• Theme/message: truth; the public has the right to know; corruption in power (often through money) spreads like a disease. 
• My play will include 3 scenes (each about 6-10 pages); scene 1: the discovery of the threat complicated by threats by the Mayor's office to silence the story; scene 2: complications are revealed as the DA has bribed the chief editor not to run the story while the journalist seeks legal help after being physically threatened to kill the story; scene 3: after seeing the public damage at stake, the journalist persuades the chief editor to run the story anyway, exposing the scandal. 

Play Reading: Agamemnon, Episode/Scene 1 (Prologue) & screening if there is time.

HOMEWORK: Complete your play analysis (see Google Classroom for details); due Thursday, Dec. 13. Read Agamemnon by Aeschylus. Create the play design task above to plan your last one-act play. This draft will ultimately be due after Winter Break. 

Antigone: Day 1

Play Reading: Begin reading Antigone by Sophocles. Sign up for a role on the role sheet. Let's read the introduction and then begin the play itself. As we read, please take notes/analyze the play using Aristotle's 20 points. Note key words/concepts. Complete your play analysis (see Google Classroom for details) the class after we finish reading the play (most likely Thursday, Dec. 13).

HOMEWORK: None. Please bring your scripts back with you to next class.

Ideas; Aristotle's Poetics & The Origin of Greek Theater

Course Work & Resources:

How to Cultivate a Practice of Generating Play Ideas (article)

• What are some topics or questions that you worry about (for yourself, your family, your best friend, etc.?)
• What are some worries/questions you have for the world or society?
• What are some problems we are wrestling with as a society currently?
• What are the stories (or plays) that have stuck with me? Why did they work to move/interest me? How do these stories work (plot, character, style, theme, conflict, diction/language, setting, etc.)
• What stories haven't I seen on stage? How might I tell that story? 

Coming Up with Story Ideas
356 Controversial Speech and Writing Ideas (article/premises)
200+Story Ideas...and how to3 come up with your own (article/prompts)

Please read the following article: Why Writers Don't Write (article); and, after reading, in the COMMENT section of this blog identify 1 reason why you write and 1 reason why you don't write.

Greek Theater
Crash Course Theater: Thespis, Athens, & the Origin of Theater #2

Aristotle’s Poetics (circa 330 B.C.E.)

Aristotle Introduction

Here's a 20 point summary of the first established literary critic's masterpiece "The Poetics" by Aristotle.

1. People like to imitate and learn.
2. Arts (Epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic poetry, flute-playing, lyre playing) are all modes of imitation. Just as color and form are used by artists, the voice, language, and harmony are used singularly or in combination. IE. Theatrical arts are REPRESENTATIVE of reality, not reality in and of themselves.
3. Objects of imitation should be above our common ilk; characters in a play/subject matter should be of high quality (and scope).
4. Poetry soon broke into two parts: tragedy/comedy. Serious poets would write about serious subjects; Humorous poets would write about frivolous and happy subjects.
5. Tragedy originated out of the dithyramb (choral ode); Comedy out of phallic songs.
6. Aeschylus limited his chorus, introduced the “second” actor, and made the dialogue take the leading part of the play.
7. Sophocles introduced the third actor.
8. As tragedy deals with noble subjects, comedy imitates men worse than average.
9. Tragedy is different from epic (although both are serious) in length, in one kind of verse (narrative form); epic includes tragedy, but tragedy does not necessarily include epic.
10. Aristotle’s six parts of a play:

a. Plot
b. Character
c. Theme (Idea)
d. Spectacle
e. Melody
f. Language (diction)

11. Plays should have a beginning, middle, end
12. Plays should not include so much as to bore, or too little
13. It is better in a tragedy for a good person to come to ruin, rather than a bad person
14. It is better to create catharsis from language and plot, rather than spectacle
15. Characters should have a discovery (anagnorisis) that leads to a turning point or crisis/climax (peripety) (plural peripeties)
16. The chorus should act together as a “character” and integral to the whole
17. Characters should act according to verisimilitude (appearance of reality).
18. Diction should be clear, correct, poetic, but not inessential.
19. Plot should be made up of probable events
20. The poet, being an imitator (like a painter) must represent things either as they are, or as they are said to be, or as they ought to be – which is accomplished by skillful use of language to create a catharsis (emotional purging) in the viewer of a play.

