Class Nine: June 27th. Staged Readings.

Party time!
Let's have a BBQ/Party/Play reading to celebrate the completion of the play writing course (part of Marla's Gala Studios). We have brand new 15-minute plays and you, actors, jump in, grab a script, and do the reading!!!! The graduate writers will be there for your feedback.

Date: Wednesday June 27th, starting from 6pm when the grill will be on. Have your dinner here. I'll supply salad, breads, and some meat, plus relishes, sauces, etc. The rest will be Pot Luck for booze and food. We should perform the plays around 7:30pm, by which time most folks should be here.



What an event! The full moon rose as the sun set. Thirty or so partygoers thronged house and garden with food and wine, then settled down for the staged readings from the front porch of our home. The actors did amazingly well bringing the plays to life to the delight of the crowd.



Quite charming!

Now we will have to hold an annual Summer Party for Writers, Actors and Teachers!

Class Eight: June 20th

Group discussion

• Review of the past week. Stages show. We covered FIVE shows!!
• Writing, reading, plays, movies, etc.
• Long Beach Playhouse - June 23rd, 2-5pm - includes discussion
• Full details at Long Beach Playhouse - New Works

The development process

• Work alone
• Peer share and review - re-write
• The table reading (review, re-write)
• The staged reading (review - fix)
• The workshop production (review - fix)
• Full production

How to get produced

• Tips and suggestions

The writer's role in the production process

• Generally recognized dos and don'ts

Script workshop

• We did a detailed walk-through of the peer review/editing process picking up on: grammar, style, contractions, removal of redundancy and exposition, content of stage directions, etc.

Discussion of personal goals and aspirations

Class Seven: June 13th

Group discussion

• Review of the past week. Stages show.
• Writing, reading, plays, movies, etc.
• Long Beach Playhouse - June 23rd, 2-5pm - includes discussion
• Full details at Long Beach Playhouse - New Works

Subtext Exercise (from last time)

• Write a ten-line dialogue using subtext somewhere in the story.
• Write another 10 line dialogue where the subtext is also in the stage directions - ie, in what the character does.

Student scripts workshop

• Read and evaluate in depth. (We only support, suggest, encourage; never disparage.)
• Is this ready for the stage? Questions to ask.

The Contract with the Audience

• Discussion on what an audience has a right to expect at the theatre. Brainstorm a list.

More on Character

• How actors study your characters:
• Externally - age, physical and vocal mannerisms, overall appearance, names, where they fit in the environment: time, place, education, socio-economic, political, religious. Action - what do they DO?
• How the character describes himself; how other characters describe him. (It's more fun if these differ!) Illus: Cyrano's nose, swordsmanship and heroic qualities.
• Internally - self image; wants and needs; motivations. Plans and goals. Abilities and expectations. Strengths. Flaws and weaknesses.

The Role of the Antagonist

• Antagonist contributes to the play's action
• Must be a worth opponent
• Makes other characters more dimensional
• The antagonist within the protagonist - also exteriorized

Homework
Complete re-writes of your 10 minutes play
Read a play and introduce it to the class

Class Six: June 6th

Group discussion
Review of the past week. Writing, reading, plays, movies, etc.
Technical problems: Formatting, attachments, etc.

Passion, Form and Content

• Aristotle revisited: is he in or is he out?
• Content - a story with something to say.
• The Form becomes the structure, better, organization, for the story

Stage Directions and Parentheticals

• Some suggested dos and don'ts
• Some directors delete all directions, or do not read them. They want free artistic license. Hmm.
• Try not to tell the actor how to act.
• Stick to things the audience will see. Do not give content information in the direction that can not be seen or heard by the audience: ie - how the character is feeling or thinking; that he has died; or what the scene means.
• Must it all be in the text?
• What are wrylys?
• What about pauses and beats?

The skills of mutual criticism

• Discuss what these might be. List.

Student scripts workshop
Wow! We dug into some amazing writing tonight! Great job, guys!

Exercise

• Write a ten-line dialogue using subtext somewhere in the story.
• Write another 10 line dialogue where the subtext is also in the stage directions - ie, in what the character does.

Targets for next week

• Completed 10 minute plays (- ready for revision!)
• Some creative writing
• Read a play and be prepared to introduce it to the class

Play study guides

As promised - here is the link to the Grade Saver Study Guides where you can quickly hone up on the plots and characters scores of plays.

If you don't have time to read the play in full, at least get a competent analysis! I like them.

Class Five: May 29th

Group discussion
Review of the past week. Writing, reading, plays, movies, etc.

Dialogue and language

• Stylistic pitfalls to avoid
• Exposition (and how to get away with it!)
• Writing for action, not merely discussion
• How to get a character's voice
  Stems from character bio; make mental comparisons;listening, reading, speaking the text aloud
• Illustrations from Shakespeare - it's all in the text!
  Is this a dagger?
  
• Subtext, what's buried between the lines
• Exercises on subtext
  Click this link to get the document: Subtext exercises

Workshop on student Ten Minute Plays

Suggested Homework
Write your play to the climax; then stop. Outline the remainder of the play.

Class Four: May 24th

Group discussion
Review of the past week. Writing, reading, plays, movies, etc.
Check on playwright habits
The craft of play writing is re-writing. Get it down; review; re-write, How does this relate to inspirational writing? Inspiration is fleeting. By all means get it down; but when it’s passed, the graft begins.How to get the muse talking.

Review preparation for 10 minute plays
Write brief character bios, with single adjective, and driving passion.
Identify Protagonist/antagonists.
Summarize the plot (story) in one paragraph. Include the inciting incident, rising action, climax and resolution.
Max 3 words - what is the theme?
That this work is the basis also of nay full length play.

Exercise
Ten minute play. Write the Time, Place and Setting of your play.

Character and conflict: rules and reasons
Concentric circles of conflict. Illustrations from Death of a Salesman
The end of the main conflict is the climax of the play (or false climax). Illustrate from Romeo and Juliet.
How the arc completes (R&J again)
Tricks and misdirection add to the fun. These are twists and turn of the plot. (Hamlet)

More about planning a play
Summarize your scenes.
Say what happens in each scene and how the action moves forward. How does the status at the end of the scene differ from the start? Have you fulfilled the scene object
What are plot points? Each scene ends with a plot point.

The heart of the matter - Clothing the summary with words
Have you met the scene objectives?
What if it changes mid scene?

Homework
Write the first 4 pages of your 10 minute play, with Time, Place and Setting

Set the meeting for next week