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- Reading responses must be AT LEAST 200 words.
- Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
- From the "Comment As" drop-down menu, choose Anonymous, then click "Publish."
- Reading responses are due by midnight on the night PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading.
In the chapter of writing short ten-minute plays, I grew more nervous the more I learned. To me I knew just about as much a writing a play as much as I knew about writing a masterpiece of a novel or master painting. It seemed so out of my league, perhaps that is due to me learning that some of the playwrighter’s skills grew so much that some went on to wright plays on Broadway. But as I continued reading I began to see the beauty in it, how everything mattered, every word, every prop, every character, settings, actions. All of it mattered, and only in a play that is live can this be done. To my own knowledge my weakness when coming up with my own no doubt will be the middle, introducing the characters will be so much fun, but it would be keeping the tension of the constant need to reach the goal and constant blocking of the obstacles that will be my weakness. In reading the plays within the chapter opened my eyes to how minimal a play can be, and yet it is that minimalism that can really make the play itself standout so much. Much like how in Sure Thing all there is on the stage is just two chairs, a table, two actors, spotlights, a ringing bell, and real dialogue and situations that the audience can relate to. Or even in The Divine Fallacy the climax is not in the middle, but right at the end of the play. And how effective it is, showing how Dorothy’s beauty shown through and Victor saw it just for a moment. And a character breakdown, a small comfort, and then end. I have to say that this play was my personal favorite, I can’t explain why as of yet, but it is. Perhaps it is due to the simplicity, how I can relate and find comfort in both Dorothy and Victor, how their story is short but bittersweet. Plays like that really speak to me, perhaps that is why I enjoy slice of life stories, one can find solace in the story of another that they can relate to.
ReplyDeleteBy David Rodriguez
This week’s reading gave me more insight as to what writing a play entails. A writer is expected to make the most of just a few words. I know that my biggest struggle is keeping to assigned word limits. I don’t go over by a few words, I got over by at least 100. I love drawing attention so the more I read, the more nervous I felt. After reading ‘Sure Thing’ by David Ives, I realized that minimal language can have the same impact as excessive language. You just got to choose your words carefully. In ‘Trying to Find Chinatown’ by David Henry Hwang, Hwang uses his dialogue to his full advantage. Through the dialogue, I understood who the characters were, what they looked, where they came from, and their personal belief. I didn’t need any fancy descriptions to understand. Tina Howe does something similar in ‘The Divine Fallacy,’ where she describes the simple beauty of her protagonist through her male protagonist. She didn’t have to give the reader the character’s entire backstory for me feel the power of her words. Sometimes simple is better. I look forward to implementing simplicity in my future works.
ReplyDeleteKayla Garza
Before reading “Writing the Ten-Minute Play” I didn’t really care too much about what it took to construct a play, but after reading, I began to develop an appreciation for the craft. One thing that I found interesting from the reading was how different a play is from a screen play. Yes, I knew they were different, but I didn’t know that watching movies wasn’t good training for playwrights. I didn’t think there was much of a big difference between the two, but there is. For instance, I never took into thought that in a screenplay, actors can easily redo a movie scene when they mess up, but actors in a play cannot. Moreover, another thing that I found interesting was how a playwright has to construct believable characters. I knew, that playwrights had to create characters, but I didn’t think they had to put too much thought into their characters in order to create a good play. However, now that I look back on the time when I took a Shakespeare course last semester, one of the elements that I really enjoyed were the characters and how they were relatable. I also enjoyed how Shakespeare was able to make me ponder about life even more, and this stays true to the quote made on page 234 when the narrator says that “one aspect of playwrighting is simply the process of getting down on paper the things we already know about human nature.”
ReplyDeleteJulissa Balderas
I will say that the stories are none that I am familiar with as in style for any of the three stories. They each caught my attention. “Sure Thing” by David Ives has a lot of repetitiveness which made it a bit difficult to understand but the exchanges established a rhythm which made the play simple and complex. I noticed that there was not extra dialogue, nothing unnecessary, it was straight to the point. The second play "Trying to Find Chinatown", was very confusing to me and I also didn't enjoy reading the script. The characters Ronnie and Benjamin are on this journey whose personalities are complete opposites. Ronnie is rude and blunt which bring a lot of comedy to the play. In the last play, "The Divine Fallacy", I didn't understand what was going on. It is obvious how Dorothy is perceived as non-important compared to her siblings, but towards the end she is suddenly seen as beautiful. I was confused because I thought Victor Hugo was finally seeing her as physically beautiful but, In the end, I feel that Victor was finally noticing her inner beauty. All three plays showed perfect examples of ten-minute plays. After reading Starkey’s chapter, I was overwhelmed because I find it difficult to express so much, having enough imagery, dialogue etc., within a limited word count or time frame. This chapter was very helpful to those interesting in writing plays.
ReplyDeleteMarissa Sanchez
I quite enjoy plays, as I am very passionate about theater. They bring a sense of joy and other-worldliness to art of writing, as plays are the only form of creative writing that can manipulate the body into preforming it's descriptive actions while allowing the performer to bring their own ideas within the story. "Sure Thing" by David Ives is a masterclass in rhythmic writing. What's wonderful about plays is that the words they use follow a specific rhythm so you can feel the urgency and emotion of the words, and the complexity of it added to the experience. It was very succinct. "Trying to Find Chinatown" was a read I really enjoyed. As an Asian American, it was really nice to see the debate of my culture and ancestry personified in these two characters. As a student of classical and jazz, I related to Ronnie, but I understood both's argument on heritage. The two characters can be a little annoying in their own rights, as they can tend to bloviate about certain aspects, but there definitely is meaning in what they are saying, and both make valid points. "The Divine Fallacy" finds it's beauty in it's simplicity. And beauty is the right word to use here, as Victor Hugo finally sees the beauty inside Dorothy, and that overall makes her beautiful.
ReplyDeletePadini Paolo Santiago