Key Words to Know:

• Hamartia (fatal or tragic flaw)
• Catharsis
• Peripety
• Deus Ex Machina
• Comedy
• Tragedy
• Dithyramb

Play Reading: Begin reading Antigone by Sophocles. Sign up for a role on the role sheet. Let's read the introduction and then begin the play itself. As we read, please take notes/analyze the play using Aristotle's 20 points. Note key words/concepts.

HOMEWORK: None. Please bring your scripts back with you to next class.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf: Act 3; Play Project Drafts Due

Period 1:

Please turn in your play draft. These are due today. Before you turn in your draft:

• Check your spelling (make sure your comma usage is correct!)
• Check your formatting (make sure your format is correct!)
• Include a title page & a cast list and setting page
• Check the rubric. Add, cut, specify:
• Do you have a title? Does your title help focus your dramatic question or hook an audience?
• Do you have a cast list? Are characters revealed by their actions and dialogue rather than stage directions?
• Do you have a premise? Do you know what your play is about? 
• Do you have a theme or message? Will an audience understand/become enlightened just as your characters are enlightened through the action, conflict, and dialogue of the play? 
• Are unnecessary scenes removed, moved offstage, or relegated to a monologue?
• Is the dialogue appropriate to contain the conflict of the play, to reveal character, and to create verisimilitude?
• Do you constrict the unities of time, place, and action (if appropriate)? Did you write a play or a film script?
• Does your play follow the advice of well-written plays and contemporary play examples in that it hooks an audience, asks a dramatic question, develops character through setting, plot, theme, and diction or dialogue? Does it have an inciting incident, rising action, complications, conflict, a crisis or dark moment (peripety) for your characters; does your play allow characters to undergo an epiphany or enlightenment (anagnorisis), and lead to a climax and resolution of the conflict?
• Did you follow the advice given to you in class regarding script development through the readings and handouts provided for you, or from the examples covered in the plays we read in class or analyzed? 
• If these things are true, please submit your play draft today to our Google classroom.

At 7:55 we will read Act 3 together of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Then we will continue screening act 3 from the film.

HOMEWORK: Complete your play drafts if you did not turn in your draft today. Read the rest of Act 2 of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. 

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Film); Act 2; Play Project: Day 5

This morning we will continue screening Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. When we reach Act 2, we will read a little of Act 2 on our own, before returning to the film.

Near the end of class, we will stop where we are and work on our play projects. These are due today or Monday, Dec. 3.

IMPORTANT: Before you turn in your draft:

• Check your spelling (make sure your comma usage is correct!)
• Check your formatting (make sure your format is correct!)
• Include a title page & a cast list and setting page

HOMEWORK: Complete your play drafts if you did not turn in your draft today. Read the rest of Act 2 of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. 

Play Project: Day 4; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf: Act 1

Please submit your Hamilton analysis to our Google classroom.

Period 1: (until 8:00)

Don't forget the importance of your PREMISE & your Major Dramatic Question: what question are you asking about life, love, nature, death, etc. that your characters thoughts, actions, or speech (characterization) are examining through the play?

Choose 1 (or both) of the following articles and read it. Consider how you might apply this advice to your writing project.

• Inspiration from Artifacts (Historical Plays tips)
• Tips on Writing Comedy for Writers Who Don't Write Comedy (Ridiculous Play tips)

and everyone should read this article because its relevant to what you're doing:

• How to write a 10-minute play

Use the time in class to work on your play projects. See previous posts for details. Your play drafts will be due either Thursday, Nov. 29 or Monday, Dec. 3.

At 8:00, pick up Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf from the library today and let's get started reading it.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, we will begin reading and screening the film (1966) starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Sandy Dennis, and George Segal, during the next few classes. All four actors received Academy Award Nominations for their excellent acting. Both Taylor and Dennis actually won them.

