The Vagina Monologues; The Monologue Play Project

Please turn in your homework (see post below for details!)

Take a few minutes to prepare the monologue exercise we started last class. I will ask that at least 2 groups share with the class the way they cut the monologue by doing a staged reading.

After viewing and discussing, let's see the original: Eve Ensler: My Angry Vagina

Use your time in the lab to begin your monologue play project. You may also read "Spic-o-Rama" (which you should complete for homework--see below).

LAB TASK: Choose a premise for a monologue play. Once you have a premise, conduct any of the following tasks:

• Interview a person who has experience with your subject matter. Take notes and listen to the way the interviewee tells the story. Try basing a character on this person or this personality.
• After conducting interviews, use your notes to write a monologue. You may have combine the ideas of more than one interviewee. The idea is to have a coherent through line for your monologues. 
• After choosing a premise, conduct research and take notes. Monologues can use factual information or be informative for the audience. If your topic is "lions" for example (probably unlikely) knowing more about lions might be appropriate for your monologue. Research biologists, for example, who might write about their work with lions or search out stories about lions to help you create a monologue about them.
• Remember that monologues help develop character. It is helpful to have characters who want something (to achieve a specific goal)--so give your character a goal to try to achieve.
• Better yet: make sure your character's goal has a dramatic risk involved: what is at stake for this character? Why might this character NEED to tell us this story? What does the monologue reveal about the character's personality or history or beliefs or goals?
• Research historical time period or delve into the past of a character. Take notes. Use your notes to flesh out your character and provide backstory and development.
• Connect your monologues by theme or idea. A play about lions might be told from a zookeeper, a child at the zoo, a villager who has suffered from a lion attack, a cartoonist inspired by the lion king, or a lion tamer. Each character will be different but could be played by the same actor or a group of actors.
• Use the plays we've read as samples or models: Talking With, The Vagina Monologues, or Spic-o-Rama.

The nitty-gritty: you will need to write at least 3 monologues for your "play". When you have the play written, give it a title. Review format for plays:

Sample Script Format (PDF)

How to Format a Play (video)

Tips about writing plays (video)

Your play should have a title page (with your name on it--no need for the full address just yet) and a list of characters (names of your characters & perhaps a short description of them) and an indication of the time and place. These things can be put on the same page if you like, or on separate pages (your choice) but they do not count as # of pages for this assignment. 

See the handout for more information.

HOMEWORK: Please complete Spic-O-Rama by John Leguizamo for Friday's class. Please bring your scripts with you to class for a discussion.

Eve Ensler: The Vagina Monologues

This morning, write 3 premises in your journal. "This play is about..." or "I am writing a play about..."

Take a moment to refresh your memory on the chapter article "What on Earth Gave You That Idea". What key ideas or advice did you find helpful in this chapter? Let's take a moment to discuss.

Then:

"My Vagina was my Village". (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQPVuGtRbrI) and a clip of three actresses doing the same monologue (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4sKk-r169w)

• Please complete the handout notes as you watch the videos. We will collect this at the end of class as participation credit.
• Reflection time & think, pair, share

Group work!: Divide "My Angry Vagina" into 3 parts. Volunteer groups will perform this monologue for us as a reading after 15 minutes.

• Make careful choices about how you divide the monologue--we'll be discussing why you did what you did and why you made the decisions you did, etc.

LAB: Choose a premise for a play where you will ask at least 3 other people about a specific topic. This can be modeled on "The Vagina Monologues" or any other idea. For example, examine the issue of bullying, sexual orientation, poverty, religion, body image, the arts, technology (internet/cell-phone use, etc.)

HOMEWORK: Read about Eve Ensler. She is a contemporary playwright, actor, and writer. Find 3 things about Eve Ensler that you find interesting or important as regards contemporary writers, playwriting, or just about her life. Prepare to hand in you 3 things on Wednesday, September 16. Begin reading Spic-o-Rama.

 

Character Exercise; Talking With (Day 3); Monologue Exercise

Complete the following character exercise this morning in the lab.

Looking at pictures and watching people can be a goldmine for character building. As a playwright, one of the most important tasks you will have to accomplish is creating interesting characters. Boring characters make for boring plays, so it's helpful to have a few ideas about character design before jumping into the pool of monologues, scenes, and plays.

