Tma 101, Lesson 3, The Playwright

Front 1

1. What is the great paradox of theatrical creation? Explain this in detail.
H: Playwright

Back 1

The great paradox of theatrical creation: the playwright is both the most central and the most peripheral figure in the theatrical event

Front 2

2. What is the paradox of theater?

Back 2

The great paradox of theater: the playwright is the most central player of the operation, and yet he is also the most outlier member of the organization.

Front 3

3. Why is the playwright important?

Back 3

Playwright is crucial, he provides the script. Without it, there would be no play.

Front 4

4. What kind of artist is a playwright?

Back 4

A playwright is an independent artist because he produces his work, like that of a novelist or poet, is executed in isolation.

Front 5

5. What is the most important characteristic of a playwright, and why?

Back 5

Independence is a crucial characteristic. He must seek life from his own life, and not the company he works for.

Front 6

6. What does a playwright strive for?

Back 6

The playwright strives to give life to a unique vision, to create material that transcends what has gone before, both in writing and in performance.

Front 7

7. Why aren’t conventional techniques not enough to make a great playwright?
H: Expanding lives.

Back 7

We look to the theatre for a measure of leadership, for personal enlightenment derived from another’s experience, for fresh perspectives, new visions. Therefore, mastery of conventional techniques will not suffice to enable the playwright to expand our lives.

Hint 7

Playwrights must be able to change our lives, demanding new views & unique life experiences, something textbooks cannot provide.

Front 8

8. The author believes that we are all beginning playwrights, what example does he use to support his claim?

Back 8

As dreamers, we are only beginning playwrights. The situations and characters of our dreams are our own creations. What happens next is the subject of the rest of this chapter.

Front 9

9. Who is a playwright?

Back 9

Is someone who makes plays.

Front 10

10. How is playwriting not a literary activity?

Back 10

Writing for theater entails considerations that are not part of other literary ventures.

Front 11

11. How is “drama” a distinctive branch of literature?
H: More than a few things ______ plus lighting, metaphors, costumes, music

Back 11

Drama does use some literary devices: allusion, poetic imagery, metaphor, but it is more than just words on a page. It is the amalgamated product of numerous element in the theatrical medium: movement, scene, speech, costume, staging, music, spectacle, and silence. A written script is merely the blueprint, it is not the final product.

Front 12

12. What is the “core” of the play?

Back 12

It is “action.”

Front 13

13. The inner ________ of a play is never a series of abstract ___________ or a collage of descriptions and moralizing, it is an ordering of observable and __________ events.

Back 13

The inner structure of a play is never a series of abstract observations or a collage of descriptions and moralizing, it is an ordering of observable and dramatizable events.

Front 14

14. What are the two tools, which are externals of human behavior, that a playwright works with?

Back 14

Dialogue & physical action.

Front 15

15. What is “plot?”

Back 15

Plot is the series of connected events within a play that provide insights about play's biology.

Front 16

16. A play can never be _______ if the playwright has not produced an _______, or a _____ of _______, crafted to be _______ on stage.

Back 16

A play can never be conceived if the playwright has not produced an event, or a series of events, crafted to be displayed on stage.

Front 17

17. Realistic theater consists of dramatic events mirroring lifelike progression in time and experience. In this genre, the events of the play follow what two characteristics?
H: time-line & reaction

Back 17

In Realistic theater, the events of the play follow a strict chronology, and the follow a cause-effect continuity.

Front 18

18. Although nonlinear and discontinuous plays can deliver dramatic results, its success depends on what?
H: They are watching.

Back 18

The audience's ability to make sense of the play in a meaningful and satisfying fashion.

Front 19

19. What are the qualities that make a fine play?
H: Incredible

Back 19

Credibility & intrigue.

Front 20

20. What is “credibility,” in terms of quality of a play? Why is it important?

Back 20

Credibility is the audience's demand for a logical and coherent flow. Therefore, what happens in Act 2 makes sense in terms of what happened in Act 1. It is a contract between author and audience, where the audience agrees to view the characters as “people” as long as the author agrees not to shatter that belief in order to accomplish other purposes.

Front 21

21. What is “intrigue,” in terms of quality of a play? Why is it important?

Back 21

Intrigue is the quality that makes us curious. It makes us wonder about what will take place around the corner, maintaining a “hanging” feeling that nurtures suspense.

Front 22

22. Why are “intrigue” & “credibility” important to a play?

Back 22

In the best of plays, the two maintain a fine tension of opposites. Intrigue demands surprise. Credibility demands consistency.

Front 23

23. What is “speakability,” & why is it important?

Back 23

Speakability means that a line of dialogue should is written in a way that it achieves maximum impact when spoken. To accomplish this, the playwright must be closely attuned to the audible shape of dialogue: the rhythm of sound that creates emphasis, meaning, focus, and power.

Front 24

24. For effective speakability, the character must also be fully considered. Why is this the case?

Back 24

Speakability also requires that the spoken line appear to realistically emanate from the character who utters it and that it contain — in its syntax, vocabulary, and mode of expression — the marks of that character’s milieu and his or her personality.

Front 25

25. What is one of the most common faults of beginning playwrights?

Back 25

Their lines lack speakability.

Front 26

26. How do “intrigue” and “credibility” interact to produce great plays?

Back 26

Intrigue draws us into the world of a play. Credibility keeps us there. In the best plays the two are sustained in a fine tension of opposites: intrigue demanding surprise, credibility demanding consistency.