The film director Mike Nichols is one of the American New Wave directors. Haskel Wexler was the cinematographer--(he won an Oscar for the film too!)

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966) was one of the films that challenged the restricted film code by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). Originally, no one under 18 could legally buy a ticket to see the film unless they were accompanied by an adult. The film was also banned and shocked audiences with its content and lewd language. Tame perhaps by today's standards, the film is one of the reasons why films today can be edgy. It was shot entirely in black & white--one of the most expensive black and white films to be made at the time.

Film is not stage. As you read the play and watch the film, notice subtle differences between the play and movie.

HOMEWORK: Read the rest of Act 1 for Thursday. Work on your play projects (due Thursday or Monday, Dec. 3). 

Play Project: Day 3; Hamilton: Act 2

Period 1:

Use the time in class to work on your play projects. See previous posts for details. Your play drafts will be due either Thursday, Nov. 29 or Monday, Dec. 3.

Period 2:

As we read/listen to Hamilton, notice theatrical conventions. Also, look for some of these Greek Tragedy elements in the libretto:

• A story based on history or historical legends
• Hubris (a tragic flaw or hamartia of a character who feels he/she is too great, powerful, or perfect to make a mistake...this is usually taking the gods or fate for granted, or ignoring the natural reality of life, etc.)
• A good (or powerful) character comes to a bad end (usually as a result of the character's hubris or hamartia)
• A peripety (turning point or change of fortune)
• An anagnorisis (a discovery) (enlightenment)
• A chorus representing the populus (the people)
• Aristotle's 6 elements of a play: Character, Plot, Idea, Language, Music, Spectacle
• Stasimon (choral singing together)
• Stichomythia (alternating short lines of dialogue between 2 or more characters)
• Parados/exodus (the entrance of the chorus (parados) and the exit of the chorus (exodus))
• Deus Ex Machina (a contrived ending)

Find examples in your notes of theatrical conventions used in the musical. Also, find at least 1 example of each of the Greek Tragedy elements as we read/listen to Acts 1 & 2 of the play. You will turn in your notes at the end of the reading. (See handout).

HOMEWORK: Work on your play project. Complete Hamilton: Act 2 & complete your play analysis for Hamilton.

Hamilton: Act 1; Play Project: Day 2

Period 1:

Hamilton, an American Musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda; Hamilton (Tony awards)

As we read/listen to Hamilton, notice theatrical conventions. Also, look for some of these Greek Tragedy elements in the libretto:

• A story based on history or historical legends
• Hubris (a tragic flaw or hamartia of a character who feels he/she is too great, powerful, or perfect to make a mistake...this is usually taking the gods or fate for granted, or ignoring the natural reality of life, etc.)
• A good (or powerful) character comes to a bad end (usually as a result of the character's hubris or hamartia)
• A peripety (turning point or change of fortune)
• An anagnorisis (a discovery) (enlightenment)
• A chorus representing the populus (the people)
• Aristotle's 6 elements of a play: Character, Plot, Idea, Language, Music, Spectacle
• Stasimon (choral singing together)
• Stichomythia (alternating short lines of dialogue between 2 or more characters)
• Parados/exodus (the entrance of the chorus (parados) and the exit of the chorus (exodus))
• Deus Ex Machina (a contrived ending)

Find examples in your notes of theatrical conventions used in the musical. Also, find at least 1 example of each of the Greek Tragedy elements as we read/listen to Acts 1 & 2 of the play. You will turn in your notes at the end of the reading. (See handout).

Schuyler Sisters (live clip)
Hamilton, Act 1 (staged)

Period 2ish:

Use the time remaining in class to work on your play projects. 

HOMEWORK: Work on your play project. 

Ridiculous/Historical Play Project; Hamilton (intro)

Please turn in your play analysis for The Baltimore Waltz.

Period 1: One-act Ridiculous/Historical Play Project

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.