Task #1: Brainstorming Characters:

IN YOUR JOURNAL or NOTEBOOK please complete the following exercise. DO NOT TURN THIS IN. Instead, you may use it for a writing assignment.

Please take a look at the photos of people below. For each photo, give the person a name, age or age range, and 1-sentence physical description. Follow this up with a 1-sentence goal or urgent desire.

For example:

GEORGETTE MINSKY, female, age 25-30. Georgette always wears a baseball glove (even to church) and too much lipstick. She wants to witness a miracle first hand or at least win her minor-league softball team's championship trophy in memory of her dead grandma.

Create a character for any 3 of these pictures (you may do all of them, if you'd like):

Lab Task 2: Watch the following pairs of performances. Compare/contrast the quality or effectiveness of the performer and write your analysis or critique of the monologue in a paragraph response (to be turned in today by the end of class). There are 3 pairings.

To assist your answers: As you watch these scenes from Talking With, pay attention to how the playwright engages the audience and tells an interesting story that develops the single speaking character. Notice how the actor portrays this character. Are the author's words more effective or is the performance more compelling to you as an audience? What does this suggest about the nature of performance? Which performance was stronger than the other? Why? What might be some things you want to remember about writing plays for performers?

Clear Glass Marbles (monologue, page 19-22)
Clear Glass Marbles (monologue, page 19-22) 

Audition. (monologue, page 25-27)
Audition 

French Fries (monologue, page 61-63)
French Fries

Please turn in your answers for participation credit by the end of class.

Lab Task 3: Using your character exercise from last class or this morning, write a monologue from the perspective of your created character.

Please turn in your monologue draft for participation credit by the end of class.

If you missed it, read about Jane Martin here.

Please turn in Lab tasks 2 & 3 before you leave today. These assignments are due by the end of class. If you finish early (before the bell rings), please work on your homework assignments (reading).

HOMEWORK: If you did not complete your reading of Talking With, please do so. If you are done reading the play, please hand it in. Please read the monologue play The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler for Monday and read the handout on play ideas and the standard types of plays (two-act, one-act, 10-minute plays, etc.) Identify the writing advice in this article and take notes on key ideas from the article in your journal. Please bring The Vagina Monologues and the article to class on Monday.

NOTE: if you were absent on the first day of classes and did not write a scene for your baseline, please make sure you do. The instructions are posted below in the post for 8/31. 

Character Exercise; Theater Vocabulary; Jane Martin's Talking With

This morning, let's start off with a little character writing exercise. Use your journal/notebook for these morning exercises.

Throughout this course, I will be using specific language related to the field of playwriting and/or writing in general. These terms are important for you to know/learn. They look nice on quizzes and tests. Always take notes on key information in this class. Practicing note-taking is also important for any student or writer.

Theatre vocabulary to know:

• Monologue: an extended speech delivered by one person/character.
• Dramatic Monologue: a long or extended speech delivered by one character addressing another character or group of characters.
• Interior Monologue: In fiction or prose, the description or speech (in 1st person POV, for example) where a character exhibits (shows/tells) the thoughts, feelings, and associations passing through a character's mind.
• Soliloquy: an extended speech by one person/character addressed directly to the audience. Usually the character is alone on stage.
• Monologue Play (one-person show; monodrama): A solo performance, featuring an actor, comedian, or entertainer.
• Premise: the basic concept or idea of the play. Usually the premise can be stated clearly in 1 sentence. This is a play about...

TALKING WITH:

Please read the handout about Jane Martin this morning. Follow up your reading with a 10 minute period of reading. Select one of the monologues in the collection and read it closely. Analyze how:

• the character hooks her audience, 
• how the character communicates meaning (what's the purpose/point of speaking?)
• how details and background description and details are presented to the audience, 
• how story and plot are interwoven into the monologue, 
• how language or diction is used to create visual imagery (metaphor, allusion, personification, symbol, simile, etc.), sound imagery (onomatopoeia, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, assonance, consonance, etc.), and
• how props or costumes are used (if any) help establish setting or character.

