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Will Cab
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| Location: | Maine USA |
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Posted: Sat May 9th, 2009 10:24 am |
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I hope this is the right place to post this.
See, I belong in a newly established theatre company. I have written three original plays that have already been staged, and a couple of those have been invited to various theatre festivals.
Last week, I received an email from our artistic director telling me to hold a four-day wrihting workshop for our new members interested in taking the path of a writer. I was, like, FOUR DAYS?
I have a syllabus in mind now, but I fear that it may not be enough for a four-day session.
This is my first time using my skills to teach our budding members, so I would appreciate it if there are any suggestions for what my lessons should be, what exercises I could give (fun ones!), and all that jazz.
By the way, the members range from high school students to college ones.
Thanks a lot.
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bkahnnyc
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Posted: Mon May 11th, 2009 08:29 am |
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I have coached playwrights for a number of years, so here are my suggestions (only suggestions, of course).
The instructor/facilitator is just that--the main work should be done by the participants, meaning they should be writing.
You could divide the workshop into various elements of a play, i.e., creating characters, developing relationships, creating place, and most importantly, finding the conflict in your work. Let them give their thoughts on the various topics, then give them exercises that will achieve the various elements. Be sure to have a time limit for each. When everyone is finished, their work can be read aloud, with comments by the others on whether or not they were successful and why or why not. One pet peeve of mine is people who comment on what I write about during script development. I believe that content is the sole decision of the playwright and comments ought to be restricted to discussing the craft of writing.
People new to playwriting often remark that they don't know what to write about and ask how I get my ideas. I basically treat writing much like actors' improvs--creating characters, putting them in a situation and letting them talk to each other while I write down what they say. You might want to have some suggestions for anyone who may not know what characters to write about or what the situation could be. These could range from autobiographical to writng the prequel or sequel to a well known play or movie.
Hope this helps
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nic
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Posted: Mon May 11th, 2009 11:16 pm |
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Something I've seen work and which I used to surprisingly good effect with a group of high school students is to gather a collection of photos, preferably ones with at least three characters in them and no well known personalities. Set them out and let people have a look and then ask them to choose the one that most appeals to them and to tell the story of what is happening in the photo.... take it further and weave a story around each of the characters in the picture.... you might be surprised with what happens. Students will pick up on tiny items of dress and build an entire character around that one item. If nothing else it's a great exercise in observing.
Something else that might help. I took my grand daughter to Canberra at the weekend to see a production of the Alchemist ( Marvelous) We had lunch in a plaza before the show and I set her the task of telling me what people were going to do by the way they were walking. Great fun! You suddenly focus on the woman obviously unused to wearing high heels and not knowing how to hurry in them,... why is she wearing high heels? What is she late for?
Hope it helps The best Nic
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in media res
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Posted: Tue May 12th, 2009 02:26 pm |
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One thing I would suggest to add the solid suggestions you have already received is: Don't worry about getting anywhere with this. Let it be what it will be. Each of the student's creativity will be sparked in their own way in their own time no matter what you suggest to them in four days. Some will be more adept at plot, others at characterization, others will be able to write terrific dialogue but it won't promote a story with dramatic action or even tension. Some may be brilliant and recognize and can make a story out of brushing one's teeth.
I would concentrate on writing good scenes with conflict rather than having the expectation of writing an entire play.
I say this to take the pressure off of your own expectations.
Barbara is correct when she states it is about them writing and their writing. And having "time limits" is a great suggestion as well.
The most important goal is to get them to put pen to paper in order to get them in the habit. (Or fingers to the keyboard!) But one of my teachers believed one should use a pen or pencil as there is an energy that flows through the body and connects one to the paper. She had nothing against computers, just not in her workshop.
One other thing; do not let other students criticize other student's work at this early stage. That could be a major murder of their creativity. Make sure you keep the workshop on your track. And if you give them all the same concept/scenario to write they will see how varied the stories will be when they hear the other work read.
Another: let them read their own work out loud. Reading their own work out loud gives them a sense of their own rhythm.
Have a great time. When is it? Let us know how it goes.
best,
in media resLast edited on Tue May 12th, 2009 09:18 pm by in media res
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