Choose 1 of the following options:

A. Writing the Ridiculous play:

• Use your notes/lists from previous exercises to choose a well-loved or hated film or novel you have read/watched. [You may use more than one source, if you wish!]
• Make a list of famous lines or well-known quotes from these sources. Check out: Best Movie Quotes or lit quotes.
• Pull the best or most interesting parts or characters from the plot. Arrange the plot (see handout).
• Lampoon (ridicule) or exaggerate your characters. Feel free to change them or mix them up. 
• Create a premise: what is your play about?
• Choose a theme or central image/idea. Consider how you might introduce your theme or central image/idea.
• Use hyperbole throughout your plot to make your play "ridiculous". 
• Use theatrical conventions (see below) to enhance your play's theatrical expression.

B. 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

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. Desdemona by Paula Vogel tells the story of Desdemona in Othello: plot can be told from the perspective of a different character. 
4. The shorter the play, the closer to the climax you will need to start your story/plot.
5. Introduce some theatrical conventions: 

Theatrical Conventions:

• Masks
• Cross-gender (costume/casting)
• Asides
• Soliloquy
• Stillness/silence/pauses
• Use of a narrator (seen in "memory plays" like The Glass Menagerie or Brighton Beach Memoirs
• Synecdoche (part represents the whole)
• Suggested scenery (consider the set in Driving Miss Daisy, for example)
• Costumes & props
• Multiple casting (one actor plays several roles)
• Lights or lighting changes
• Soundscapes/sound effects
• The fourth wall; Breaking the fourth wall (addressing the audience)
• Flash forward, flashback, slow motion, freeze
• Tableau
• Montage
• On-stage deaths; stage fights
• Physical theater; mime
• Unities of time, place, or action
• Transformation of time, character, place, or through props
• Songs
• Choruses
• Heightened language; unrealistic speaking patterns
• Placards, signs, and multimedia

If you missed this before, learn from Paula Vogel: on playwriting by Paula Vogel

Plot forms:

• Linear: the plot is told from a beginning point to an ending point. The most common type of narrative. [exposition, inciting incident, rising action, turning point/crisis, dark moment, enlightenment, climax, falling action, resolution...
• Shakespearean/Epic form: episodic scenes that culminate in the traditional plot structure...
• Circle: beginnings become endings, that become beginnings that are endings...
• Pattern: a repeating pattern is formed to frame the narrative...
• Generic synthetic form: text is comprised of a variety of hypotexts (texts that come before other texts) that function as models or a structure for the new text...(so Star Wars was a hypotext for Family Guy's Blue Harvest, for example; The Odyssey was a hypotext for James Joyce's Ulysses, etc.) 

Paula Vogel's advice: Steal. Pay homage. Read as much as you can. Write away from the subject you most want to write about but can't.

Other Video Advice:

• Jake Jeppson's Advice for Playwrights (how to get started!)
• What actors want: Actors Imagine their Dream Roles (then ask your drama friends what kinds of roles they would love to play on stage...)
• Time Management for Playwrights by Martin Zimmerman

Period 2:

Read the following reviews for Hamilton: The Musical.

Review: All About the Hamiltons (New Yorker)
Review: "Why the show isn't as revolutionary as it seems"

Hamilton, an American Musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda

As we read/listen to Hamilton, notice theatrical conventions. Also, look for some of these Greek Tragedy elements in the libretto:

• A story based on history or historical legends
• Hubris (a tragic flaw or Hamartia of a character who feels he/she is too great, powerful, or perfect to make a mistake...this is usually taking the gods or fate for granted, or ignoring the natural reality of life, etc.)
• A good (or powerful) character comes to a bad end (usually as a result of the character's hubris or hamartia)
• A peripety (turning point or change of fortune)
• An anagnorisis (a discovery) (enlightenment)
• A chorus representing the populus (the people)
• Aristotle's 6 elements of a play: Character, Plot, Idea, Language, Music, Spectacle
• Stasimon (choral singing together)
• Stichomythia (alternating short lines of dialogue between 2 or more characters)
• Parados/exodus (the entrance of the chorus (parados) and the exit of the chorus (exodus))
• Deus Ex Machina (a contrived ending)

Find examples in your notes of theatrical conventions used in the musical. Also, find at least 1 example of each of the Greek Tragedy elements as we read/listen to Acts 1 & 2 of the play. You will turn in your notes at the end of the reading. (See handout). 

