10-Minute Play Project: Draft Writing

Use the class today to work on (or complete) your 10-minute draft project. For details, please see the post below this one. You may also use the advice in eLearning modules 0, 1, and 3 for help and ideas.

You may also read your chosen play (either Blues for Mister Charlie, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, or Joe Turner's Come and Gone). Remember the graphic organizer is due for your chosen play by the end of the week, as is the draft of your 10-minute play.

We will be watching a Tennessee Williams play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starting on Wednesday.

HOMEWORK: None (or work on your 10-minute play or read)

George S. Kaufman & the 10 Minute Play

During the first five minutes of class, please complete the following:

1. Glance over the handouts: "The Dramatic Triangle" and "The Roots of Action." You will be reading and working with these two articles, during 2nd period.
2. Please read about George S. Kaufman. Please look at his biographical information and read about the Algonquin Round Table, the 1920's, The Marx Brothers, The Gershwins, and Moss Hart in particular. We will revisit the Marx Brothers in Film Studies next semester.

George S. Kaufman is best known for his Marx Brothers comedies, but also the famous You Can't Take it With You and The Man Who Came to Dinner. Here's one of his 10-minute plays: "If Men Played Cards As Women Do." It can be found on page 423. Please read it alone or with a group of up to 4 (please do not take any more time than 1st period). Then get ready to write today during 2nd period.

Writing the 10-Minute Play Project

The 10 minute play has gained quite a bit of respect over the last few decades. Starting as a theater gimmick and festival curtain risers, the 10 minute play can usually be produced with little or no budget, a theater can produce several new playwrights in an evening, and the plays are short (lacking the attention span one needs when seeing Shakespeare)--which appeals to a contemporary audience.

You will need a premise: the organizing theme or idea that defines everything in the play. A good premise will indicate an interesting inciting incident to help you start off your drama with some effective action or conflict, and will carry you through to the end of your play. The things to remember about 10-minute plays is that they are similar to short stories:

• They have a premise
• They have a dramatic situation (setting, characters in action, & a complication)
• They have a beginning, middle, and end
• They have a tight structure (most never change scene or setting)
• They are at most 10 pages long.
• There are usually fewer than five characters. Often two or three at most.
• The beginning of the play starts at a very early POINT OF ATTACK (inciting incident).
• By the end of the first page or the top of the second the argument or conflict has been presented.
• The play usually has only one conflict and one plot line.
• There is not much exposition. By the middle of the first page, exposition has been stated.
• The end of the play falls very close to the climax. Only a few lines are devoted to resolution.
• Most plays deal with the exceptionally brief, but powerful moment in a character's life.

Take ideas from your journal, reading, or handouts, or your own memory & imagination; check the 38 dramatic situations for help (see link page to the side) if you can't think of anything. Use the graphic organizers, if you need them, and read the handouts "The Dramatic Triangle" & "The Roots of Action" given to you this morning on plot and use the "Exercises" to help you create a play. You may work alone or with a single partner for this project.

Then write. 42 minutes of just you brainstorming, drafting, writing. Try to avoid unnecessary fooling around or talking (that's what 1st period was about).

HOMEWORK: Use the character exercises we completed last class and the articles "The Roots of Action" and "The Dramatic Triangle" to continue working on your plays. Bring your ideas/work and script with you next class. Begin reading either Ma Rainey's Black Bottom or Blues for Mr. Charlie.

Major Barbara Quiz; Sketch project Due!

After our quiz on Major Barbara, please move to the lab to complete your sketch writing assignment. This project draft is due today by the end of class.

A clip from the 1941 movie: Major Barbara
And another clip from Act II.

If you finish early, please begin to brainstorm an idea for a 10-minute play. Your play should be contemporary in style.

To start, create two characters and complete the character development handout to flesh out these two characters. After you flesh out your characters, please turn in your character sketches as participation credit.

HOMEWORK: None.

Importance of the Importance of Being Earnest

From: Fiona Gregory's article for Insight Publications:

"The period in which The Importance of Being Earnest appeared, the late nineteenth century, is sometimes referred to as the fin de siècle: a French term that literally means ‘end of the century’. The fin de siècle was characterized by a loss of confidence and a sense of impending doom, prompted by factors such as threats to British imperialism, economic competition from abroad, political turmoil at home and social upheaval as conventions of class and gender were challenged.

We can see these preoccupations reflected in The Importance of Being Earnest. In the ‘tea scene’ in Act Two, Cecily taunts Gwendolyn with the spectre of ‘agricultural depression’, noting: ‘I believe the aristocracy are suffering very much from it just at present’.

