Play Structure

Ever wonder about the spelling of playwright? Why not playwrite? Well, it's because a "wright" is someone who builds. The idea is that a playWRIGHT carefully constructs and builds a play. We craft plays, not just write them.

Way back in antiquity, Aristotle (that famous Greek philosopher) wrote a book called The Poetics about how to write a play. He said that every play needs the following elements:

1. Plot
2. Character
3. Thought (by which he meant theme)
4. Spectacle (special effects, props, costumes, scenery, etc.)
5. Diction (effective dialogue)
6. Song (music)

Apart from #6, all plays usually include these things. Musicals, film, and opera incorporate all of the elements rather effectively. Most contemporary plays include non diegetic sound between scenes or before an act to set a tone. Dialogue can be beautifully written (and with enough imagery and detail) can come close to song.

Not that Aristotle said this directly, but somewhere along the line, particularly in the Renaissance and Neoclassical periods, critics began to update Aristotle. They came up with the concept of the 3 Unities: 1). The Unity of Time, 2). The Unity of Place, and 3). The Unity of Action.

Unities:
TIME: plays should only cover a small amount of time (usually within 24 hours)
PLACE: plays should be set in locations that could easily be reached within a short amount of time (no traveling halfway around the world!); usually one setting was preferred
ACTION: Thou shalt not mingle comedy with tragedy. Also, only one plot line. KISS (keep it simple, stupid!)

Add to this the concept of verisimilitude (the semblance or appearance of truth), and characters should act according to their economic station, i.e., a prince should act like a prince, not like a pauper.

Without structural unity, a play falls apart when performed for an audience.

We know that a play needs conflict because all plays involve human struggle. That's what they are written to examine. A playwright is like a philosopher in that all effective plays (even the funny ones) deal with human struggle and use human themes to communicate the human condition. Plays are an attempt to understand some truth about humans and our world. Make sure your play speaks to this tradition.

Today, make a mind-map or web of human struggles or themes.

Larry Shue's The Nerd

Please turn in your homework notes: Structure: Part One: Story & Plot 

This morning, let's start with a little character design exercise.

Afterward, please read a little about the playwright Larry Shue. We will be going down to the library to pick up the play The Nerd.

Here is the first few pages of the Nerd in a high school performance. Note the staging and acting in the play as you read along with your scripts. What changes or what details does the producer/director/actors keep true to the script. What details do they change? Why do you think there is a change?

After viewing and discussing we will gather in small groups to continue reading the play.

HOMEWORK: Please complete your reading of The Nerd.

BOA Editions: Poetry Reading Opportunity!

We have been given 10-15 tickets to attend BOA's annual fundraiser Dine & Rhyme. Featured poets are Dorianne Laux and Nin Andrews. They will also be reading from The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton, a recent BOA publication.

The event takes place this Sunday (September 23) at 3:00 at the auditorium of the Memorial Art Gallery (right next door to us).

If you are interested in joining us, please let me or Ms. Gamzon know ASAP so we can reserve you a ticket. If you go, you will get extra credit.

Structure: Story & Plot (part one) & Aristotle

Please read the article handed out to you in class today: Structure: Part One: Story & Plot (part one) and answer the notes from your reading. Please read the article, don't just hunt and search for answers. You will need to know WHY these things are true and if you skip about, you will miss much of the reasoning (and thus will not learn what I need you to learn). There is no short cut for excellence!

But first: Let's get to know an old friend and his advice about playwriting.

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 (peripety) (plural peripeties)
16. The chorus should act together as a “character” and integral to the whole
17. Characters should act according to verisimilitude (semblance 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 in the viewer of a play.

HOMEWORK: Please read the article and answer the questions for next class. You will turn in your notes sheet for participation credit.

Play Assignment; The Premise, Draft One

In the lab today, please continue to develop and write the scene you started the last few classes. This is our first official play assignment for the course. Use your monologue exercise if possible somewhere in the script, if you can. Edit and revise your ideas to make any of the components you have started in your notebook or from exercises into your scene.

As stated last class, create a 10-minute play or scene (somewhere between 3-10 pages). Try to give your play a clear PREMISE. Work on your play in the lab. It is due at the end of class today. When complete, please print out and turn in as DRAFT ONE.