HOMEWORK: Work on your play project. Bring your scripts back with you to our next class.

The Baltimore Waltz

Theatrical Conventions:

• Masks
• Cross-gender (costume/casting)
• Asides
• Soliloquy
• Stillness/silence/pauses
• Use of a narrator (seen in "memory plays" like The Glass Menagerie or Brighton Beach Memoirs
• Synecdoche (part represents the whole)
• Suggested scenery (consider the set in Driving Miss Daisy, for example)
• Costumes & props
• Multiple casting (one actor plays several roles)
• Lights or lighting changes
• Soundscapes/sound effects
• The fourth wall; Breaking the fourth wall (addressing the audience)
• Flash forward, flashback, slow motion, freeze
• Tableau
• Montage
• On-stage deaths; stage fights
• Physical theater; mime
• Unities of time, place, or action
• Transformation of time, character, place, or through props
• Songs
• Choruses
• Heightened language; unrealistic speaking patterns
• Placards, signs, and multimedia

Look for some of these conventions in the following short play: The Play That Goes Wrong.

Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz.

Paula Vogel on The Baltimore Waltz. For a full master class discussion on playwriting by Paula Vogel, check out the Dramatist Guild's video. (120 minutes...)

Plot forms:

• Linear: plot is told from a beginning point to an ending point. The most common type of narrative.
• Shakespearean/Epic form: episodic scenes that culminate in the traditional plot structure...
• Circle: beginnings become endings, that become beginnings that are endings...
• Pattern: a repeating pattern is formed to frame the narrative...
• Generic synthetic form: text is comprised of a variety of hypotexts (texts that come before) that function as models or a structure for the new text...(so Star Wars was a hypotext for Family Guy's Blue Harvest, for example; The Odyssey was a hypotext for James Joyce's Ulysses, etc.) 

Paula's advice: Steal. Pay homage. Read as much as you can. Write away from the subject you most want to write about but can't.

Scenes from the play: The Baltimore Waltz
The film noir film: The Third Man (1960), The Ferris Wheel Scene from The Third Man (1960)

HOMEWORK: Complete The Baltimore Waltz if you did not finish it during class. Complete a play analysis sheet for The Baltimore Waltz. See the links above for details about the play and Paula Vogel.

Irma Vep; Theatrical Conventions; The Play That Goes Wrong; The Baltimore Waltz

Please take the first 10 minutes of class to read the handout. Key ideas:

• Give characters irreconcilable needs. Place obstacles. Fight to the finish.
• Use the "locked cage"
• Use the ticking clock (time lock)
• Use the vise
• Use personal traits, qualities, state or conditions as reasons for confrontation.
• or allow characters to break societal, religious, or moral laws

Ask: 

• How does the character feel now?
• Why does the character feel this way?
• What will the character do as a result of this feeling? (we'll create emotional storyboards next class)

Period 1: Conclude The Mystery of Irma Vep.

• Kansas City Repertory Theater
• The Art of the Quick-Change (Buffalo Theater)
• Creede Repertory Theater
• Arizona Theater Company
• Irma Vep Teaser/Trailer
• Film History: Les Vampires (Feuillade, 1915), with villain Irma Vep (played by Musidora)

Theatrical Conventions:

• Masks
• Cross-gender (costume/casting)
• Asides
• Soliloquy
• Stillness/silence/pauses
• Use of a narrator (seen in "memory plays" like The Glass Menagerie or Brighton Beach Memoirs
• Synecdoche (part represents the whole)
• Suggested scenery (consider the set in Driving Miss Daisy, for example)
• Costumes & props
• Multiple casting (one actor plays several roles)
• Lights or lighting changes
• Soundscapes/sound effects
• The fourth wall; Breaking the fourth wall (addressing the audience)
• Flash forward, flashback, slow motion, freeze
• Tableau
• Montage
• On-stage deaths; stage fights
• Physical theater; mime
• Unities of time, place, or action
• Transformation of time, character, place, or through props
• Songs
• Choruses
• Heightened language; unrealistic speaking patterns
• Placards, signs, and multimedia

Look for some of these conventions in the following short play: The Play That Goes Wrong.

