End of Marking Period; 3-Person Play Draft Due; Baltimore Waltz

Please complete your 3-person scene drafts today in the lab. All missing work or revisions are also due today.

Return any scripts or packets of plays to me.

Period 2: We will examine the sources for The Baltimore Waltz, then begin reading the script.

HOMEWORK: Please complete the play The Baltimore Waltz wherever we end our class reading. The Coffeehouse for Nov. is next week, Nov. 15 at 7:00 in the Ensemble Theater. Feel free to join us!

Had trouble this marking period keeping up with the work? Read the article advice about time management for playwrights.

Playwriting MP1 Test; 3-Person Play Draft; The Baltimore Waltz

Lab:

After completing the MP test, please continue working on your 3-person play drafts. These drafts (and all missing work or revisions) must be completed by Thursday, Nov. 9.

Start moving toward an ending moment/scene for your play draft. Consider some of the following tips:

• Make the obstacles tougher and tougher. Be sure the setbacks your protagonist has to deal with are not easy and that they get tougher as the story progresses.
• Create a cause and effect structure. Each moment and scene should lead to the next. (Although they happen in life, random events and particularly convenient coincidences aren’t dramatically satisfying in plays.)
• Create a climactic moment that brings together your protagonist and antagonist in one final showdown. The entire play builds toward this moment when the protagonist meets his fate and the story line, if not the play, is concluded.
• Come to the earned conclusion. The conclusion should be justified by the events that came before. An earned conclusion is a relevant and plausible ending that’s appropriate to the story you’re telling.
• Avoid cheat endings. The deus ex machina ending involves a person or thing that appears suddenly and out of nowhere to provide a contrived and convenient solution to the problem of the play. Audiences don’t like this “cheat.” They expect the protagonist to find (or not find) her own way out of the situation.
• Tie up loose ends in the resolution. The resolution, which comes just before the curtain falls, provides the opportunity for the audience to see the landscape in the world of the play after the climactic storm, big or small. This is where you should tie up any unresolved strands of the story.
• Leave your audience with an interesting stage picture. The last image of the play should be interesting or startling, burning its memory into the mind of the audience.

Classroom, Period 2:

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: None. Please prepare and turn in any missing work or revisions Thursday. Your 3-person play scripts will be due Thursday as well. Please bring back your Baltimore Waltz scripts.

Playwriting Tips from Directors; Vampire Lesbians (conclusion); Baltimore Waltz (intro)

LAB: (period 1)

It's important for writers to remember that plays are written for the theater. Your story will be told not only by your words but by the actors that portray your characters and by a director that will shape and guide the other participants to create a unique live experience for a paying audience. Toward this end, this morning, please read the following article on Tips from Directors for Playwrights.

In the COMMENT section of this blog, please identify the most important or helpful advice for you as a writer from the article, and explain how you might improve one of your plays (any of the drafts you have already written) or improve the play you are currently writing using this advice. Try to be specific as you reference the article and your own work.

When you have completed your COMMENT, please continue writing your play script draft. This draft will be due at the end of next week.

Also, please note that there will be a quarter exam on the material we have covered this marking period next week. See below for a study guide.

Study:

• Talking With by Jane Martin
• Spic-o-Rama by John Leguizamo
• Monster by Dael Orlandersmith 
• 'Night Mother by Marsha Norman
• Oleanna by David Mamet
• The Dumbwaiter by Harold Pinter
• Topdog/Underdog by Suzanne Lori Parks
• Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry
• The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam
• The Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel
• The Vampire Lesbians of Sodom by Charles Busch
• Any one other play by Charles Busch from the collection
• Premise
• The 4 types of conflict
• Structural unity 
• monologues/soliloquies
• beats, scenes, acts
• Major dramatic question
• The inciting incident
• Major decision
• Rising action, complications, crisis/turning point
• Dark moment
• Enlightenment
• Climax
• Catharsis
• Monodramas or monologue plays
• Objectives (different types)
• Tips about writing dialogue, playwriting, writing for the stage
• Status quo & building a plot
• Themes
• Voice & factors that help define character voice
• Crossdressing, Pantomime, Commedia Dell'Arte
• Comedy characteristics
• The dramatic triangle
• 10-minute play structure

Please bring any script copies with you to next class so you can return them to me or the library. 

Period 2:

We will complete reading the play The Vampire Lesbians of Sodom today in class. Please turn in your Commedia analysis of the play by the end of class.

If we finish before the end of the period, we will move on to our next play selection: The Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel.

HOMEWORK: Study for your upcoming playwriting exam (see post above). Also, please complete the reading and analysis of one play you selected from the collection: The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and Other Plays by Charles Busch. Bring your books with you to next class.

Please note that all missing or late work must be turned in by Thursday of next week (the end of the marking period) for minimal credit.

3-Person Scene: Day 3; Charles Busch; Vampire Lesbians of Sodom: Day 2

Lab:

Take 10 minutes to watch the following video advice & tips about playwriting.

