To write a play
What do you need to start a play?
This can’t have a right answer.
I’m trying to sort out my ingredients before writing a first draft of some thing I’m thinking about. I’m prevaricating.
It could mean I’m not ready. Or a bit lazy. Or it’s part of my process.
So, I decided to pontificate more and see if I had enough ingredients.
All you probably need is character. Perhaps just one. Some would argue for a “theme”.
Craig Mazin argues
1. The theme.
2. The plot.
3. The characters and their arcs.
4. The key sequences and their purpose within the plot and theme.
5. The temporal structure of the story (what happens when and how far along).
are the ingredients needed.
Someone argued to me, all you need is emotional beats and arcs. Quite how you get them without everything else, I’m not sure.
Some times I have a key image or phrase.
Anyone have any key ingredients for them?
comments
3 Responses to “To write a play”
-
About me
I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.
-
Recent Work
Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).
-
Nakamitsu
-
-
Yellow Gentlemen
-
I’d like to write a play but am a little bit shy of the form, especially as I’m knee deep in screenplays every day. They’re similar, I know, but I wouldn’t want to write a play that was a screenplay in disguise. So all tips welcome. Sorry, not a helpful comment…
Danny,
The structure of stageplays vs screen plays are very similar. Both stories in performance.
However, I’m beginning to think the stories they serve best may be a bit different. The greatest told stories survive well in both mediums but man vs. society/world are perhaps better in movies but man vs man/himself are good for theatre. Theatre does man vs. himself/man as a symbol for society very well eg Death of a Salesman as opposed to The Untouchables (man/men vs mafia society)
You can have soliloquies in plays that you can’t really have in movies so easily but then you can’t have as much visual story telling to distract from weak dialogue or action. You can also talk to the audience and make use of the “live” aspect.
So, if you find yourself with a very man vs man story perhaps you should think of a stage play. The outline would be very similar but any visual devices will have to be replaced with theatrical or image devices…
Hi!
I’m anew writer. This is not a comment, but a question.
Whats those numbers they use on film script front of lines. Does it have to do with the scene numbers? Why they use clip board or slate the scenes?
Thanks
dario.