Time remaining:

Let's begin reading Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz. 

HOMEWORK: None. Extra credit: watch Peter Pan Goes Wrong & identify different theatrical conventions used in the play. Write up your analysis and turn in as extra credit for this marking period.

Prepare for the coffeehouse Thursday, 7:00; Ensemble Theater.

The Mystery of Irma Vep (Conclusion)

Let's continue our reading of The Mystery of Irma Vep.

HOMEWORK: None. This is the end of the marking period. Our next class is Wednesday, Nov. 7.

Our Fall Coffeehouse is being held on Nov. 8 at 7:00 in the Ensemble Theater. We'd love to see you there. Start the new marking period off with extra credit!

The Mystery of Irma Vep

Please submit your play analysis for the play you choose to read in Charles Busch's collection. This will count as a quiz grade for the marking period. You may leave your play books by the door when you leave, if you wish and I will return them to the library.

Charles Ludlam is best known for the theatrical movement: The Theatre of the Ridiculous.

"The Theatre of the Ridiculous" made a break with the dominant trends in theatre of naturalistic acting and realistic settings. It employed a very broad acting style, often with surrealistic stage settings and props, frequently making a conscious effort at being shocking or disturbing. "Ridiculous" theatre brought some elements of queer performance to avant-garde theater. Cross-gender casting was common, with players often recruited from non-professional sources, such as drag queens or other "street stars." [We see this trend continue with the plays of Charles Busch].

Plots in these "ridiculous" plays are often parodies or re-workings of pop-culture fiction, including humor and satire to comment on social issues. Improvisation plays a significant role in the plays, with the script acting as a blueprint for the action.

HOMEWORK: None. If you have any missing work, you must turn it in by Friday (the end of the marking period) for partial credit.

Our Fall Coffeehouse is being held on Nov. 8 at 7:00 in the Ensemble Theater. We'd love to see you there.

2nd 10-Minute Play Script Due; Cross-Dressing/Commedia; The Mystery of Irma Vep (Day 1)

Proofread and submit the play draft you have been working on today between 7:30-7:45. Check your grammar and play format to make sure it is correct. Use the advice from our handouts on the "art of grabbing", the "main event", your dramatic triangle, roots of action, developing a life and occupation for your characters, and review the notes on dialogue. Apply them all to your draft. Play drafts are due by 7:45. Please submit a copy of your play to our Google classroom. If you finish early, please read the information about cross-dressing/pantomime & the commedia from the handout or at the links below:

Cross-Dressing/Pantomime and the Commedia Dell'Arte 

Comedy has a long tradition in theater. The spring theater festivals from Greece began the tradition. Later in the Middle Ages, the comedy dell'arte form appeared. Read about the pantomime and commedia dell'arte tradition here today (or see your handout). Complete the graphic organizer for your notes on these articles and turn in when completed.

Cross dressing has been a common occurrence on the stage (the Greek, Roman, and Elizabethan theaters only employed male actors!) Many of Shakespeare's funniest comedies use the trope of cross-dressing, for example: Twelfth Night, As You Like It, and even The Merchant of Venice. The play we're going to read today carries on this tradition.

Read about cross-dressing and theatre here (see the handout).

The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam

One of the reasons people attend theater, as opposed to staying home watching TV or going to a movie is that through theatrical convention, we are often treated to a live-event that is intimate and "magical" in that what we witness on stage is a heightened exaggeration of life. 

Theater tends to be REPRESENTATIONAL and symbolic, rather than presentational. That is, the characters, plots, settings, props, etc. of a play REPRESENT reality, they are not reality. The viewer is likely to accept certain "unreal" actions, dialogue, characters, etc. while watching a stage play that he/she would not accept in film or in a novel.

