The One Act Play Project & Our Town Notes

Please check Mr. Bodensteiner's blog for today's agenda. There is some wonderful advice about one-act play writing and information and reflection on Our Town.

HOMEWORK: If you are behind in your script writing, write for homework to get caught up in the lab.

Students who have not turned in a draft of their 10-minute play and their Adaptation are likely to fail this marking period. Please make sure you turn these drafts in by Friday for minimal credit. No late work will be taken after that. Incomplete work (from previous drafts) may be completed and turned in for credit.

Researching a Setting & Our Town

Today, please check out Mr. Bodensteiner's blog for the agenda. You will be researching a setting in which to write a play.

Our Town uses a SUGGESTED SET design. In other words, the setting is suggested (not really built). This allows actors to utilize the stage and create the "setting" by acting (something they like to do.) It is similar to improv in that the setting is suggested, not expected to be built by the techies. The famous scene with the ladders in Our Town is a brilliant bit of suggested stage business, with the ladders acting as two separate house windows from which the lovers can converse. Very clever.

Our Town (with Paul Newman as the Stage Manager)
Our Town (End of Act I, High School Production)
Our Town (the film)

The Piano Lesson & Our Town

You will be having a test today on the Piano Lesson. Please see Mr. Bodensteiner's blog for details.

The next play on our agenda: Our Town by Thorton Wilder. Please check out the biographical information on Wilder.

 We hope everyone has a relaxing Thanksgiving break.

HOMEWORK: Please read Our Town.

The Piano Lesson: The Ending

Please refer to Mr. Bodensteiner's blog for today's agenda.

It is important to pay close attention to character motivation in a play. One of the tips for good playwriting is to give your characters interesting motivations.

But how do we do that?

Motivation in plays is developed by characterization: what a character does (actions), what a character says, and what other characters say about another character. A character's motivation is often closely tied to the major conflict and theme of a play. Actors read scripts carefully looking for motivation for their characters. It is an essential skill for an actor. A playwright needs to help these actors out by making sure that each character has a purpose and a reason to act and say what he/she does.

As you read The Piano Lesson, consider the motivation behind each character. What does this character want? Why do they want it? How do they go about getting it?

HOMEWORK: Please complete the Piano Lesson and study for the test on Monday.

The Piano Lesson: The Middle

Today we will continue reading The Piano Lesson. Please read up through Act 2, Scene 2 in class. Pay close attention to the songs in Act One, Scene Two and Act Two, Scene One. For more details, please refer to Mr. Bodensteiner's blog.

I will be giving out your progress reports. Please share these with parents/guardians. The Adaptation Project (another major project) is not yet reported on this report. If you have not completed or turned in this project please do so immediately. It is past due.

The Piano Lesson

Your adaptation is past due. If you have this project completed, please turn script in now. Forum post for the play Salome has been extended to Sunday at 11:59 p.m., but I will not be taking late work for this assignment.

Please take a look at Mr. Bodensteiner's blog here: playwritingsota.blogspot.com.

HOMEWORK: Please complete up to scene 2 in the Piano Lesson. Post a forum response for Salome on our forum before Sunday.

Charles Ludlam Scenes

Scenes from The Mystery of Irma Vep.

Stage production of Mystery of Irma Vep part one
Stage production of Mystery of Irma Vep part two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine

Charles Ludlam's Medea
Charles Ludlam's Camille
Charles Ludlam's Le Bourgeois Avant-Garde clip
Charles Ludlam's The Artificial Jungle

You may post an extra credit response to these scenes or to Ludlam's play Jack and the Beanstalk. Posts are due by end of the marking period.