  Drama
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| As we enter the dog days of summer, the thought of going outside becomes less and less appealing. Too bad it's not theater season. Otherwise, going to a play would be a great way to beat the heat. Instead, I'll bring the theater to you...in a sense. How? Well, let's just say Tom Stoppard taught me some crucial tidbits about playwrighting. |
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Five Lessons I Learned from Tom Stoppard
Prior to my modern drama class this past spring, I had never heard of Tom Stoppard. However, once I started reading him, I found myself engrossed with his complex yet entertaining plays. That said, I'd like to share a few things I picked up while studying his work. These lessons are particular to writing stage plays, but in some respects, they can be applied to all forms of writing (either in script form or not).
 Make your settings multitask.
Think about it. The stage play is unique in that it's a form of writing that does not provide much room for detailed settings. While some theater companies will create elaborate sets for some productions, different venues have different characteristics. Likewise, budgets will vary from company to company. Thus, creating settings with specific details (like replicas of luxury cars) is impractical on many different levels. Another thing to consider is time. If you have multiple settings, how long between scenes will it take to change out the props? While theater techs have experience in moving in a stealthy manner to make efficient scene changes, there's only so much time that elapses before the play starts to drag. Stoppard worked with all these obstacles by creating settings using props and locations that can carry out over multiple consecutive scenes.
Play on words by playing with your words.
Ultimately, the dialogue in the play is paramount. When a play is simply being read by anyone, the dialogue provides the bulk of the insight into the characters and the plotline. Since dialogue is doing double duty anyway, you might as well tinker with double meanings and other clever ways to use words. This is one of those times when using smaller words and shorter sentences can lead to a bigger impact on the development and progression of the play.
Yes, it is possible to integrate subplots in modern drama.
Three of the plays I read told two interconnected stories at once, and to separate each plot thread would be the best way to ruin those plays. This point actually refers back to the first lesson in some ways. Stoppard would use the same place (i.e. a mansion) in two different periods of time. Are there other ways to weave a plot and subplot into a play? Sure, there are! The key is to not make either one to intricate no matter how you choose to have the characters carry it out. Indeed, Stoppard starts out with relatively simple quests (such as starting to research a given topic), and the stories twist together from there.
It never hurts to have main characters who are ahead of their time in a play.
Besides the fact that these characters tend to be open to the most conflict, they can be easier for creating empathy from the modern audience. These characters also offer insight in regards to the time in which the play (or part of it) is set. I have noticed that this works more seamlessly in plays that take place in an era well removed from the contemporary world. That's not to say that these types of characters cannot be written into plays that are set in contemporary times. There's just a better chance of such a character creating friction with the audience. In the long run, such a character would garner sympathy from the audience. I say the decision is up to you. No matter when you set the action, though, do a little research to find out what kinds of attributes would make your character seem ahead of his or her time.
Don't be afraid to tackle seemingly complex topics in your plays.
Granted, being able to seamlessly blend math and love into a play takes some time to perfect. However, it's not impossible. One reason modern drama writers can pull it off is education levels. Those who go to see plays generally have been through enough schooling to at least follow some of these more advanced concepts. You could argue this point when it comes to musicals, but stage plays in general attract a more cultured audience, especially in the era of movie madness. Keep in mind, though, that if you integrate complex topics in a play, the wrong method for exploring them can cause the play to dissolve into an esoteric and incomprehensible mess. The moral of the story? Don't take these concepts too seriously. I would suggest exploring them through the characters and even the setting. After all, in Arcadia, heaven forbid a 13 year old girl in 1803 England be a math prodigy! But yes, these perhaps unusual combinations of topics and plot lines are certainly possible and can provide great entertainment in the process. The key is to not get too carried away with them.
See? Taking literature courses isn't as bad for writing as some people might say it is. It's just all about how you look at the works in question. And by the way, you really should give Stoppard a read. I found that reading the actual plays was actually quite enjoyable (especially right after reading Tennessee Williams). Here's my personal Stoppard pick.
| ASIN: 0571197515 |
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Amazon's Price: $ 33.95
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Of the plays, I read Arcadia and Indian Ink. Both are wonderful plays, but if I had to chose, I'd go with Indian Ink. On that note, happy playwrighting!
Until next time,
(sig by me) |
Here are some stage plays for you to enjoy. Yes, such writings do exist on Writing.com. 
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And the inbox falls quiet! Well, there are a couple reader comments I'd like to sahre with you. Hopefully I'll hear from more of you next week.
From likenion: Lovely newsletter as a conclusion to the topic I suppose! This time you give the mix of everything you have written in the last 2 newsletters and again it is very well done!
Thank you for the advise and I might just see how to do 1st person myself or learn to do that master trick of switching thousands of view points for my novel, although I doubt I will gave a good product in the end. Anyways, awesome newsletter!
Actually, you never know what kind of product you will have when you finish writing a piece. For that matter, you sometimes don't even know while you're writing the piece.  That said, thank you for your comments about my newsletters. I wish you luck in your point of view endeavors!
From rjello76: I apologize, this is a bit late, but here are my own quick examples refering to each of the First Person Perspectives as listed in your Newsletter. I looking forward to making Exercises out of all your subjects brought up in your Newsletters.
Thank you.
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And I apologize for just finding this!  No seriously, I'm glad you brought this to my attention. It is a very helpful tool for all of us. I'll probably still make some examples myself, but who says only one person can create these sorts of helpful guides?
The next issue will continue my stage play tangent. This time around, I'll be discussing some ways to make posting your stage plays on the site an easier task. Likewise, I'd like to hear from you the readers about your experiences with writing plays. Don't worry. I just might share mine as well. 
And if you happen to miss or misplace a newsletter, feel free to stop by "The Drama Box" [13+] |
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Drama: July 25, 2007 Issue [#1852]
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