Playwrighting

Collected lecture/discussion notes. Some parts are very fragmented, but offered here as a study aid, not a primary learning source. Citations are lost. None of the thoughts are original.

Overhead

Function:

Leads vs Follows his/her time
Creative artist vs point of departure

Requirements:

Love of spoken language
Fascination with people: "What makes them tick?"
Love for the stage

Process:

Stimulation

Source: personal collection of words, bits of language, human idiosyncrasies, moments of life, metaphors, ironies, tyranies
Structure and shaping
Writing and rewriting
Literary agent circulates script
Rehearsal and rewriting
Production
Brlokerage house buys rights and promotes and distributes

Only about 100 premiers annually in American professional theatre.

Requirements:

• Keen observation of human behavior
• Sharp ear for spoken language
• Fertile imagination for "what if"
• Passion to communicate
• Skills to communicate

Also:

• Deep understanding of work of other artists who realize plays
• Mastery of dramatic language
• Recognition of theatrical limitations
• Familiarity with current conventions
• Awareness of audience expectations.

-Finding characters
-Feeding off central incident
-Game of "what if" [can be worked out in improvisation & refined]

Play is defined in the action of the characters, not in the dialogue. Not what they say but what they do.

Restrictions:

• Limited characters
• Limited technical
• Limited time
• Aural and visual
• Human scale

Process parts (not steps in order):

• Characters
• Scenario
• Treatment
• Development
• Finish

Essential qualities of theatrical language

1. Reveals consciousness of characters while develops action
2. It is eloquent
3. It is gestural. Speeches contain impetus for movement.
4. Quality of presence: Sense of life and vitality, not composed & bookish; real words by real people right now.