Period 1:
Let's head down to the library to pick up Henrik Ibsen's
Hedda Gabler. You will be reading this play and completing a play analysis form for it while we are screening
Titus Andronicus. See
homework below.
When we return, take 15-20 minutes to quickly sketch an idea for your play. Spend your time brainstorming and completing these next steps as quickly as you can. Details and specifics can come later!
- The first step in writing a play is to get an idea. You might start with a). characters, b). a setting, or c). a theme in mind.
- Think of a premise. What is this play about? What do you want to write about? What issues/themes/people/stories are important to YOU? Start there.
- In your premise, do you want to write a comedy, a drama, a melodrama, or a tragedy?
- Will your play be a one-act or two-act? (Or more?) You WILL have a page requirement for your last play assignment! No 10-minute plays allowed!
- Consider a plot from Polit's 36 plots (you can combine more than one as a way to start)--or don't use one and come up with your own plot. Remember a plot starts with an inciting incident that interrupts the status quo of a situation, followed by a series of conflicts and complications, that rise to a turning point or crisis for a character (dark moment), an enlightenment, and a climax, which is then resolved at the end of the play (usually). For ideas regarding setting up your plot, see the notes on plot below!
- Jot down a quick character list of potential characters (see below for an example). This will be your character list or dramatic personae. For each character briefly (1-2 sentences at most) describe them physically (how old, for example, are they?), and give them a personality flaw (like being pessimistic, or eager to trust someone, or someone simple-minded, or aggressive, or deeply religious, or someone who has no scruples, etc.)--it's a good idea to contrast this with other characters in your story!
- Choose one of your characters to be your "protagonist" (you may choose more than one!) Every protagonist has an antagonist (a person or force trying to stop them)--no one thinks of him/herself as a bad person--just protagonists in their own story doing what they think is necessary to get the thing(s) he/she wants!
- Identify the goal or desire this character wants to achieve or get. Give your character a motivation (or reason for wanting this goal/desire)--why are they willing to risk their livelihood to achieve their goal, for example?)
- Place your characters in a specific setting. It can be helpful to describe this setting in a few sentences. This will be your set description before the play/scene begins. Add an AT RISE: section in which you describe what characters are doing ON STAGE when you start a scene)
- Think about a MDQ (Major Dramatic Question) that your audience might want to know by the end of the play. This is often involving a theme--the message or idea that runs throughout the play. Consider what your theme might be (if you're using Polti's 36 dramatic situations, the theme is usually given to you and built into the dramatic action of your plot...revenge, supplication, pursuit, etc.)
PLAY IDEA PROMPT: Feel free to: 1. Pick a myth or Shakespearean story and update it (that's what Shakespeare did with Titus Andronicus--a retelling of the house of Atreus myth--like Agamemnon), or write your own version of 1). someone "selling" their soul (or selling out) in order to get ahead or gain power, etc., or 2). a revenge play (like Othello or Titus Andronicus). It works like this: a character slights or causes tragedy to another person's family or fortune. A close friend or family member of the victim exacts revenge. Usually, there is a confidante character--a character who the avenger can tell his/her plans to. Then the avenger finds ways to get back at the offending character. See Polti's 36 dramatic situations for more details!
Want to learn more about writing a play? For a full master class discussion
on playwriting by Paula Vogel, check out the Dramatist Guild's video. (120 minutes...)
Plot forms:
- Linear: the 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...like the structure of Othello or Titus Andronicus.
- Circle: beginnings become endings, that become beginnings that are endings...
- Pattern: a repeating pattern is formed to frame the narrative...create a pattern and stick with it!
- Generic synthetic form: the 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, Oedipus Rex was a hypotext for The Darker Face of the Earth, Agamemnon was a hypotext for Titus Andronicus, etc.)--simply choose a text you know or have read and "update" it.
Paula Vogel'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. Discover your own genius.
Period 2:
TITUS ANDRONICUS
Titus Andronicus is believed to be Shakespeare's first tragedy. He may have co-authored it with George Peele (although we can't be certain) between 1588 and 1593. Popular in his day, the play is thought to be needlessly violent and the most bloody of all his plays. It has common Shakespearean themes of revenge and madness. Common motifs can be found below...
The play is set at the end of the Roman Empire and tells
the fictional story of a Roman general, Titus, who runs afoul of Tamora, Queen of the Goths.
Major Characters:
- Titus Andronicus – A renowned Roman general
- Tamora – Queen of the Goths; afterward Empress of Rome
- Aaron– a Moor; involved in a sexual relationship with Tamora
- Lucius – Titus's eldest son
- Lavinia – Titus's only daughter
- Marcus Andronicus – Titus's brother
- Demetrius – Tamora's son
- Chiron – Tamora's other son; an allusion to the centaur Chiron--classical centaurs were known for their animalistic lusts (they had the body of a beast...) & propensity for raping virgins...! (horses are known for their...well, nevermind...)
- Saturninus – Son of the late Roman Emperor; afterward declared Emperor. He is named for the mythological god Saturn in Greek mythology--the one whom Jupiter (Zeus) overthrows...
- Bassianus – Saturninus's brother; in love with Lavinia
Minor Characters:
- Quintus – Titus's son
- Martius – Titus's son
- Mutius – Titus's son
- Young Lucius – Lucius's son
- Publius – Marcus's son
- Nurse
- A Clown
- Sempronius – Titus's kinsman
- Caius – Titus's kinsman
- Valentine – Titus's kinsman
- Alarbus – Tamora's son (non-speaking role)
Themes/Motifs:
- Revenge
- Human Kindness & Pity (and its limitations) (Cruelty, as its opposite as well)
- Limbs (usually being hacked off--"parts" of the body, just as children are "part" of the parent's "body", and citizens are part of the body politic...part of the whole is the literary device of synecdoche)
- Animals (particularly fierce bestial animals...like a "wilderness of tigers", but also birds of prey...and their victims)
- Astrology (a reference to Fate and the stars)
Allusions:
Ovid's
Metamorphoses (the story of
Philomela, in particular)
Seneca's play
Thyestes (the myth of the House of Atreus), and, of course, Aeschylus'
The Orestia))
Titus (1999)
Information about
Julie Taymor (director; also directed
The Lion King on Broadway,
Across the Universe,
Spiderman the Musical (on Broadway) and
Frida)
and the cast of Titus (1999), starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lang.
While we're not exactly ready to discuss the finer elements of film, Julie Taymor's film is an effective visual work.
Notice what the camera is doing while watching the film. The camera provides POV in a film and conveys meaning, both literally and symbolically. As you watch look out for examples of:
- Motifs
- Frequency
- Synecdoche
Listen to how TONE is created by the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound elements. As you watch, also keep in mind the key themes and development of plot and characters Shakespeare uses in this play.
NOTE: You will be scored 5 points for watching the film each day. If you fall asleep or ignore the screen, you will receive no credit.
HOMEWORK: Read Hedda Gabler for Monday, Jan. 13 and complete a play analysis form (see handouts or digital files on Google Classroom)