TASK: After reading silently (alone) for 10 minutes, let's take a look at a few performances from the play. As you watch, consider how PERFORMANCE (the ability of the performer) changes or affects your experience or understanding of the play/scene:

Fifteen Minutes (monologue, page 7-10)
Rodeo (monologue, page 31-34)
Twirler (part; not complete monologue; page 37-40)
Marks (monologue, page 67-69)

TASK: After viewing, let's conduct a class discussion. Your response can include answers to any or all of these questions:

• What did you think about the play as a whole? Did it surprise you or please you or frustrate you? Explain why you reacted to the play in this way.
• What is the premise of "Talking With"? In a sentence or two, explain what you think is the premise or main idea/theme of the play. Is this premise interesting? Do you think people would pay to see this play?
• The "audience" for each character changes as the play continues. How does the author help a viewer or reader understand who the character in question is "talking with..."? Overall, by the end of the play, who do you think the playwright Jane Martin is "Talking with...?" Support your opinion.
• What challenges and stage requirements are necessary to produce this play? How has Jane Martin anticipated a low-budget, black box theater being able to produce her play? What did you learn about staging from the monologues you read and watched?
• Why are the monologues in the order that Martin puts them? What is the reason to start and end the play with the monologues she does?
• After reading about Jane Martin, what amuses or interests you in her as a writer? How might the idea of "Theatricality" (artificial life involving conflict) infuse the script and the whole experience of seeing this play on stage?

After our discussion, let's move to the lab to conduct the following activities. Both activities will also be homework if you do not complete them in the lab:

Lab Task 1: Watch the following pairs of performances. Compare/contrast the quality or effectiveness of the performer and write your analysis or critique of the monologue in a paragraph response (to be turned in as homework participation Thursday, September 10). There are 3 pairings.

To assist your answers: As you watch these scenes from Talking With, pay attention to how the playwright engages the audience and tells an interesting story that develops the single speaking character. Notice how the actor portrays this character. Are the author's words more effective or is the performance more compelling to you as an audience? What does this suggest about the nature of performance? Which performance was stronger than the other? Why? What might be some things you want to remember about writing plays for performers?

Clear Glass Marbles (monologue, page 19-22)
Clear Glass Marbles (monologue, page 19-22) 

Audition. (monologue, page 25-27)
Audition 

French Fries (monologue, page 61-63)
French Fries

Lab Task 2: Using your character exercise from this morning, write a monologue from the perspective of your created character.

Next class we will begin in the lab and continue working on monologues and monologue writing.

If you missed it, read about Jane Martin here.

HOMEWORK: If you did not complete your reading of Talking With, please do so. Complete the lab assignments (1 & 2) for homework if you did not complete them during class. For advanced students who are ready for the next reading assignment, please begin reading the monologue play The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler.

Welcome, Class of 2017!

Welcome back, class of 2017! I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable summer.

Here we are again. This year is partly devoted to writing scripts (both theatrical and for the screen). What you learn here can help you improve your fiction "dialogue" skills, examine the use of conflict in your plots, play and experiment with language and poetry, as well as make you a better psychologist (dealing with people in crisis), all the while honing your writer's craft and developing your writer's voice.

Today, after reviewing the course criteria, we will get started with a required writing activity, read a bit, and start on a couple assignments to begin this course. At the end of class today, we'll get our locker assignments.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Check this blog each class period for agendas, deadlines, educational information, advice, and a whole lot of links to enhance your education. All you have to do is read and click. You are responsible for reading and interacting with the material I post on the blog. It is a useful resource for the course (since we don't have a specific textbook)--so please use it.

If you're absent or missed something in class, please check the blog to get caught up. As indicated above, each new class period usually includes a new post. If you have a question about an assignment and are too embarrassed to speak to me in public (or you have a question that you think you will forget to ask), feel free to use the comment section.

On our link page you will also find some useful tools for this course. During the course I will direct your attention to these tools for your use in this class and for use in Contemporary Writers.

Today, after reading about the course and answering any questions, let's begin playwriting with a baseline writing exercise. You will need a notebook, the essay paper/booklet provided, and a writing utensil.

• The task is simple. Write a complete scene (with a definite beginning, middle, and end) in script format. 

• Limit your cast of characters to no more than four (4). Two or three (2-3) works best. Setting, writing style, and theme is completely up to you. 

• Be creative. Focus on the task of writing. Let your words flow from you without a lot of editing or over thinking this exercise. Trust your instincts as an artist and writer! 