When Gwendolen learns of Jack and Algernon’s plans to be re-christened she praises their bravery
by exclaiming, ‘How absurd to talk of the equality of the sexes!'"

This is not to be taken seriously--it is Oscar Wilde's satirical stab at conservative thinking. He is being ironic.

"Individuals in nineteenth-century England were organized into social classes. Class was defined by occupation, family connections and access to wealth. Individuals generally remained within the class they were born into. At the top of the scale were the upper class, consisting of the aristocracy, the landed gentry and a select number of wealthy professionals and manufacturers. At the pinnacle of the upper class were the members of ‘Society’, a social enclave (district) centered around the royal court.
The middle class was represented by professionals (including doctors, lawyers and bankers), manufacturers, artists and retailers. The working classes consisted of domestic servants, tradespeople, retail workers and labourers. The poor and destitute existed outside this framework but remained visible and a significant source of anxiety.

Several classes are represented in The Importance of Being Earnest. Lane, Merriman and the footman
belong to the working class; Miss Prism and Dr Chasuble are part of the genteel middle class; and Jack, Algernon, Gwendolen, Lady Bracknell and Cecily are members of the upper class.

Wilde’s play can be read as a satire of the class system, particularly of the upper-class elite who formed ‘Society’. Society was structured around social rituals, and governed by the strict rules of etiquette. The most significant rituals were those surrounding birth, coming-of-age, marriage and death: all of which are depicted or mentioned in the play."

What are YOUR opinions about class in our own 21st century culture? Is economic class still an issue? What might be a solution to this "problem"? As a playwright, how might you represent this issue on stage?

HOMEWORK: Please hand in your short sketch based on one of Oscar Wilde's quotes (see previous post for details) today. Please complete your reading of Major Barbara). Expect a reading comprehension quiz on the play. 

How to Write a Sketch; George Bernard Shaw; & Oscar Wilde

A sketch is a short play or slight dramatic performance. It differs from a play in that there is not necessarily a major theme or point in the sketch. Usually sketches are simply meant to be enjoyed. Deep discussion dealing with the human condition is left to PLAYS.

Sketch Writing: (by Brian Luff)

1) Choose a setting. Avoid common set-ups like doctor's surgeries or "Man Goes Into a Shop". Think original. Only set the sketch in one location.
2) Don't make the sketch too long. Two minutes is a good length to start with. [In scripts, a page is usually equal to one minute].
3) If you're trying to sell your material to TV, don't put in anything too expensive like a helicopter. Most TV shows are on a tight budget. [This goes double for theaters]
4) Three characters is more than enough for a 2 minute sketch. Don't write for a cast of thousands. [Limit your sketch to 2-5 characters]
5) Work out loud. Say the lines as you write them. You need to hear what the material sounds like.
6) Think about what is happening visually as well as the words. Describe the physical action in detail. What are the characters wearing? What do they look like. What are their names? (Don't just call your characters FIRST MAN, SECOND MAN. It will help to bring them to life in your mind [if you give them names]).

Types of Sketches

To help you get going, here's a few tried and tested comedy formats for sketches.

1) Escalation: Funny idea starts small and gets bigger and bigger, ending in chaos of ridiculous proportions.
2) Lists: Sketches in which the bulk of the dialogue is a long list of funny items. The best example of this is "Cheese Shop" in Monty Python. (You can find all the Python sketches at www.planetcomedy.force9.co.uk/bookstore.html.)
3) Mad Man, Sane Man: This format speaks for itself, but don't go for obvious settings.
4) Dangerous Situations: For example, sketch set on flight deck of aircraft.
5) Funny Words: Sketches which use the sound of language itself to be funny. For example, use of the words "blobby" or "wobble" (See, Mr. Bean).
6) Old and New: Getting a laugh from putting something modern in an historical setting (Or, vice versa) Example: Sir Walter Raleigh using a cigarette lighter.
7) Big and Small. Getting humour from large differences in scale. For example, a mouse trying to make love to an elephant.

HOMEWORK: Please begin writing your sketch based on one of Oscar Wilde's quotes (see previous post for details)--due next class (we will have some time in the lab). Please complete your reading of Shaw's bio; Please keep reading Major Barbara)

Oscar Wilde

After our quiz on Miss Julie, please check out Major Barbara from the library. Then, please join us in room 238 to view the production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest.

