Reminders: Coffee House

There is a coffeehouse this Wednesday at 7:00 in the Ensemble Theatre. This is a free event. If you go and read one of your poems or short stories, you will get extra credit for this class.

Also: please remember to read the previous posts. The homework (reading one other Charles Busch play) should be done. You may select any of the remaining plays to fulfill this requirement. You will be asked to write a critique of this play.

A play critique is made up of the following parts: a summary of the play and a reaction or analysis of its social worth.

Here's an example about how to write a critique.
And some examples/models: New York Times Theater Critiques.

Here's some advice when writing a critique.
Here's an outline concerning how to write the critique. You should replace the ACTING paragraph with CHARACTERS since you are not watching the play.

The Historical 10-Minute Play, One Act, or Full Length Project

Charles Busch often sets his plays in a variety of historical settings. While most of these are the 20th century, because of the distance from our own time period, these settings can be useful to create satire, parody, or burlesque. Click on these vocabulary words ("burlesque" particularly,) to learn about the word and term. Know these for the upcoming test.

Our next playwright (August Wilson) will also use historical periods for his plays.

Please begin the writing activity below:

Writing Activity:

Brainstorm historical settings that you find interesting.
From your list select the one (or few--yes, you can combine time periods as you need to) that you feel has the most creativity, the most relevance to our society today, or the one that most intrigues you.

Spend some time examining the internet for information about your historical period. Do this relatively quickly, but take notes and begin thinking of potential plots or significant events that happened at that place and time or people who lived during that time period. Use your notes and brainstorming to PLAN your story a bit before you just right in and write, then get stuck and bother your neighbor. Fill out the notesheet for participation credit. Hand in at the end of class.

After your brainstorming period, decide on a few characters. Write brief descriptions of who these people might be. Start with the most interesting major character and work your way from there. Don't worry about incidental or minor characters yet.

Marking period 3 Project:
Decide on the scope of your play. If you think you have enough material for a one act (equivalent to two ten-minute plays), then decide to write a one-act play. If you feel you have two separate ideas OR you feel the idea you have for your play is smaller in scope, choose to write two ten-minute plays. Each play will count as your marking period grade. Finally, for those of you who would like an "A" for this marking period (some restrictions apply), you may choose to write a FULL LENGTH play. This is like two one-act plays, 4 10-minute plays, (or around 40 pages or more). By the way, yes, you can opt to write 2 one-act plays or 4 10-minute plays instead of one FULL LENGTH play.

Beach Party Films & Psycho Beach Party

High School Musical is popular today, but teen films have rocked the entertainment world since the 50s.

"One of the first teen films ever was the 1955 classic ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ which tells the story of a rebellious teenager played by James Dean. He comes to a new town, hangs out with girls, doesn’t do what his parents tell him and stands up to bullies at school – what a hero!

It was the first time that films had ever portrayed young people in this way, and also the first time that society even admitted that young adults - i.e. ‘teenagers’, existed! For this reason it has been seen as a really culturally important film."

Popular films targeted at teen audiences continued to fill the wallets of film producers. In the early 60's this led to the popular beach party film.

Most films starred the same actors and actresses and the story lines were kept simple – usually revolving around couples trying to make the other jealous – sound familiar?

A typical story usually follows teens into their everyday lives, sometimes with characters breaking into song at the twinge of an angst ridden moment. Take a look at some of these links.

Beach Party film history.

Bikini Beach (1964) Original Trailer here.

Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)

Muscle Beach Party (1964)

Later, beach films began to combine the two biggest box-office teen film styles: the horror film and the beach film.

Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)

Annette Funicello & Frankie Avalon (two big 50's/60's teenage stars)

Charles Busch is using this silly genre to entertain his modern audiences.

The film Sybil is alluded to in the script Psycho Beach Party. Sensational films like these became popular in the 1970's like the film Carrie. Both films were made in 1976.

Additionally, there is reference to Joan Crawford (as a model for Mrs. Forrest's character). Joan was a matinee idol that went on to ruin her career with silly horror films. One infamous film was William Castle's production of Strait Jacket (1964). Many gay audiences are familiar with the campy Mommie Dearest version of Crawford's life. All in all, Joan Crawford played an excellent femme fatale.

Combine this film with beach film trends and a dash of Sybil and Carrie and you get our beloved Psycho Beach Party.

Charles Busch, Crossdressing, & Comedy

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. Please take the next 15 minutes to view this material.

A note about cross-dressing and theatre:

Since theatre began, cross-dressing has been a common occurrence on the stage. As far back as ancient Greek theatre, male actors acted both male and female roles on stage. Later in pantomime, commedia dell'arte, and medieval theatre the tradition continued. Of course, Shakespeare and his contemporaries also used cross-dressing in Elizabethan theatre. 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.

Comedy in theatre:

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.

HOMEWORK: Please choose 1 play by Charles Busch from the collection. Read this play. Be prepared to summarize and critique it (instructions forthcoming). 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.

One Act Play Script Due!

Today, please complete and turn in your one-act play scripts. This is a major assignment for this marking period. Please proofread and look over your work before you turn the script in for a grade as grammar and formatting will count.

If you finish early, please read any of the Christopher Durang plays you have not yet read. We will be getting a new script next class.

Advice about writing about comedy scripts

How to Publish a Play

10-Minute Play National Contest

Uptown #9 - 10 minute play

One-Act Play Script - Draft & Sister Mary Ignatius

Today please work toward an ending of your one-act plays. Your scripts are a draft and will be workshopped and revised. Plays should be longer than a 10-minute play script (about double or triple) and include at least 2-scenes. If you finish today, please print and turn in your draft. Check your proper play script formatting first!

Play drafts are due Tuesday, Nov. 30, so if you don't finish today, please take the script file home with you and complete for next class.

HOMEWORK: Complete one-act play. Read: Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You. This play (although it doesn't have conventional scene breaks) can be broken into three distinct parts. As you read or watch, note where these scenes occur and how smooth the transition is between part one, two, and three of the play.

Sister Mary Ignatius - Part 1
Sister Mary Ignatius - Part 2
Sister Mary Ignatius - Part 3

Scene #2

Please work on scene #2 for your one-act plays. See previous posts for more details.

Homework: Please read The Nature and Purpose of the Universe (pp. 229) & the Actor's Nightmare (pp. 351) on your own.

The Actor's Nightmare - Part 1
The Actor's Nightmare - Part 2
The Actor's Nightmare - Part 3
Part 4
Part 5