Front 27

27. What is Stageability? Why is it important? & How do you achieve this?
H: Dialogue & mix of elements.

Back 27

The dialogue must be written in a manner that it is delivered effectively on stage. Thus, it must be conceived in relation to external elements of production, must be a case where setting, physical acting, and verbal communication are intertwined.

Front 28

28. What is the goal of a dramatist when it comes to writing dialogue?

Back 28

The goal of the dramatist is to fabricate dialogue that is actable.

Front 29

29. Within theater, what does mastery of dramatic dialogue demand?
H: more than semantic, constant awareness, & psychology.

Back 29

Within theater, mastery of dramatic dialogue writing demands more than mere semantic skills

Front 30

30. How are speakability & stageability contingent on human limitation?
H: biological & physics.

Back 30

Speakability must take into account that the actor must breathe from time to time. Also the audience can take in only so many metaphors in a single spoken sentence. Stageability must reckon with the forces of gravity and inertia.

Front 31

31. What do great playwrights strive for, but they should keep in mind, and not forget what?

Back 31

Great playwrights strive to extend the capacities of actors and audience alike — but still must not forget that the theatre is fundamentally a human event that cannot transcend human capabilities.

Front 32

32. A ________ and ________ script flows rather than stumbles

Back 32

this is true for nonlinear plays as well as for more __________ structured ones. ______ requires a continual stream of information, and a play that _______ is one that is continually saying something, doing ________, and meaning something to the _________.

Front 33

33. What is flow?

Back 33

A speakable and stageable script flows rather than stumbles

Front 34

34. What must a playwright do in order to achieve “flow” in his play?

Back 34

To achieve “flow,” the playwright should address such technical problems as scene shifting, entrances and exits, and act breaks (intermissions) as early as possible in the scriptwriting process.

Front 35

35. What is “richness,” & how is it important for a play?

Back 35

Richness refers to the depth and quality of the play, one that leaves the audience with a sense of satisfaction. There is richness of details and dimensions, however, this does not mean it is rife with details.

Front 36

36. Why is “richness” hard to deliver in writing? What are the 3 things it requires?
H: senses

Back 36

It is difficult because it requires: close observation, limitless imagination, and acute senses.

Front 37

37. What is depth of characterization? How can a playwright attain depth of characterization in his work?

Back 37

It refers to the playwrights ability to capture on the uniqueness of each of his characters. To do this, he must able to distinguish each character by giving each one his
her own voice. Characters must act from motives that appear reasonable to them, thus, the characters must display independence of intention, expression, & motivation, while being sensible.

Front 38

38. Why is achieving depth of characterization the greatest stumbling block for novice playwrights?

Back 38

It presents perhaps the greatest single stumbling block for novice playwrights, who tend either to write all characters “in the same voice” (normally the author’s own) or to divide them into two camps: good characters and bad.

Front 39

39. What is “gravity?”

Back 39

Gravity is use to describe the relevance of the play's theme and it's relevance to the intended audience. To say that play has gravity means that its central theme is serious and deals with the struggles of humanity: aging, discord, love, loss. However, it does not mean somberness, it only requires a confrontation with those notions.

Front 40

40. What is “pertinence?”

Back 40

Pertinence refers how the play relates with current audience. It is pertinent if it touches on issues and concerns that a happening at the moment, or if it deals with timeless human struggle topics.

Front 41

41. Plays about current _______ situations or _________ are clearly pertinent

Back 41

they may, however, quickly become _______. The greatest plays are not merely ________ to a given moment but also serve as archetypes for all ________.

Front 42

42. Why are “economy” & “intensity” important in the theater tradition?
H: They affect the performance of play. Clock.

Back 42

This is unlike other literary and other visual arts, which have the luxury of private space and individualized time for the consumer, plays must be delivered within a limited timeframe.

Front 43

43. What is compression & what skills does it demand from the playwright?
H: time periods

Back 43

Compression refers to the playwrights ability to condense and translate a story that may span multiple time-periods into a theatrical time frame.

Front 44

44. What is economy & what does it expect from the playwright?
H: eliminate & consolidate

Back 44

Economy reflects the playwrights ability to eliminate and consolidate dialogues, characters, and events.

Front 45

45. What are the effects of economy on a play? Describe them.
H: 2 effects

Back 45

The effect of economy are both financial and aesthetic. They serve to stimulate, intrigue, and focus the audience. When the scenery changes and the number of actors are held at a minimum, the product cost also minimizes. This combination greatly contribute to intensity, which is a theatre's most powerful characteristics

Front 46

46. What is intensity? & what does it convey to the audience?
H: Takes many form & conveys many things

Back 46

Intensity can take many forms: harsh, abrasive, calm, explosive, physical. Whatever the context and content of deliverance, intensity conveys to the audience:
that this moment is unique
the moment is profound
they are experiencing something unique

Front 47

47. What is Compression? What does it refer to?

Back 47

Compression refers to the playwright’s skill in condensing a story (which may span many days, even years, of chronological time) into a theatrical time frame

Front 48

48. What is celebration? & why must it be included in a play?

Back 48

A fine play celebrates life, it doesn't just depict or analyze or criticize it. Even the darkest of Greek tragedies aimed to transcend the grim qualities of life, and exalt humanity. Extreme didactic & grim plays, as well as perversion to end everything with a happy ending, does not work either.