Play Workshop & Playwriting Tips

A NOTE ABOUT 10-MINUTE PLAYS:
A 10-minute play is short. It is a ONE-act in that there should only be one major action in the plot. Because they are short, you don't need to waste time with scenes that build up to the climax slowly. Begin at the beginning of the end of the story! Keep your canvas small. Not one of you is prolific enough to write a 50 page play, so keep your action tight.

A note about SETTING:
Don't change setting without a good reason. Setting can be used to comment on theme or character. An interior setting usually indicates that we are dealing with private issues. An exterior setting symbolizes society or the outside world. When a play takes place is important. Be specific. What season is the action taking place in? What time period or year? What time of day?

A note about THE UNITIES:
The unities of time, place, and action should keep your plays in a small amount of time. Plots should be short enough to take 1 or possibly 2 settings or locations at most. Think 1 setting for every 20 pages of script and you'll get the idea. Again, action should be started close to where you're setting your climax. Did I mention a 10-minute play is short? A 10-minute play is short.

Several NOTES ABOUT CHARACTER:
Remember that plays are essentially about characters. A character can drive a plot forward based on the needs and motivation of that character. A well written character is constructed to be believable (i.e., human) and so there are a few ways we can ensure this:

1. Characters are often aspects of the writer. Shatter your personality into fragments, with each fragment a part of YOU. Remember that there are opposites to your standard behavior and personality. If you are a quiet, shy person, perhaps your shadow-self is a loud-mouthed bully.

2. Make your characters make decisions. Conflict and plot are driven by decisions. You need characters who are willing to risk everything for what they want/need.

3. Characters have a function. Whether archetypical, stereotypical, as a foil, or as a protagonist or antagonist, characters serve a function and purpose in a play. Characters that do not, should be removed. If you can't be bothered to give a character a line or significant stage time, consider dropping this character from the play.

4. The better the author knows his/her character, the better he/she can develop the character through characterization. Characterization, as you know, is a character's description, a character's actions, a character's speech, and what other characters say ABOUT a character. The power of gossip is helpful when writing a scene.

5. Build your scenes. Add beats to develop your characters by providing backstory. Allow characters a chance to explain themselves (particularly after doing something that seems contrary to their personality or something that causes conflict for other characters).

6. Just like in poetry or fiction, what is the last image you are presenting to the audience? A last speech, line, or action in a play is a powerful thing. Does your play have an effective and memorable ending? What are you leaving your audience to think about?

Workshop:
Get into your workshop groups. Help your fellow writers. Writers ask questions about how you can IMPROVE your plays. Get some effective feedback (as you're about to revise these plays for your final grade). Complete the workshop sheet for your play and turn in for participation credit.

When you have completed your workshop, please travel to the lab and work on your revision. Revisions are due by end of next class. Chop-chop. Get re-writing!

HOMEWORK: Continue rewriting your script. Be prepared to complete your revision by next class.

The Lion in Winter

Last week you were asked to read the play The Lion in Winter. Let's end the week before break by watching the film adapted from the stage play (1968) starring Katherine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, and a rather young Anthony Hopkins (among others).

We can learn a lot about conflict and effective drama from this play. Each scene and beat are crammed with conflict. The choices of the characters and the decisions they make are very much like a chess game--each a calculated move in order to gain position and power. As you watch this film, consider how equal strength antagonists face off and create the intense drama of this play.

You may also pay attention to film techniques. Notice what the camera is doing, how it creates POV, for example. Notice how lighting and music help to create tone and mood. Notice how the effective portrayal of an actor can make a character on the page come alive.

Information about James Goldman and the film adaptation of The Lion in Winter can be found at the links here.

HOMEWORK: None.

Play Project: Draft Due

Work on your play drafts. They are due today.

HOMEWORK: Please read The Lion in Winter.

Lapin Agile: Last Day; Play Project

After completing this play, please go next door to the lab to continue working on your projects. If you took my advice, you have written a draft of your play. It may need a few polishes and we might need to chisel and smooth rough edges, but you should have a good model from which to start carving.

What to add to lengthen your script/story:

• detail--always aim for specifics instead of general words and stuff. 
• backstory--now that you've written that scene for that character, flesh out that character by giving him or her a backstory. 
• Use monologues!
• Use historical data. This may be the time to add a few details about setting and character details through backstory (see above).
• Remember your last image. The last moment of the play is usually a striking image that lingers in the mind of the reader/audience member.
• Add philosophy. Now that it's written, what is your play really about? What do you want to tell the future generations and contemporary people about life as YOU see it? Or as the characters see it...
• Add lovely poetic language. Figurative language. Alliteration. Metaphors. Similes. Smiles. Remember these?

Stuck?

• Consider what your characters were doing just before they entered the stage. Add a beat (a line or two) about what it was they were doing off-stage, when they come on stage.
• When nothing's happening:
• Describe a character's physical circumstances
• Describe a character's psychological circumstances
• Describe a character's social circumstances
• Describe a character's economic circumstances
• Describe a character's political circumstances
• Add a new character, but set up the fact this character exists before you drop them in a play. No one likes unannounced guests.

HOMEWORK: Write!

Picasso At the Lapin Agile (day 2); Beats & Dialogue

After reading the play, we'll work in the lab on your upcoming projects.

Just as a full-length play is usually divided into acts, those acts can be divided into scenes, but what are scenes divided into? If you said beats, then you're right!

A beat is a short exchange of dialogue (a mini-scene) about usually one topic. Beats can be divided into three basic types:

• Physical: the beat involves action and the physical need(s) of a character. This is very typical in film where a character on screen does something physical (without talking usually). 
• Behavioral: This kind of beat is driven by a character's desire or motivation or goal--usually people talk to convince, persuade, explain, influence, impress, or any other action verb to get something they want. Actors and directors will pick up on this kind of beat as part of their training.
• Inner-life: the beat centers around a character's thoughts, memories, psychology, and interior monologue. If a character explains his/her motivation or describes his/her backstory, you can bet it's done in this kind of beat.

Write your plays. Revise your plays. Drafts are due Friday.

Picasso At the Lapin Agile

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. Recently his musical Bright Star just opened in September in San Diego. He co-wrote many of his comic films, written fiction and 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

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 play writing by reading this play. So let's go to it!

HOMEWORK: Perhaps none if you have already done your work. Your historical plays are due soon. Again, I suggest writing your draft quickly (pretend that the play is due Monday, so write it Sunday night like you probably would do)--so that you have time to revise, edit, polish and craft your work before turning it in for a grade. If we don't finish the play today in class, we'll finish it on Monday. Keep writing!

Amadeus Discussion

Mozart

Using the index card, please write an open-ended question to discuss about the play.

Today we'll have a discussion on the play Amadeus. As you participate in the assigned groups, please use textual evidence to support your ideas in the play.

Evaluate a peer on their participation in this discussion and turn in the evaluation sheet by the end of class today.

After our discussion, please return to the lab to work on your play script projects. Continue to conduct research and use the handout writing exercises to help you flesh out your idea or develop your theme, character, setting, etc.

HOMEWORK: Continue writing your historical play.