Spic-o-Rama Quiz & Film

This morning, please take the quiz on your homework reading & the play Spic-o-Rama by John Leguizamo.

After 20 minutes, we'll take a look at the actual performance of the play.

EQ: Why write a one-actor show? What do mono-dramas (1 person plays) or monologue plays offer an audience? How are they similar or different from other plays, other genres of writing (slam poetry, fiction, novels, audio-books, films, etc.)?

In regard to Spic-o-Rama:

1. How does the play showcase John Leguizamo's talent as an actor and writer? 
2. Why might Leguizamo have chosen the characters he did to portray in the play? Are some characters more vivid and interesting than others? What might be missing or what would you have liked to see more of or less of? How does the language of each monologue help characterize the speaker? 
3. How does Leguizamo structurally put the play together to create an effective theatrical experience? Examine how the play is thematically connected or how it "moves" from story line to story line. How effective is this in your opinion? What strategies does Leguizamo use to keep a coherent whole for his play?
4. Discuss the importance of minority voices in theater. In your opinion do we need more minority voices--or is Leguizamo's portrayal of "spics" degrading or stereotypical?

With any time remaining, please use your time in class to begin your homework.

HOMEWORK: Complete "The Dumbwaiter" and submit your analysis of the play for Friday's class.

10-minute Play Project Due; 10-Minute Play Readings; Spic-o-Rama

Please use period 1 to work on your 10-minute play projects. See the handout and rubric on our Google classroom regarding play scripts. Submit your completed 10-minute play draft by the end of period 1.

Period 2:

Let's continue reading the 10-minute plays in our last handout. With time remaining, let's begin looking at our next play--a mono-drama from John Leguizamo: Spic-o-Rama.

HOMEWORK: Complete Spic-o-Rama.

10-Minute Play Project; 10-Minute Play Readings

Period 1:

Respond to this blog post regarding your homework. Consider how David Ives (the playwright) uses the roots of action and the dramatic triangle in his plays. Make sure that you respond using specific examples from all three plays. Grades for your response are based on the homework rubric shared with you.

Then please use period 1 to work on your 10-minute play projects.

Period 2:

Let's begin reading some of the 10-minute plays in our handout. The first play is by comedian, musician, writer and brilliant crazy guy Steve Martin. Click on the link to find out more about him. Wendy Wasserstein was also an important contemporary playwright. Check out her bio too!

HOMEWORK: Complete your 10-minute play projects & complete any short plays we did not finish in class.

Come join us for the opening night of the Creative Writing Department's production of Love, Loss, and What I Wore tonight, Thursday or Friday at 7:00 in the Ensemble Theater. Creative writing students attend free, but we'd like to challenge you to bring a friend or family member. Tickets are $5 and available at the door. This is a fundraiser for the department. Extra credit for those who attend.

Conflict; The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year; 10-Minute Play example & writing

Recall the dramatic triangle & roots of action. Now, let's look a little closer at conflict.

At its core, all plays are about characters in conflict. The five common types of literary conflict include:

1. Person v. Person
2. Person v. Self
3. Person v. Nature (also human nature)
4. Person v. Society
5. Person v. Fate, the Supernatural, or God

Please get into groups of 2-4. Read "The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year" by John Guare (see below). 

As you read the short play "The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year" by John Guare, identify different ways in which the playwright uses conflict as a dramatic centerpiece for the comedy. Take note of the kinds of conflict that occur in the play and write down the type (see above) and a brief description as to what the conflict is. Additionally, discuss how the playwright uses the dramatic triangle as a device (ex. consider the role of the character "Maud"); What "roots of action" does Guare use in his play. Discuss these ideas with your group.

When your group finishes, please look over the 10-minute play project listed in the post below this one, and work on your script. Write. Avoid unnecessary conversation. That's just going to slow you down and delay the inevitable--a draft of your 10-minute play.

HOMEWORK: Read the 10-minute plays. Continue working on your 10-minute play script draft.

Oleanna (Conclusion); The Dramatic Triangle & the 10 Minute Play Project

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

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.

We will conclude our reading of Oleanna by David Mamet. Please submit your play analysis notes. For the rest of class, let's begin our first substantial writing project: The 10-minute Play

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, class exercises, 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.

Then write. Just you brainstorming, drafting, writing. Try to avoid unnecessary fooling around or talking.

HOMEWORK: Use the exercises we completed last class and the articles "The Roots of Action" and "The Dramatic Triangle" to continue working on your plays. The deadline for this play draft is not due yet.

Mamet's Oleanna (conclusion); Writing exercise for your play idea

After morning announcements, let's take a look at David Mamet Interview with the BBC (2 min.)

Then, let's continue reading Oleanna. As you read, please complete the play analysis and turn in when we are done reading the play.

With time remaining, let's flesh out your play idea with an exercise.

• Make a list of the 2-3 most important characters that are needed to tell your story.
• Define them. How old? What is their occupation if they are older than 17? What single physical or personality trait do they possess?
• Consider what object or costume piece is most important to your characters. 
• Consider what your character's long-term goal is for their life.
• Consider what your character's short-term goal is for today.
• What would be the single most important moment of these characters' lives today?

HOMEWORK: None. If you did not complete your play exercise, please complete it by next class. 

Character Exercise; David Mamet's Oleanna

Here's a short video about 'Night Mother on a Broadway revival recently, starring Edie Falco.

For the first few minutes of class, please select one or more of the photographs from this link. Give this person a name, an occupation, a short description. Consider and write a goal or personality trait for this character. Keep your file for future exercises.

Share your idea for a play project with at least 1 other person in the class. If you were to select this project, what are some things you might have to do or consider when turning your idea into a play?

• Must you limit your # of characters? 
• Might you narrow in and focus on a specific time or place that your action must take place?
• What props or objects or costume pieces would be most important in the telling of your story?
• What limitations might change the way you present your story since you are writing for the stage, not the screen? 

Then, let's dive into our next play: David Mamet's Oleanna.

David Mamet (you can learn more about this writer by clicking on the link and reading his short bio) is a popular playwright, screenwriter, novel writer, and director. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for Glengarry Glen Ross. His most recent plays include November (with Nathan Lane) in 2008, Race in 2009, HBO's production of the series Phil Spector (2013) with Al Pacino & Helen Mirren, and his most recent play The Penitent (2017).

Our next play will be Oleanna (1992) by David Mamet. William H. Macy starred in the original production (and the movie based on the play). Read a little about the play on the script at the links. Sign up for various roles as we read today. Complete play analysis notes as we read. In particular, as we read, we will be discussing Mamet's use and style of writing dialogue.

David Mamet Interview with the BBC (2 min.)

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