Part I
Catching the Playwriting Bug
In this part . . .
Youâre here because youâre writing a play, or you have an idea for one, or youâre just plain curious about this art form. Not surprising. Men and women have been writing plays for more than 2,500 years. The idea and act of composing a story and then seeing it enacted by performers for a live audience are seductive and thrilling. Theatre is truly as real as storytelling gets. This first part of the book introduces you to the art and craft of playwriting, explores the sources of play ideas, and provides a glimpse into the life of a playwright.
Chapter 1
Introducing the Art and Craft of Playwriting
In This Chapter
Looking at what playwriting is all about Getting your bearings as a playwright and getting to work Bringing your play to the stage Playwriting is fun. Writing words that become the basis for what actors do and say in the presence of an audience is a heady experience. And fortunately, the enjoyment and satisfaction of writing plays is not reserved for some small, elite cluster of linguistic masterminds.
Anyone can write plays. It doesnât require formal training. But like any other pursuit in life, the more you know about a subject, the quicker youâll catch on and the better youâll be at it. This book is here to help. It provides you, in a straightforward and uncomplicated manner, with the practical knowledge and tools you need to get down to the joy of writing plays, sooner rather than later.
This chapter lets you get your toes wet in the world of playwriting so you can see how you like the water. It also offers you an overview of how this book will help you write and appreciate plays.
Understanding the Nature of the Beast
A playwright has a foot in each of two worlds: the world of art and the world of craft. For playwrights, the dividing line between art and craft is clear. The playwright as an artist conceives of an idea, a story, a statement to be made by the play. And the playwright as craftsman brings together the materials and construction skills to build the platform â the play â from which the idea, story, and statement can effectively reach out to audiences.
In a less metaphorical and more practical vein, a playwright writes plays for theatre. As obvious as that fact is, itâs important to understand that plays and theatre, though inextricably interconnected, are distinct and therefore deserve individual consideration.
The play: A play is a story written in the form of a script containing dialogue (what the characters say) and stage directions (what the characters do physically). A play is intended to be performed by actors in the presence of an audience. Theatre: Theatre is a branch of the performing arts that involves the presentation of a play by performers before a live audience. (Of course, theatre can also refer to the physical structure that the play is performed in.) Unlike the production of a film, theatre doesnât require expensive electronic gear, such as cameras, lights, microphones, sound equipment, and so on. In its most basic form, theatre doesnât require a director, and it doesnât even need the presence of a playwright after the script has been completed. You donât need to be an Einstein to grasp theatreâs fundamental formula: Script + Performer + Audience = Theatre
Glimpsing the Life of a Playwright
The life of a playwright is, in many respects, much like the life of any other artist â it has its ups and downs. Working as a playwright, youâll have moments of artistic pleasure and satisfaction, and youâll also have periods of frustration and disappointment. The work requires persistent hard work, and it rewards you with a sense of fulfillment from a completed project. Youâll find that personal sacrifices have to be made, but youâll get supreme gratification from knowing that your work has made the world richer.
Working as a playwright is exciting and challenging and fascinating. After youâve taken the plunge, thereâs no going back. Iâve heard playwrights at low points grumbling about giving it up and leading a normal life, but Iâve never seen one do it. When theatre gets in your blood, youâll likely find that you donât want to be doing anything else.
The following tips for becoming a successful playwright apply to your day-to-day existence as well as your overall lifestyle. Youâll find some of these practices invigorating and others more mundane, but theyâre all important. Be an attentive observer of people and student of human nature. If you want to create and stage believable characters in a play, you need to watch, listen to, and learn from everyone you come across, and you should be able to make use of what you take in. See and read lots of plays. You can learn a good deal from the successes and failures of others, and you need to know and understand trends and what producers and audiences are looking for. Participate fully in life. By interacting with others and staying active â from tweeting to traveling â you keep the mental shelves well stocked with fresh experiences to draw on. Have a quiet and interruption-free place to work. It can be a bedroom converted to an office or cubicle at your library, whatever works for you. Have the self-discipline to sit yourself down to write, preferably at the same time each day. Some habits are beneficial, and this is one of them. You become a better and productive writer by actually writing. Make a living. The vast majority of artists in any artistic medium need to have a day job. Man (or woman) does not live by art alone (most of us donât, anyway). The following sections pull together all these practices â and then some â to give you an idea of what playwriting is all about and the process you work through to create a play thatâs ready for the stage. Chapter 2 also provides more detail on how to develop as a playwright.
Understanding stage plays
Plays are magic. For a couple of hours, a collection of strangers assembles and sits in the dark to witness other strangers enacting a story. The first group of strangers â the audience â is, without conscious effort or consent, drawn psychologically and emotionally into the story. The audience begins to care what becomes of characters who are played by the actors onstage. As if by hypnotism, audience members lose track of time and forget themselves and their personal concerns for the duration of the play.
Plays have a language thatâs common to playwrights, actors, directors, and other theatre people. This language includes terminology like protagonist (the main character), antagonist (the primary obstacle facing the protagonist), conflict (opposing objectives), spine (story line), inciting incident (the event that gets the plot going), backstory (events that occurred before the play begins), exposition (the gradual revealing of the backstory through dialogue), climax (the final confrontation between the protagonist and antagonist), and more. Use of this specialized vocabulary promotes clarity among theatre p...