• Tips on Writing a Play - Susan Booth
• Playwriting Advice: James Graham
• Dan O'Brien's advice about Playwriting
• We all write bad material. Show & Tell: Cringe-Worthy Look at Teenage Notebooks (Cracked)

Please continue writing your 3-person scene drafts. See previous posts for details.

• Develop your plots
• Develop your characters
• Create and develop an idea or theme for your play (a premise...what is your play about?)
• Try to work in a dark moment and enlightenment, complications, conflict, and a climax for your play
• Continue to give objectives to your characters beat by beat

More information about Commedia dell-arte.

Classroom:

We will continue our reading and discussion of Busch's Vampire Lesbians of Sodom.

HOMEWORK: Complete one other play from the compilation. Take notes on the play's premise, MDQ, inciting incident, complications, conflicts, characters, crisis or turning point, dark moment(s), enlightenment(s), rising action, climax, resolution, etc.

3-Person Scene Exercise (day 2); Commedia Dell'arte; The Vampire Lesbians of Sodom: Day 1

Lab: Period 1

Turn in your written analysis of Driving Miss Daisy. Continue working on your play scenes that you started last class.

See post below for instructions on beats #1-5. Your last beat should include your second character complicating the situation by changing his/her objective (to hurt, to help, to persuade, or to inform...); the first character should also have an objective in the scene.

Add to your 6 beats with the following:

#7. Your two characters should introduce a third character by speaking about the third character that will be in your play. This may be different from beats #3 or #4 if you chose to discuss an off-stage character. This character should not enter yet.

#8. Have the 3rd character enter. Give your third character an immediate objective. They might want to help, hurt, persuade, or inform one or both of your characters in the scene. Give your 3rd character a reason to enter the scene at this time.

#9. Give one of your characters a monologue. Monologues may help characterize the speaking character, one of the characters on stage, or even a fourth unseen character (off-stage). Characters may also discuss an off-stage event or complication.

#10 and beyond: Continue to develop your play scene with 3 characters. Keep your story to 3 characters only. Complicate situations, add objectives and create a 10-minute play (or one-act play). When you have fully developed your scene/characters, etc. you may resolve your play. Remember to consider a theme and social or human message. Answer the audience's MDQ.

Give your play a title. Format for a stage play please. Your draft is not due today, although, if you finish it, you may print and hand it in.

If you need a break or diversion from your writing, check out Charles Busch's blog and website. (See below). Or begin reading your homework.

Period 2:

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.

A note about Commedia dell-arte.

Plots: Love triangles, money or fame plots, mistaken identity, one upmanship (control), slapstick humor and stage violence, sexual jokes and funny business, etc.

Typical Commedia Character Types:

Zanni: clowns (lower class servants, etc.)

• Brighella (Mezzetino): a selfish, opportunistic, criminal-minded, cunning clown prone to complicating the plot with schemes, insults, and breaking rules/laws.
• Burrattino: a soft-hearted, trustworthy servant
• Capitano (Captain or Scaramouche): an egotistical, megalomaniacal, coward. Can also be a villain.
• Coviello: a boastful idiot, usually a companion to Capitano.
• Harlequin: an amoral, acrobatic or physical or playful troublemaker
• Pierrot: an innocent prankster or lovable rogue
• Soubrette/Columbine: a female servant. usually in love with Harlequin.
• Zanni: an eager or overly willing servant

Vecchi: villains (the antagonists)

• Capitano: (see above)
• The Doctor: an egotistical, proud and rude doctor who is also stupid, senile, or very, very old.
• Ruffiano (Francesquina): a bawdy gossip or prostitute; often older
• Pulcinella or Punchinello: wicked ruffian, often causes pain/suffering to others based on his ignorance or selfishness
• Pantalone (Magnifico): a stingy or selfish merchant, boss, or an old lecherous man

Innamorati: the lovers (usually a pair of older, aristocratic lovers and a pair of young, innocent lovers)

For more information about character types in the Commedia, check out this website.

As we read, look for the following character types drawn from the tradition of the Commedia:

• Pantalone or Magnifico: a selfish/stingy or lecherous know-it-all or boss
• Young lovers
• A doctor who appears to be wise or intelligent, but isn't
• Columbine/Columbina/Ruffiano: a bawdy servant
• Capitano: An egotistical braggart or coward
• Harlequin/Brighella: a troublemaker (usually opposes the vecchi--makes Capitano, Pantalone, or Magnifico look like a coward or fool)
• Burrattino: a soft-hearted/trustworthy or loyal servant

In contemporary theater comedy, all types and characteristics of these character types can be combined in a variety of ways. Writers can use these comic types to their advantage when developing a scene, character, or plot for a comedy.

HOMEWORK: Please choose 1 play by Charles Busch from the collection other than Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. Read this play. As you read, examine Busch's style of comedy, his influences from pantomime and commedia dell'arte traditions, characterization through dialogue, and cross-dressing (see article/class handout for details about the pantomime, commedia, and cross-dressing traditions).