Oscar Wilde was one of Victorian England's most scandalous artists. He was born in 1854 in Ireland,  and died in 1900, Paris, France. He was a poet, dramatist, novelist, and wit whose reputation rests on his novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), and his comic masterpieces Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).

He was a spokesman for the late 19th-century Aesthetic movement in England, which advocated art for art's sake, and he was the object of a scandalous civil and criminal suit involving homosexuality, ending in his imprisonment (1895–97).

Peruse the brief bio of Oscar for more details at the Official Oscar Wilde page.

You may also find this short biographical film helpful. Please watch.

Oscar Wilde is often quoted and noted for his epigrams (short pithy sayings). WRITING ASSIGNMENT (HOMEWORK): select one of these epigrams and use the quote to inspire a 1-3 page sketch. Usually sketches are comic, but you are more than welcome to write a serious sketch. Your sketch should have a definite beginning, middle, and end, but may be use parody, hyperbole, or other literary techniques. This assignment is due Friday (Dec. 6).

"No man is rich enough to buy back his past."

"Men become old, but they never become good." -- “Lady Windermere's Fan”

"A man who moralizes is usually a hypocrite, and a woman who moralizes is invariably plain." -- “Lady Windermere's Fan”

"Nowadays all the married men live like bachelors and all the bachelors live like married men." -- “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

"One should never trust a woman who tells one her real age. A woman who would tell one that, would tell one anything."-- “A Woman of No Importance”

"Crying is the refuge of plain women but the ruin of pretty ones."-- “Lady Windermere's Fan”

"Men know life too early. Women know life too late. That is the difference between men and women."-- “A Woman of No Importance”

"Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood." -- “The Sphinx Without a Secret”

"It takes a thoroughly good woman to do a thoroughly stupid thing."-- “Lady Windermere's Fan”

"Women give to men the very gold of their lives. But they invariably want it back in such very small change." -- “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

 Monty Python Sketch
Kids in the Hall Sketch
Alias Smith and Jones Sketch

HOMEWORK: Write a sketch of 1-3 pages in length using one of Oscar Wilde's epigrams. Please begin reading George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara. Aim to complete this play by next week (Dec. 10). More information about the play will be given to you next class.

Naturalism: Miss Julie

In order to avoid a class revolt by watching another Ibsen play (I felt your attention to Hedda Gabler was excellent...but attempting The Wild Duck would be tempting fate...) that we would forego watching anything on a screen as this week you are probably going to be bombarded by videos in various classes as we move into Thanksgiving Day recess.

So, let's learn a little about August Strindberg and his best known play: "Miss Julie"

More about August Strindberg, playwright, can be found here and on eLearning in lesson 02.09.
Clips of Miss Julie:

• Opening Scene from Miss Julie (1987 television production clip, with Janet McTeer as Miss Julie--you may watch the entire television production from the sidebar on Youtube, if you'd prefer)
• Miss Julie (Helen Mirren as Miss Julie, clip from 1972 production)

The play has only 3 main characters:

Miss Julie: a 25 year-old upper class lady. True to naturalism's style of focusing on heredity and environment and how our environment affects our true nature, Julie, being upper class, raised by a "feminist" mother, Julie has just broken off an engagement to an appropriate suitor from her own economic class level because she attempted to "master" her fiance. Her behavior is shocking because she is also has tendencies of a sado-masochist. 

Jean: a 30-year old valet, favored by Miss Julie on this Midsummer Night's Eve (a night meant traditionally for lovin'). He is working class (not of the same station as Miss Julie) and must "obey" Miss Julie's orders, thus making him a likely target in the battle between men and women. He both dislikes and desires Julie because of her social status. 

Christine: A 35-year old cook. She is Jean's fiance and a gossip. From her we learn a lot about Miss Julie before she arrives on the scene. Christine believes in social structure: the working class should only involve themselves with the working class, the rich only should hob-nob with the rich, etc.

Naturalism (1865-1900) attempts to go further from realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment affects human behavior. Plots often revolve around social problems, characters are often drawn from lower classes and the poor, perhaps in an attempt to explain their behavior.

Get into groups of 1-4. Read Miss Julie today during class. When you have finished reading the play, please take the quiz on Miss Julie. This may be today or during next class if you do not finish reading the play today.

HOMEWORK: None--although many of you are very far behind and can get caught up. The end of the marking period is Dec. 6. Please complete eLearning lessons 02.08, 02.09, and 02.10. Apart from the quiz for 02.08, there are no writing assignments that go with these lessons--just pure learning stuff for the sake of being smart.

If you did not finish Miss Julie, please do so and be prepared to take the quiz on the play.