Historical Play Project: Day 7; Hamilton, Act 2

Lab: (period 1)

This morning please work on your historical play projects. These are due next class!

Some more advice (artistic director's advice from the playwrights' toolkit--see link to the right):

• Keep production limitations in mind. Sometimes certain companies can’t produce a play due to production or casting aspects. As an artist, think about what makes a play producible. Do I need this fifth character? Is the role important and distinct enough to tell the story? Do I need eight scene changes in this one-act?
• The writer is like the driver of the car—he may know where he’s going, but the passengers (audience) like to have the headlights on and have an idea of where the driver is taking them. We all need to be cognizant of that when we write. Is there story progression? Will the audience understand the point of the play? Do YOU understand the point of the play? HINT: write to entertain and share your voice with the world--don't write because it's just for a grade. At the end of this course, you should have learned how to write an effective story in play/script format. It's not the grade; it's the skill and story that you should worry about.
• Plays are a communicative art, so we need to be good communicators. We should be able to tell an audience what the play means and what we want them to think about. If you as a playwright can’t do that, your play probably lacks structure. Always start with a premise and work your way through the storyline with that. Use the variety of exercises/advice we've gathered in this course to help you with this important aspect of your play script.
• Above all, you should never sit down with the goal to write something “profound.” Just write something thoughtful, honest, and entertaining.

If you need to (or have time) please continue to read Antigone and answer the questions on the take-home quiz for the play. Tests are also due next class.

Period 2:

We'll continue examining/reading/listening to Hamilton: Act 2. Answer the notes concerning Greek tragedy and Hamilton: the Musical and turn in when we complete the play.

HOMEWORK: Read Antigone & answer the questions (pages 337-387) for Thursday, Dec. 21. Historical play project drafts are due Thursday, Dec. 21st as well.

Greek Theater; Historical Play Project: Day 6; Hamilton: Act 2

Lab: (period 1--until 8:05)

This morning please watch the following video and take notes on the graphic organizer about Greek Theater. Turn in your graphic organizer after reading Antigone (Thursday, Dec. 21). This counts as a test score.

WATCH/TAKE NOTES: An introduction to Greek Theater.

The structure of a Greek play was typically:

• a prologue leading to a parados (or parode)--this is like the teaser or cold open of a tv show
• several episodes (typically 3-5), each followed by a choral ode
• choral odes were typically made up of stasimons, strophes, and antistrophes. (Turn and counterturn toward or away from the altar--stylistically the chorus arguing on a specific point or detail. In practice it helps develop the "chorus" as they consider both sides of an issue)
• an ending or leaving of the chorus (exode) to signal the end of the play (the chorus exits, signaling the end of the play--today we just lower the lights or close the curtain)

As you read Antigone by Sophocles, pay close attention to the use of:

• Hamartia (fatal or tragic flaw)
• Catharsis (emotional purging when watching a play--crying/laughing, etc. of audience)
• Peripety or peripeteia (turning point)
• Anagnorisis (a moment of understanding; enlightenment)
• Deus Ex Machina (a contrived ending)
• Tragedy (and comedy)
• Dithyramb (choral song)
• skene (scenery or set)
• Choragos or choragus (leader of the chorus)
• parados/exodus (entrance/exit of chorus)

How do these terms/ideas work together to make an effective play-going experience? As you read Antigone, what themes/issues or ideas are presented to us? Why might these ideas be helpful or useful to us at this point in our history?

After viewing the video and taking notes on the material above, continue writing your draft of your historical play project. This is due next week.

Period 2:

We'll continue examining/reading/listening to Hamilton: Act 2. Answer the notes concerning Greek tragedy and Hamilton: the Musical.

HOMEWORK: Read Antigone & answer the questions (pages 337-387) for Thursday, Dec. 21. Historical play project drafts are due Thursday, Dec. 21st as well.

Historical Play Project: Day 5; Hamilton Act 1 & beginning of 2

Lab:

Use your time in the lab to work on your historical play script projects.

Feel free to view the following clips from the show--note the staging (and how it's pretty much just a bare stage--which means we learn where we are (setting) by the dialogue...):

• Hamilton at the Public Theater
• Off-Broadway "Hamilton" NBC News Spot (with interview)
• Meet the Actors
• The Schuyler Sisters clip
• Hamilton Stars Give Pence a Message 
• Hamiltrump (parody)

Take a look at the article on "voice of the setting"--read it, use it.

2nd Period: Hamilton, an American Musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Let's continue to read/listen to Hamilton, look for Greek Tragedy elements in the libretto. You will turn in your notes at the end of the reading.

HOMEWORK: None. Bring your scripts back with you to our next class.

Historical Play Project, Day 4; Hamilton, Day 2

1st Period Lab:

Use your time in the lab to work on your historical play script projects. Before the end of period 1, please read the following reviews for Hamilton: The Musical.

Review: All About the Hamiltons (New Yorker)
Review: "Why the show isn't as revolutionary as it seems"

2nd Period: Hamilton, an American Musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda

As we read/listen to Hamilton, look for some of these Greek Tragedy elements in the libretto:

• A story based on history or historical legends
• Hubris (a tragic flaw or Hamartia of a character who feels he/she is too great, powerful, or perfect to make a mistake...this is usually taking the gods or fate for granted, or ignoring the natural reality of life, etc.)
• A good (or powerful) character comes to a bad end (usually as a result of the character's hubris or hamartia)
• A peripety (turning point or change of fortune)
• An anagnorisis (a discovery) (enlightenment)
• A chorus representing the populus (the people)
• Aristotle's 6 elements of a play: Character, Plot, Idea, Language, Music, Spectacle
• Stasimon (choral singing together)
• Stichomythia (alternating short lines of dialogue between 2 or more characters)
• Parados/exodus (the entrance of the chorus (parados) and the exit of the chorus (exodus))
• Deus Ex Machina (a contrived ending)

Find at least 1 example of each of the Greek Tragedy elements as we read/listen to Acts 1 & 2 of the play. You will turn in your notes at the end of the reading.

