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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.
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- Reading responses are due by midnight on the night PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading.
The elements of the genre drama are very much similar to those of the ones we have learned in nonfiction and fiction writing. However, the structure is where it becomes unique and more so when writing the ten-minute play. I liked the structure of the first two pages introducing the setting and central characters. Followed by highlighting the conflict between the recommended amount of two characters. Moreover, the next five pages must include obstacles that complicate the characters goals. Finally leading to the last two pages resolving the dramatic question of their conflict. Whether a happy or sad ending by the end of the play the audience sees the character development in the protagonist and/or antagonist. Starkey placed a lot of emphasis on dialogue and maximizing the use of few words. In other words, less is more because it leaves the reader thinking. With that in mind, it is important to create believable characters but also to not make them predictable. Just as with any other writing the objective is to keep the audience wanting more. Thus, unusual and almost ironic characters help build the ten-minute play. Interestingly, Starkey says a lot of students are intimated to write in this type of structure as it is out of the usual essay format- I could not agree more. Although after understanding that it is all about the central conflict and answering the dramatic question I feel more at ease. I look forward to tapping into the playwright side of my writing skills.
ReplyDelete-Natalia Martinez
After carefully analyzing the readings, it managed to give me a wider understanding on the structure and components of composing a play. Throughout, we see what the elements of playwriting are as well as discovering three plays of the most prestigious graduates. Although, I do not believe that writing a play is easy, it sure sets organization on beginning to make one should have certain components such as, having believable characters, convincing dialogue, coming up with a theme, and producing the stage. In "Sure Thing" by David Ives, this to me felt like a love story when back in high school, we learn crazy and interesting things about the person we are most interested in, definitely an attention grabber due to the drama being involved in discovering more about people. I do agree with the fact that playwright does need to have a foundation with having a connected theme and setting with believable characters. In "Trying to Find Chinatown" by David Henry Hwang, is a dramatic play that caught my attention right away simply reading the synopsis. The main character is confronted with someone whom eh thinks is the one and when the conflict sets in, its sure to take a dramatic turn. In "The Divine Fallacy" by Tina Howe, is how I identify what society wishes to see as compared to what we are born already as humans. Victor is a character who is trained to record and observe external beauty but has no notion that Dorothy, which is his next model, reveals something far more beautiful than the the external beauty she lacks in Victor's eyes. All of these stories have such an incredible dramatic setting to them as well as them consisting of all elements of playwright. You also are needed to have form of collaborative art in which you can engage an audience and it is important to consider that "A play does not truly exist until it is performed onstage." indicated on Pg 284. -AnaSilviaMears
ReplyDeleteThe play “Sure Thing” gave me “50 First Dates” vibes, it reminded me of the part when Adam Sandler kept trying (every day) to get Drew Barrymore to get interested in him. Anyway, in this play, Ives created the realistic elements of meeting someone knew. At times, one wishes they could've not said something and start the conversation again. Thanks to the magical bell, Bill and Betty get to either say something in a different way or get to not say it at all. However, the ending was quite absurd. The bell probably was tired of fixing their conversation or something. Perhaps the play ended like that for comedic purposes and to show how one wishes finding "love"/a new relationship was that easy and straightforward. In “Trying to Find Chinatown”, I love how Hwang created his characters, they felt as if they were legitimate people. At times I'd side with Benjamin, then I'd side with Ronnie. It was more than a simple read, it was an experience. Hwang made me feel what the characters were feeling. I didn't just read it, I felt and heard the emotion in their lines. It was incredible. In the end, I don't know who is right or wrong. Personally, I'm kind of leaning more onto Benjamin's perspective; however, Ronnie's argument was still pretty valid. It's pretty cool how Hwang gets to make one think that way about the situation. Lastly, in "The Divine Fallacy", the characters were interesting, yet I'm not really sure what to make of them. Dorothy's weird and Victor's somewhat of a typical photographer. Well, that's what I thought of at first; but, after reading the ending, I realized how complex the characters become (or are revealed to be). On the other hand, the imagery in this play is amazing. The descriptions in the setting help create the image, but the descriptions and imagery described by Dorothy in page 258 are wonderful. She is a very interesting person, more interesting than Victor. Overall, it was an interesting read.
ReplyDelete- Jasmine Hinojosa
Starkey discusses the fundamentals in playwriting and what makes a good playwright based on other playwrights. He starts by pointing out the “Not’s.” A play is not a screenplay, a conversation, a rant, and an essay. It’s worth knowing information to keep in mind. While reading the examples Starkey provided, I was a little confused since I’m not used to reading plays. David Ives “Sure Thing” took me a while to understand until I realized that the repeated dialogue had meaning. It was cool how Ives played with the concept and conversation of repeating until saying the right thing. But I still didn’t like it. In David Henry Hwang’s “Trying to Find Chinatown” the elements were present and easy to distinguish, I enjoyed reading this play more than the first one. The characters seemed believable and their dialogue was convincing, Ronnie’s sarcasm amused me. The elements of production were also included, it made me feel like I was actually sitting through the play and experiencing it. “The Divine Fallacy” by Tina Howe had to be my favorite one out of the three. Howe portrayed character development in an interesting way. In the beginning we can see Dorothy gets easily shaken up while Victor tries to make sense of her and in the end, he does. It was an intriguing and dramatic theme.
ReplyDelete-Bethzaida Ayala
This is a section I’ve particularly looked forward to. Playwriting seems to me to be one of the most accessible forms of literature. Because of this, as Starkey says, I think it’s strange that playwriting is not practiced at most every level of creative writing. Something about the medium seems to resonate with students across all different levels of education. One act play is generally thought to be the best way to go about showing this. Starkey talks about the five different elements of play writing, which are as follows– structuring the ten-minute play, creating believable characters, writing convincing dialogue, crafting a theme, and onstage. Play writing is so much fun for me because I used to write plays with my cousins when I was younger and act them out in the backyard of my house. I am not much of a theatre person at all and find that I would rather create them and watch than be in them. I love making people laugh and this will be an opportunity to present them my work. I believe that my favorite probably has to be that last one, “The divine Fallacy” mainly because it confused me as to why the photographer started acting up in that way. It kind of changed the whole relationship dynamic that was going on between both him and Dorothy. I also needed to google some definitions and searched up some words that confused me but overall I loved it.
ReplyDelete-Max Garcia