Our case study will be the play The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam. Ludlam created the Ridiculous Theater Company in NY in 1967. Charles Ludlam died of complications from AIDS in the 1980's.

Ludlam is best known for the theatrical movement: The Theatre of the Ridiculous.

""The Theatre of the Ridiculous" made a break with the dominant trends in theatre of naturalistic acting and realistic settings. It employed a very broad acting style, often with surrealistic stage settings and props, frequently making a conscious effort at being shocking or disturbing. "Ridiculous" theatre brought some elements of queer performance to avant-garde theater. Cross-gender casting was common, with players often recruited from non-professional sources, such as drag queens or other "street stars." [We see this trend continue with the plays of Charles Busch].

Plots in these "ridiculous" plays are often parodies or re-workings of pop-culture fiction, including humor and satire to comment on social issues. Improvisation plays a significant role in the plays, with the script acting as a blueprint for the action.

HOMEWORK: Please choose 1 play by Charles Busch from the collection. Read this play by Wednesday, Oct. 31. Complete a play analysis for the play you choose to read. Consider Busch's style of comedy, his influences from pantomime and commedia dell'arte traditions, characterization through dialogue, and cross-dressing as you read.

You may choose any of the following: Psycho Beach Party, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, or the Tale of the Allergist's Wife. 

Charles Busch; Vampire Lesbians of Sodom (Conclusion); Types of comedy; Cross-Dressing/Pantomime

Charles Busch & The Vampire Lesbians of Sodom

Please take a look at Charles Busch's blog. He has placed a variety of play video clips here. Take a look at a few of these. His official website is located here.

Please watch a few video clips, read an interview or two with the author, and learn a little about his background.

Types of Theatrical Comedy:
There are various types of comedy found in theatre today.

Sentimental Comedy examines the tribulations and trials of common people worrying about common things, but it all works out in the end.

Romantic comedies are plays that revolve around relationships. Usually following the love archetype: boy (or girl) gets girl (or boy), boy (or girl) loses girl (or boy), boy (or girl) gets girl (or boy) in the end.

Farce includes fast-paced action, improbable situations, hyperbolic characters, and lots of entrances and exits to cause confusion and conflict.

Satirical plays (taken from the ancient Greek Satyr play form) poke fun at something in society or about human nature that needs to be examined or changed.

Black comedies poke fun at serious topics. These are often considered in 'bad taste' by sensitive, less cynical audience members. Black or 'dark' comedies usually don't end happily.

Absurdist comedies point out the futility of life, using nonsense and trivia to examine that the meaning of life is...well...meaningless. These plays are often metaphorical or symbolic.

Of course many plays are a combination of these diverse types. Comedy has a long tradition in theater. The spring theater festivals from Greece began the tradition. Later in the Middle Ages, the comedy dell'arte form appeared. Read about the pantomime and commedia dell'arte tradition here today (or see your handout). Complete the graphic organizer for your notes on these articles and turn in when completed.

Cross dressing has been a common occurrence on the stage (the Greek, Roman, and Elizabethan theaters only employed male actors!) Many of Shakespeare's funniest comedies use the trope of cross-dressing, for example: Twelfth Night, As You Like It, and even The Merchant of Venice. The play we're going to read today carries on this tradition.

Read about cross-dressing and theatre here.

Complete the play draft you have been working on. Revise. Flesh out backgrounds of characters' lives and their beliefs (monologues are great for this sort of thing), consider the advice on the "art of grabbing" article, the "main event" article, your dramatic triangle and roots of action, and review the notes on dialogue (see post below). Apply them all to your draft. Play drafts will be due MONDAY.

HOMEWORK: Please choose 1 play by Charles Busch from the collection. Read this play by Wednesday, Oct. 31. Complete a play analysis for the play you choose to read. Consider Busch's style of comedy, his influences from pantomime and commedia dell'arte traditions, characterization through dialogue, and cross-dressing as you read.

You may choose any of the following: Psycho Beach Party, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, or the Tale of the Allergist's Wife.