HOMEWORK: None. Bring your scripts back with you to our next class.

Historical Play Project: Day 3; Hamilton: Act 1

1st Period Lab:

Video Advice:

• Jake Jeppson's Advice for Playwrights (how to get started!)
• What actors want: Actors Imagine their Dream Roles (then ask your drama friends what kinds of roles they would love to play on stage...)
• Time Management for Playwrights by Martin Zimmerman

Use your time in the lab to work on your historical play script projects. Before the end of period 1, please read the following reviews for Hamilton: The Musical.

Review: All About the Hamiltons (New Yorker)
Review: "Why the show isn't as revolutionary as it seems"

2nd Period: Hamilton, an American Musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda


As we read/listen to Hamilton, look for some of these Greek Tragedy elements in the libretto:

• A story based on history or historical legends
• Hubris (a tragic flaw or Hamartia of a character who feels he/she is too great, powerful, or perfect to make a mistake...this is usually taking the gods or fate for granted, or ignoring the natural reality of life, etc.)
• A good (or powerful) character comes to a bad end (usually as a result of the character's hubris or hamartia)
• A peripety (turning point or change of fortune)
• An anagnorisis (a discovery) (enlightenment)
• A chorus representing the populus (the people)
• Aristotle's 6 elements of a play: Character, Plot, Idea, Language, Music, Spectacle
• Stasimon (choral singing together)
• Stichomythia (alternating short lines of dialogue between 2 or more characters)
• Parados/exodus (the entrance of the chorus (parados) and the exit of the chorus (exodus))
• Deus Ex Machina (a contrived ending)

Find at least 1 example of each of the Greek Tragedy elements as we read/listen to Acts 1 & 2 of the play. You will turn in your notes at the end of the reading.

HOMEWORK: None. Bring your scripts back with you to our next class.

Dialogue Tips; Interjections & filler words; Historical Play Project: Day 2; Picasso, day 3

Lab: (1st Period) Please watch and take notes on key ideas from the following writing advice about dialogue and removing the overuse of filler words--or punctuating interjections correctly.

The Art & Craft of Dialogue Writing (short video)
How to NOT write Bad dialogue (short video)
How Character and Story Are Hidden in Dialogue (short video)

Help With Interjection Punctuation
How to eliminate filler words

In the COMMENT section below, write 5 lines of dialogue starting each line with a filler word or interjection. The dialogue should concern the advice you learned from dialogue writing and the videos above. But punctuate each line correctly. This will count as a pop quiz today.

Then continue to write your historical play draft. Use the time in the lab today to add to your play. See previous posts for further details.

This assignment is not due yet.

2nd Period: We will continue our reading of Picasso at the Lapin Agile.

HOMEWORK: Work on your play scripts. Those of you going on our field trip today, please make sure you have a notebook and writing utensil. Meet us in the commons at 9:00. 

Historical Play Project: Day1; Picasso at the Lapin Agile: Day 2

Lab: (1st Period)

Writing a historical play:
5 Lessons Learnt In Writing a Historical Play (video)

Research your topic by choosing one of these areas and learning about it. Take notes of things, people, or places from that time period that you find interesting.

• Elizabethan Period
• Elizabethan Period & Historical Figures & Events
• American Colonialism
• Famous African Americans
• British/English Historical Figures
• Ancient Greek Figures
• Historical Asian Figures
• Famous Egyptians
• Famous Hispanic Leaders/Events
• Famous Female Leaders
• Famous historical leaders
• Chinese Dynasties
• Roman Historical Figures
• Historical Periods & Important Events
• Lesser Known American History
• Famous Inventors
• Famous Artists

Once you have chosen a time period for your setting, consider HOW you will plot your story. How many scenes will you write? How may you combine time and scenes to tell your story? Consider:

Plot: (what happens on stage) off stage is part of the story, not part of the plot

a.     Pick a historical person, or set your play in a historical time period. Your play may deal with a fictional protagonist(s) in an otherwise historical setting. 

b.     Ask: Where would you start a play? Each writer will start a plot somewhere different. Write a short play with that plot in mind. Example:

Four ways of writing plot (choose one or two):

1. Linear (syllogistic): events happen in chronological order 
2. Circular: events start at a point in time then flashback and come back to the present by the end of the play.
3. Pattern plot: event, event, event, then repeat 1st event, 2nd event, 3rd event, etc. Your plot should form a specific pattern.
4. Genre/archetype: impose one genre or form on another. Combine mystery, romance, western, musical, realist, etc. Include a wedding, funeral, or graduation. Alternate celebrations with tragedy and vice versa. If we look at Henry V as an example, the play ends with a wedding after a terrible battle. Take the same plot, but include elements of the generic genre or archetype.

Choose a plot from George Polti and write a PREMISE for your play. Keep your PREMISE at the top  of your play as you begin to write. Remember what your story is supposed to be about. Have characters add detail and characterization through dialogue and monologues.

Today in the lab, create a working title, a cast list, and premise. If you can, get a setting, decide on your structure (how long will the play be? 1 scene, 2 scenes, 2 acts?) and once you have an inciting incident, begin writing.

This assignment is not due yet.

2nd Period: We will continue our reading of Picasso at the Lapin Agile.

HOMEWORK: Work on your play scripts.