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. Please bring your play script books back with you to next class.

Beat by Beat (3 Person Scene); Driving Miss Daisy: Day 2

Lab: (until 8:00)

• Create or define 2 characters. Use short term/long term factors to define your character. 

Long-term factors that shape a character's voice:

• Ethnicity/culture
• Age
• Geography
• History
• Attitude toward life
• Education
• Occupation
• Lifestyle
• Special interests
• Beliefs (political, religious, etc.)

Short-term factors:

• Who the character is speaking to
• Current physical state
• Current emotional state
• Current mental state
• Where the character is speaking (setting, including time)

You may use characters that you have created in your notebook/journal, or based on the exercises you have already used, or create new ones.

• Write or type your 2 characters on a "character sheet" for your play. 
• Choose a place or setting for the action of your play. Describe this specific location in fewer than 5 sentences. Remember to indicate TIME, weather, and season.

Once you have your character definitions, write the following beats today in the lab:

• Beat #1: Introduce your two characters on stage by their actions. It should be clear who a character is only by their actions.
• Beat #2: Have characters discuss a topic outside of their own experiences (a social issue, religious issues, political issue, historical issue, or an event that happened off-stage, etc.)--peek at the themes link below for some ideas...
• Beat #3: A). Introduce a current problem or B). introduce your setting. or C). Discuss a third (off-stage) character.
• Beat #4: A). Introduce your setting or B). Introduce a current problem or C). Discuss a third (off-stage) character--(the opposite of your choice from #2 above.)
• Beat #5: An internal problem one character is having connected to the current problem. The second character may offer help, hurt, persuade, or inform.
• Beat #6: The second character complicates the situation by changing objective. Choose an objective for your first character.
• Write only up to beat #6. If you finish early, flesh out your scene so far, or begin your homework. See below.
• If you have an idea what the theme of your play might be, identify it by giving your play a title. Look here for ideas for themes. 

At 8:00, we will return to room 238 to continue/complete Driving Miss Daisy. Please turn in your analysis sheets when we complete the play.

If we finish before the end of the period, we will pick up The Vampire Lesbians of Sodom by Charles Busch.

HOMEWORK: Read the article on cross dressing, commedia dell'arte and the English pantomime. Annotate and take notes on key or major ideas in the article.

Voice; Driving Miss Daisy: Reading and Analysis - Day 1

Lab: Voice exercise.

The words we use (diction), the tone in which we speak, the content of our conversation, how long or short our sentences are, the vocabulary we use and the reason why we want to or must speak, who we speak to and when all color the way in which we are heard and understood.

A playwright (or writer) should be able to use these tools to create a compelling and interesting character with a distinct voice. We want to make sure our characters in a scene SOUND different from the other characters on stage.

Let's practice this in a monologue exercise.

First off, pay close attention to the following:

Long-term factors that shape a character's voice:

• Ethnicity/culture
• Age
• Geography
• History
• Attitude toward life
• Education
• Occupation
• Lifestyle
• Special interests
• Beliefs (political, religious, etc.)

Short-term factors:

• Who the character is speaking to
• Current physical state
• Current emotional state
• Current mental state
• Where the character is speaking (setting, including time)

Depending on how we answer the long and short-term factors of any given scene, our character's voice may change. Remember that during each beat of our scene we might change objective: to help, to hurt, to persuade, or to inform.

Today, in the lab, select a character from those available. Details about short/long term voice choices will be listed in the character description. You are free to add any other unstated long or short-term factors as you see fit.

Write a monologue of at least 10 sentences (but no more than 1 page) in the voice of your chosen character.

Then use the same character but change some of the short-term factors (see above) and create a second short monologue of at least 10 sentences (no more than a page in length).

When you complete this exercise, print it out and turn in your two monologues for credit.

If you have time in the lab, build a scene around your character. Add up to three other characters to your scene as might be appropriate for the situation. You may base your scene on the first or second monologue you wrote--or both.

Period 2:

 

Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry.

As we read Driving Miss Daisy, sign up for one of the 3 roles in the play. If you are not reading out loud, use the handout question sheet to be turned in when we complete the play (most likely next class).

As we read, pay close attention to the role of the dynamic triangle.

New Vocabulary:

There are two types of sets a playwright can prepare a script for:

A. a realistic set
B. a suggested set

A realistic set (like the set used in 'Night Mother) is a standard, realistic set that looks and feels like the actual setting of the play. It is more detailed and infinitely more expensive. Characters interact with props, costumes, and set pieces. It is not practical to change the setting or location in a realistic set.

A suggested set (like the set used in Driving Miss Daisy) allows actors to create the setting through actions (like pretending to drive a car--which would be impractical in a theater) or through dialogue. Setting is described, not built. We use our imagination. Ah, the power of words...

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