10 Minute Play

AGENDA:

Devote yourself to writing as much as you can on your 10 minute play!

Young Writers Showcase

Showcase Date: Saturday, May 5, 2018
Submission Deadline: Thursday, March 1, 2018
Selected Writers Notified By: Monday, April 9, 2018

We want YOU to write a play for us!

Geva Theatre Center invites aspiring playwrights from the Greater Rochester area, ages 13-18, to submit short plays for consideration for the Young Writers Showcase. We recommend submitting plays of no more than 10 pages and with no more than eight characters.

Script-in-hand concert readings will take place Saturday, May 5, 2018 in Geva’s Fielding Stage. Writers will attend rehearsals of their work in the morning before the 3pm performance, which is free and open to the public.

Submission requirements:

• Include clear contact information on the script, including name, address and phone number.
• Include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for return of the script if submitted in hard copy.
• Each submitted play must have only one author. Unfortunately, group projects cannot be considered for the Showcase.

Scripts may be submitted by mail or by hand delivery to:

Young Writers Showcase
Geva Theatre Center
75 Woodbury Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14607
Submissions may also be sent electronically to youngwriters@gevatheatre.org.

For more information, contact Jean Gordon Ryon at (585) 420-2034 or youngwriters@gevatheatre.org.

The Philadelphia--David Ives

AGENDA:

Read "The Philadelphia" by David Ives

Work on 10 minute play

https://pwcenter.org/playwriting-toolkit/how-write-10-minute-play

https://adirajan.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/a-10-minute-play-a-staged-script-writing-activity/

https://nickpalmerwriter.com/2012/04/18/how-to-write-a-ten-minute-play/

http://www.lucyflint.com/blog-1/50-plot-ideas

Formatting for 10 minute play

THE STANDARD STAGE PLAY FORMAT What follows is a guide to “professional” stage play script formatting. These pages are an explanation of the standard stage play format. See the Example Pages for visual examples of the format. There are three reasons why playwrights use this format: 1) In this format, it is easy for a producer/script reader to estimate how long the running time of the script will be. The accepted format lays out the script at roughly one minute per page. 2) This standard format is optimized to make all the separate elements of the script easy to read and comprehend (character names, dialogue, stage directions, page numbering, etc.). 3) This standard format immediately tells a producer/script reader that the playwright knows something about submitting plays. “How good could the play be if the playwright doesn’t even know the basics of formatting?” they will ask. Unfair, yes... but the way your script looks is the first impression you make.

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/stageus.pdf

Durang/Ives plays

AGENDA:

Work on monologues

Videos: Durang plays.  View videos and post a comment about the play.

'dentity crisis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWZ5Tv6q3Hg

The Actor's Nightmare
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXmTNA5TzRQ

The Funeral Parlor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfDyTUiL8xs

David Ives "Sure Thing":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NJhaj1nNqs

Play readings/continue w/ Monologue

AGENDA:

1. Read "Playwriting 101"  "Sure Thing" "Role of Della"  2/1/2018

2. READ: "The Stronger" (Strindberg) 

GET CHRISTOPHER DURANG plays from library
 "DMV Tyrant" "Funeral Parlor"   (Durang)

WRITING:  Continue to work on monologue

Monologues/Talking With

Exercise: The Monologue

ONE: Dealing with the Past

It is a common practice with monologues that a character relates a past story in order to illuminate something that is currently happening the plot of the play.

The problem with these types of monologues is when a character says, "I remember." "I remember" creates an insular experience; it's something that only happened to the character and it's difficult for the audience to share in the event. The audience doesn't remember.

Another problem with past monologues is the use of the past tense. When something has happened in the past, it's over, it's done. Using the present tense is much more alive and active.

EXERCISE

1. Write a monologue where the first line is 'I remember when...' and uses the past tense. Have a character talk about a childhood memory that has significant impact on how they are today.
2. Re-write the monologue, taking out all mentions of 'remembering.' Just tell the story.
3. Re-write the monologue in the present tense.
4. Read aloud the first version and then the third. Discuss the differences.

TWO: Making the Story Count

If a character tells a story in a monologue - "I went to the grocery store and THIS JUST HAPPENED," there has to be something besides the base story going on for the audience. There has to be more. The story has to show something: a character flaw, a plot point we didn't know, a lie, a romance, and so on.

EXERCISE

1. Write a monologue where the character tells a story about going to a parade.
2. Re-write the monologue so that by telling the story, the audience sees the character is a liar.
3. Re-write the monologue so that by telling the story, the audience sees the character is heartbroken.
4. Re-write the monologue so that by telling the story, the audience sees the character is in love.

THREE: The Need to Speak

In every monologue a character must 'need to speak.' Otherwise, why is the monologue there? In every monologue you write, you must determine the need for the character to speak. What drives the character? Is there anything that stands in the way of the character's need to speak? The character doesn't necessarily have to succeed with what they need. Maybe they're too afraid, or they change their mind, or there's something stopping them. Obstacles are good! But start with the need and then see what happens.

EXERCISE

Choose one of the following needs. What kind of character would have that need? Give them a name, an age, and a physical appearance. Who are they talking to? Who is the listener? What is the relationship? Decide if your character will succeed or fail with their need. Now write the monologue.

1. The character needs to reveal a secret to the listener.
2. The character needs to prove something to the listener.
3. The character needs to reveal they love the listener.
4. The character needs to reveal they hate the listener.
5. The character needs to stand up to the listener.

This is not poem

AGENDA:

Handout: This is not

ACTIVITY:  This is not drawing

Example:

A Singular Mind's Creation

This is not really an attempt to say what anything is

by trying to describe what it is not for it is not

a representation of a thing and yet it is a thing,

a drawing which IS a thing but a drawing

need not BE OF a thing.

It is not just a three dimensional object reduced to two dimensions-

lines, circling, slashing across a large piece of paper

blue ink spilling across a blank space,

some THING emerging out of NO-THING.

It is not a singular mind’s creation—abstract or concrete—

and while it was intended to be collaborative, it is not

a collaborative work of art.

It is not a flame, a game, or the name of anything.

It cannot be defined, cannot be explained, cannot be found

In our words.  Like the attempt to write a poem—

it is not solid and cannot be grasped in its entirety.

Piecemeal, partial, it invites us.