If you have Death of Salesman done (some of you did not post your homework, so tack that assignment on as late this morning, but finish your play draft first, as it is more important) I can return your books to the library for you.

HOMEWORK: Please read the post above this one concerning structure. For homework (or if you finish your play draft early) please read this article and answer the questions posed to you for next class.

Death of a Salesman: Part Two & the Premise

Writers usually start out with an idea: often from their own experience or knowledge. We can experience life either directly or indirectly. Directly from our own experiences. Indirectly from viewing life from someone else's eyes. We get ideas for plays from our own life, from reading or watching other plays, watching people in conflictual situations, talking to people about problems, listening to or reading the daily news, learning about conflict and issues that cause conflict in school, from books or articles we read, or conversations we have or overhear. In other words, writers get ideas from everywhere. It is helpful to pay attention to the world in order to get an idea for a scene or play.

An idea is not enough on its own though. It must serve a theme or a writer's deeply held belief. The starting point and core of DRAMA is what is called THE PREMISE: an organizing principle that defines everything in a play. It is the central idea of your story. The moral or punchline to its joke.

Some questions to ask to help you form a premise as you are writing:

• What's the point of my play?
• What am I trying to say about the human condition?
• What am I trying to make the audience see or feel?

A premise should be a clear sentence or statement reflecting your belief(s) about life or the subject. It is effectively the WHAT of a story. Why are you telling this story? What are you trying to communicate?

LAB WORK: In the lab today, please continue to develop and write the scene you started last class as an exercise. If you can, or wish to, you may also find a place to insert your monologue. Edit and revise your idea to make any of the components you have started in your notebook or from exercises into your scene.

Write to create a 10-minute play or scene (somewhere between 3-10 pages). Try to give your play a clear PREMISE. Work on your play in the lab. It will likely be due next class unless the class is not working to complete the assignment or everyone has finished. When complete, please print out and turn in as DRAFT ONE.

Forum Post: Please post a response to the forum by Monday, September 17.

Death of a Salesman is often seen as an American Tragedy. Some of the characteristics of a tragedy include: a). a bad end for our protagonist, often brought upon by fate or a bad decision, b). the arousing of pity and fear (catharsis) in an audience, c). a protagonist who is virtuous or relatively good or well meaning, and d). a conflict that overwhelms the protagonist or tragic figure.

Please respond to the play. Choose a character in Death of a Salesman and explain how this character is involved in this tragedy (what the character's role or purpose is in causing the tragedy) or shows him/herself to be a tragic figure. Try to think critically. Willy Loman, for example, is usually considered the tragic hero in this play, but what of Linda or Biff or Happy? These characters suffer through the end of the play, whereas Willy is gone and dead. Make an argument using relevant textual support. Try to avoid repeating the same ideas of your classmates. I am looking for original and critical thought.

HOMEWORK: Please complete your reading (Death of a Salesman/Talking With), and respond to Death of a Salesman on our forum by next class.

Scene Exercise: Using Who, What, Where & Death of a Salesman

This morning, let's take a few minutes to complete a writing exercise. After the exercise, we will take a look at Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. Read about Arthur Miller here. Along with playwrights like Tennessee Williams, Miller is an American treasure, well regarded for his creative voice. His influence is seen in many contemporary theatrical productions.

Take a moment to read the stage directions description, then look at these production stills of the set for Death of a Salesman.

Some guy's review of a recent production of Death of a Salesman by director Mike Nichols.

After viewing these things, we'll go next door and begin screening Death of a Saleman. While this was made for CBS in 1985, starring Dustin Hoffman, John Malkovich, Kate Reid, and Charles Durning, winning a Drama Desk Award for excellence, note how action seems a little more cramped than a film setting would be. Remember the stage set pictures you viewed earlier. It is safe to say that theater productions are a little more intimate than films or t.v. movies. There is something lost between the audience and actor when watching a film or movie. In a theater there is almost an imperceptible electricity between actor and audience.

As you watch ACT ONE of Death of a Salesman, take note of the characters you meet and the major issues or problems they are having (the WHO & the WHAT). Make a list of characters' names and goals in your notes as you watch.

HOMEWORK: Please READ Act Two for Thursday. It is important that you see the words on the page in the script. We will see a little more of this film production, but not all of Act Two. You will be required to write about this play on our forum, but not just yet.