Week 4, Challenge #4: the monologue

Choose one of your less-developed characters from any of your written pieces (remember the difference between rounded and flat characters?). We will want to make this character more ROUND. Rounded-out. Well-rounded. You get the idea.

Imagine that your character, who even YOU don't know very well, is standing alone, center stage, and about to reveal something to you. What is your character saying to you?

Let him or her say it: let the language flow naturally, and let the character speak THROUGH you. No words should be forced. (A monologue is best when kept between 2-5 minutes.)

What has the character revealed to you, and how does this change the nature of the shape, tone, or action in the play? Does the monlogue make you think about taking your play in a new direction?

Have fun!

Getting Started & Challenge #1

There's a whole lot to read here. Take your time.

O.K.: You’re hunkering down with your computer/pen and notepad, steaming cuppa joe/tea/something yummy at your side. Your home/coffee shop/office is quiet/loud enough to concentrate, there’s plenty of light to see by, your seat is comfy, and you’re set to write.
Now what?

What’s the STORY?? Neil LaBute’s recent off-Broadway hit, “Fat Pig,” is simply a boy-meets-girl plot (she just happens to be plus-size, and the love of his life); things get complicated when his coworkers find out about their tryst. Whose story is it, anyway? When? Where?
How basic is your plot, and does it need to be complex to get your main idea across?

Speaking of MAIN IDEAS... Usually, a play has a theme: an overarching idea that can be summarized in a sentence or two. Try to locate the theme of your story before digging in.

How HONEST can you be? An audience looks for a true representation of life on stage: this doesn’t necessarily mean a literal representation (think “Waiting for Godot”): we want real emotion, real conflict, real reaction, real words. If you’re not comfortable yet with your subject matter but it’s really pressing on your brain, try writing stream-of-consciousness, journal entries about it before shaping your play.

Who is your AUDIENCE? You may want to think twice before writing steamy, hot dialogue only to have it wind up for the folks at the nursing home. Where can you envision your play being performed, and who is listening--who do you WANT to listen to it?

What type of STAGE will this work on? Most plays are performed on the proscenium stage, but you may want your action to be seen from all sides (theater-in-the-round), or from three sides (thrust). Try to visualize this if you can, but remember that you can always revise the script later.

How much TIME do you need? Is your play worth 10 minutes (hot new genre!), a one-act, a three-act? How much action and conflict must build and resolve to carry out your idea? What can you cut? You don’t have to know...just try to think about the format once in a while.


C H A L L E N G E # 1: CREATE SOME CONFLICT!

Imagine two characters: “the first character wants something tangible [however significant]... from the second character. The second character wants something intangible (love, forgiveness, adulation) from the first. Be sure that neither character can get what they want, at least not easily.” Give your characters names and try to create a setting (even if its only noted in the stage directions.)

-Stuart Spencer, 2002 (see below for full citation)

Keep your FORMAT simple!!!!! Look at the scripts you’ve read before, or those we’re looking at in class. Every playwright develops her/his own formatting style, but most often, scripts look like this:

MR. SMITH: All doctors are quacks. And all patients too. Only the Royal Navy is honest in England.

MRS. SMITH: But not sailors.

MR. SMITH: Naturally. [A pause. Still reading his paper:] Here’s a thing I don’t understand. In the newspaper they always give the age of deceased persons but never the age of the newly born. That doesn’t make sense.

MRS. SMITH: I never thought of that!

[Another moment of silence. The clock strikes seven times. Silence. The clock strikes three times. Silence. The clock doesn’t strike.]


Characters’ names, even in stage directions, are ALWAYS in CAPS.

Stage directions are always italicized, and often put in square brackets or parenthesis.

Make sure your name is on all of your work!!!


Good luck, and have fun!






Exercise #1 from Stuart Spencer’s Playwright’s Guidebook, Faber & Faber, NY: 2002.

Playwrights' Opportunity: Independent Submarine

Seeking Submissions
Independent Submarine Productions of Cambridge MA is seeking submissions for our festival of original solo performances entitled ONE by ONE (1 X 1).

Independent Submarine is dedicated to presenting offbeat, original, and little-seen works for a general audience. We are especially fond of black comedy and tragic-comedy, drawing from the off-off-Broadway tradition.

Previous productions include Nicky Silver∂s Pterodactyls; The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance; Psycho Beach Party and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom by Charles Busch; an adaptation of David Foster Wallace∂s Brief Interviews With Hideous Men; and Shakespeare∂s Richard III. We have also produced annual festivals celebrating local playwriting talent, notably 2003∂s themed play cycle The Seven Deadly Sins.

Guidelines

€ Material must be original, meaning the writer/performer submitting the work is the author. Preference will be given to performers who have composed their own piece, though submissions from writer/performer teams will be accepted.
€ Performances must be for one single performer.
€ Performance must be between 1 and 20 minutes in length.
€ Please limit or simplify your technical and scenic demands.
€ Actor/Writer must be prepared to rehearse the piece independently in preparation for performance on May 13 or 14 2005. If directorial assistance is needed, Independent Submarine will provide the performer/composer with a director.
€ Theatrical performance of any type is welcome - magic, ventriloquism, dance, performance art, drama, storytelling, etc. Preference will, however, be given to solo plays and monologues. No music or film/video please, unless it∂s placed in the context of a live theatrical presentation.

Please submit the following:
1) Documentation of your piece: a script, a dance score, a video or a VERY DETAILED proposal.
2) A cover letter including your name, mailing address, email address, phone number, a brief description of your piece and your estimated running time.
3) A short bio/resume.

Please note: if you want your materials returned, included a self-addressed stamped envelope with appropriate postage.


Deadline March 15 2005

Selected pieces will be announced via email on March 21 2005.

Send Submissions to:
Independent Submarine Productions
16 Florence Street
Cambridge MA 02139

Questions?
Please email Gregory Moss at
GSM@independentsubmarine.com

Got Character?

It's important to know who you're writing about before or as you're writing. Use this guide to help you round out ("flesh out") your characters.


Character’s Name:
Importance in the Play:

Gender
Age
Place and Year of Birth
Body Type?
Gait? _________________

General appearance (clothing, style)

Accent? Body Language? Gestures?

Safe place

Special possessions

Likes?

Dislikes?

Idiosyncracies?

Education?

Romantic experience?
Work

Past trauma

Present trauma or fear

Secrets?
Desires?

Quotations or important lines, words:


(Snaps to Don Gervich of Cambridge, MA for guidance!--Thanks!)