•  If you need a prompt, choose one of the following starters: 
•  A policeman, a newlywed, a certified letter 

•  A recently new widow, her half-sister, and a secret 

•  One character walks in to a familiar place but meets someone unexpected

• You will have 25-30 minutes to write.

If you happen to finish early and the rest of the class is still writing, please begin reading "Talking With" by Jane Martin. After we write our baseline, we'll get started reading Talking With in small groups.

HOMEWORK: Complete Talking With by Jane Martin. As you read the monologues, pay close attention to how language and conflict within the stories helps to develop character. Bring the play script with you to our next class. Please share the course criteria sheet with your parents/guardians. Have a nice Labor Day Weekend!

Exam Review

Exam review

The Movies Learn to Speak (article)
The Jazz Singer (1927) & Don Juan (1926), Al Jolson, Vitaphone, etc.
The Benefits and Problems concerning SOUND IN FILM
1930's Golden Age of Film: (April 13 post)
Hal Roach, Laurel & Hardy, "The Music Box" (1931), The Little Rascals
Universal Horror films and stars (April 15 post)
Screwball comedies & style
Frank Capra films
Genre films: Gangster, War, Westerns, Musicals, Animation, Adventure
Famous actors/personalities in 1930's & 1940's films
RKO, King Kong (1933), Fay Wray--the scream queen, Max Steiner, Ray Harryhausen
The Marx Brothers: A Night At the Opera (1935)
Influence of the Great Depression on film, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart
Narratology, style of film, narrative techniques, avant garde films (see April 21 post)
Technicolor (April 29 post & Walt Disney article)
Walt Disney, Snow White (1937) (article & blog posts)
How to write a treatment, 3-act structure (May post)
Film Noir (May post & article "Murder, Greed, & Betrayal: The Dark Streets of Film Noir")
The characteristics of Film Noir, how German Expressionism influenced Film Noir, etc.
Citizen Kane (1941) & Orson Welles and his influence on film
Mise-en-scene & deep focus shots, auteur, diegetic & non diegetic sound, styles of film, mise-en-shot, montage, continuity editing, editing, producing, etc. (various posts)
Angles, shot types, 180 degree rule, how to direct, produce, and write a film, etc.
Alfred Hitchcock, Rope (1947), Rear Window (1954), Psycho (1960) (May 26-June 10)
The Emergence of Television
Samuel Goldwyn (MGM), influence of television on the film industry ("The Emergence of Television" article)
HUAC and the Communist Witch Hunt, McCarthy Era, Fatty Arbuckle scandal, Ring Lardner, blacklisting (HUAC article)
Drive-in Theaters (June 1 post)
AIP & Samuel Z. Arkoff (American International Pictures: A Blueprint for Success" article)
Ed Wood & Roger Corman (June 1 post)
William Castle (June post)
1950's Science Fiction films, The Cold War (June 1 post)
MPPA relaxing its restrictions (article)
Jack Valenti, Mike Nichols, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1966) ("Relaxing Restrictions: MPAA Ratings System article)
Ratings system: G, M, R, X and what the letter stands for--later G, PG, R, NC17
1960's film trends (June 7 post)
The New Hollywood: America's New Wave (article), (June 8 post)
Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider (American New Wave, blog)
Steven Spielberg & George Lucas; Star Wars (1977): blockbusters & their influence in film
Blaxploitation
CGI, Toy Story (1995) (article)
Producers, directors, writers, foley artist, grip, cinematographers, and film occupations

Our final exam covers a lot here. Please study and use your notes you took in class (there was a reason you should have taken notes) to study from.

Psycho; American New Wave

Our final exam will be Friday, June 12.

HOMEWORK: Read the articles on the American New Wave Directors: Please watch at least 3 clips from any films by at least one of these directors (search on youtube.com for example). Titles of some appropriate films are listed in your article and from your reading.

• Woody Allen
• Robert Altman
• Hal Ashby
• Peter Bogdanovich
• John Cassavetes
• Francis Ford Coppola
• Brian De Palma
• William Friedkin
• Dennis Hopper
• George Lucas
• Mike Nichols
• Bob Rafelson
• Martin Scorsese
• Steven Spielberg