Performance WritingENGL2546A15F

Classes 17 – 23

Tuesday/ThursdayNovember 10 to 23, 2015

Class #17 - November 10Introduction

I. Writing methodsII. Expectations

Writing Methods

A. “Monk’s Cell” (My term)B. ImprovisationC. Devised TheatreD. Collaborative TheatreE. DocudramaF. Playback

Methods - A. “Monk’s Cell”

• Playwright cloisters self• Does most of the research• Does most of the writing• Will eventually take play for workshopping• Unified vision easier, but• Input of others nay come too latee.g., most plays written before 1950 (Shakespeare excepted) See: The Message Machine

Methods - B. Improvisation

• Groupwork (normally)• Lines made up as you go• Requires recorder and eventually• A facilitator• Advantage - encourages creativity, group

interaction, and receptivitye.g., Facilitator gives group situation, characters, and scene. Actors work out scene with no rehearsal.Handout: “factory”

Methods - C. Devised Theatre

• Actors join to create play • Based on improvisation and research• Director required• Dramaturg likely required• E.g., Work by Ping Chong

Congo’s Pain, Told by Those Who Lived It

From left, Cyprien Mihigo, Beatrice Neema, Emmanuel Ndeze, Kambale Syaghuswa and Mona de Vestel in “Cry for Peace: Voices From the Congo,” in front of an image of Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Credit Jamie Young/Arts Engage, Syracuse University)

Methods - D. Collaborative

• Group effort• Based largely on improvisation• Actors, artists, sculptors, trades people, others• All work towards a common goal - expression

through all the arts, crafts and trades• Director and Dramaturg needed• Advantages – creativity expanded beyond the

written word

Methods - E. Docudrama

• Writer/Actors research real-life events (gather information/data)

• Meet to discuss findings and select pertinent pieces.

• Improvise and write scenes and units• Director and Dramaturg required• See next panel

The Laramie Project, a play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the reaction to the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming.( Wikipedia)

Methods - F. Playback

• Try to understand the informants• Recreate the events through improvisation for the

informants• Receive feedback from them• Related to psychodrama in that it helps people

understand the things that are bothering them

How It’s Used• Playback theatre, based on the stories of audience members

enacted on the spot, promotes the right for any voice to be heard, brings group concerns to the surface, and stimulates a dialogue by making different perspectives visible. The method is extremely flexible, since there is no set play, and can adapt to the needs of many kinds of groups and organizations.

• Playback theatre is used in schools, private sector organizations, non-profit organizations, prisons, hospice centres, day treatment centres, at conferences of all kinds, and colleges and universities.

• Playback theatre has also been used in the following fields: transitional justice, human rights, refugees and immigrants, disaster recovery, climate change, birthdays and weddings, and conferences.

Assignment

Write a one-act play or a screenplay.Schedule: Tuesday, November 17, 2015: Draft in-class reading, and revisions in groupsThursday, November 19: Copies for in-class rehearsals (In Auditorium)Tuesday, November 24 and Thursday, November 26“Performances” in the auditorium

Suggestions

• Focus on Motivation• Focus on Objects• Focus on Action• Focus on Conflict• Focus on Characters Checklist and

Iron Triangle

Format

• One act (complete) with 1 to 3 scenes• Minimum characters (suggest 3 maximum)• 2 to 4 pages. May be longer.• See: Death Takes the Train• For a template for formatting stage plays, click here. (in .pdf form)

Plotting

How do you know it’s good?

Let’s get started!Improvisation - Factory

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