The Playwright
I.
Introduction
Play
wright, not write or right, why?
Flashpoint
of Theatre, true catalyst
Eventwriting,
Actions and words that lead to events.
Established
by Craft and Continual Refinement
II. Basic Tools
 |
Dialogue |
|
Action
(personal/mental and physical) |
|
Structure |
III.
Aesthetics of a Fine Play
|
Credibility
and Intrigue |
|
Believability |
|
Appeals
to Inherent Voyeurism (Exotic Nature: Indiana Jones: Sword Fighting Scene |
|
Speak-ability
(Can Actors Play the Roles) |
|
Stage-ability
(Can it be Done Relatively Inexpensively) |
|
Flow
(Can the Audience Understand It) |
|
Richness
(Depth of: Plot, Character, Word, and Action) |
(My
words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words
without thought never to heaven go. Claudius AIII,S3)
|
Gravity
and Pertinance (Thematic Concerns) |
|
Relevance
and Universality (Places in the Heart: Your Never Dead if Your Remembered or
Its a Wonderful Life: No Man's a Failure Who Has Friends) |
|
Compression,
Economy, and Intensity (Style including: Time, Character, and Intent of the
Characters over Time) |
IV.
The Well Made Play (Scribe)
|
Plot
based on a secret known to the audience and withheld from certain characters
until the climax where fraudulent characters are unmasked and the hero’s
fortunes are restored. |
|
A
pattern of increasingly intense action and suspense prepared by exposition,
contrived entrances, and exits, and devices (letters, telegrams, etc.). |
|
A
series of Gains and loses to the hero’s fortunes caused by conflict with
the opposing forces or characters. |
|
A
major crisis in the hero’s bad fortune. |
|
A
revelation scene the resulting in a reversal of fortune for both the hero
and the opposing force brought about by disclosure of the secret |
|
A
central misunderstanding that the audience knows and certain characters do
not. |
|
A
logical credible resolution of events with the appropriate dispensation for
both the good and bad characters. |
|
Overall
pattern of building and increasing action repeated in each act with climaxes
that increase over the plays progress |
V.
The Playwrights Process
Internal
Phase: Collection, Research, and Thought:
3
Main Levels of Attack:
|
Dialogue:
Actual, Remembered, Extrapolated, or Imagined |
|
Conflict:
From the Core Out |
|
Structure:
Climactic - to an event |
Episodic
- a journey
Situational
- cyclical, like life
Combined
with:
Inspirations
and Imagination:
|
Ideas |
|
Characters |
|
Situations |
Sources
of Inspiration:
|
Eavesdropping |
|
Life
Experiences |
|
Books
& Articles |
|
News
Papers |
|
Anecdotes |
|
Poems |
External
Crafting, "Actual Writing":
Method
(s) of Starting:
|
Outline
Plot:
Structural Approach |
|
Scene
of Crisis:
Targeted Scene, like darts |
|
Puzzle
Notes: Situations/Characters/Ideas
written as scenes, scrambled, and then assembled |
|
Thinking
on Paper: Composing and Improvisation |
|
Group Improvisation: Collaborative, mostly new works & SNL |
Developmental
Improvement:
A
play should evolve over time through production to its full potential
Production
Path of a Play/Script:
|
Development |
|
Submission |
|
Production
and/or Publication |
|
Agent |
VI.
Artists and Their Times
Greek:
|
Aristotle |
|
Euripides |
|
Sophicles |
|
Aristophanes. |
Roman:
|
Plautus |
|
Terrence |
|
Seneca |
Medieval:
|
Hrosthvitha |
English
Renaissance:
|
Shakespeare |
|
Johnston |
|
Marlowe |
French
Renaissance:
|
Moliere |
|
Racine |
|
Cornielle |
Italian
Renaissance:
|
Goldoni |
Romantic
Period:
|
Goldsmith |
|
Congrieve |
|
Wicherly |
Realism:
|
Strindberg |
|
Chekov |
|
Ibsen |
Anti-Realism:
|
Classical:
Wagner |
|
Symbolist:
O’Niel, Rice, Ionesco, Pirandello |
|
Absurdism:
Beckett, Ubu |
|
Expressionist:
Brecht, Tarentino |
|
Surrealists:
Appolonaire |
|
Post-War:
Realism: Miller, Williams |
Modern:
|
Multi-Cultural:
Howe, Medhoff, Terry, Wilson, Ntsoka Shange |