The 10-Minute Play Challenge

On your mark! Get set! Go! You have ten minutes (that's ten pages) to tell a story.

How do you tell a story in such a short amount of time? By thinking small. Don't tackle anything big. I wouldn't suggest adapting War and Peace--or maybe that's a brilliant idea.

Keep it simple. You don't want a lion tamer on stage dealing with his sexuality, married to a bearded woman, who is having a very hot affair with the Human Torch. (Or maybe you do?) You don't want too much going on. An audience may be overwhelmed with all the information.

Here's some old school advice: Let's have some characters in conflict who by the end of the play resolve the conflict.

Think theatrically. Think creatively. But what is most important here: have fun.

Conflict

All plays need conflict. Without it, you have a boring play--a total snoozefest.

What is conflict? Conflict is wanting/desiring/needing something or someone and not being able to get it. Example: I want your wallet. No, you can't have my wallet.

There are two types of conflict: External and Internal.

Internal conflict happens within a character (and often affects characters around them). Think about Tom from the Glass Menagerie. He wants to leave his family, but if he does what will happen to them? Who will take care of them? Especially Laura? If he abandons his mother and troubled sister, he'll have to live with the guilt and the regret and the sad realization that he has turned into his father.

External conflict involves a character and someone or something is physically in the way to stop he or she. Think about Hester from In the Blood. Society stops Hester from getting her 'leg up'. Maybe she isn't the best example--critics will say she doesn't really try hard enough. So, think about Mae and Eddie from Fool For Love. They can never be "together" because they are brother and sister--talk about an internal/external conflict combo. Yikes.

We go to the theater to see conflict. We want to see people having a tough time. And we want to see how those people get out of their tough time. Conflict is what makes drama...drama.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at WMU

ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD
by Tom Stoppard
February 8-10 | 8:00 p.m.
February 15-17 | 8:00 p.m.
February 18 | 2:00 p.m.
in the York Arena Theatre
General Seating
Tickets (269) 387-6222

In this spoof of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, two comedic courtiers set out to find the cause of the young prince’s madness but end up deep in their own craziness. Sir Thomas Stoppard fills the play that inspired the feature film with laughs and absurdist truths that puzzle even the sharpest of wits.

Office Hours

I don't have office hours posted on my syllabus. I will meet with anyone before or after class. I can do almost any day of the week--if before/after class doesn't work.

I know some of you may want to discuss your 10-minute plays. We can talk it out. I'd like to hear your plan for a play. Map it out for me. Tell me the story, character dilemmas, etc. I can give you my ideas/thoughts on what you should do or not do with the play.

If you're feeling stuck, I think it'd be wise to meet and discuss possible play ideas. Drop me an email and set up a time--

10-Minute Play Rules

1) 10-minute plays are 10 pages long.

2) No more than 4 characters.

3) Include an activity (such as listening to records on a victrola and looking at glass animals, lasso-ing a chair, putting on a red dress, or writing the letter A on a wall--these are a few examples of some activities we'd seen in the plays we've read so far).

4) No scene change--continuous action. By action, I do not mean explosions and car chases. Action is a character wanting something (or someone) and trying to get it. Example: I want your wallet. Action would be ways of trying to get the wallet.

5) Conflict. Conflict is something or someone getting in your way; stopping you from getting what you want. Example: You can't have the wallet. It's mine.

Adaptation

Suzan-Lori Parks 'In the Blood' is an adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'. I am sure most of you have read it--if not I'm sure you're familiar with the story. I had to read it not once, not twice, but THREE times in my academic career.

Adaptation is sort of like sampling--like that used in hip hop. You take something old and you make something new.

Last semester, I wrote an adaptation of Sherwood Anderson's 'Winesburg, Ohio'. It felt weird at first. Like I was stealing his work. I decided to familiarize myself with all things Sherwood Anderson. For months, I read his diaries, letters, bios about him, most of his short stories and novels. Adaptation wasn't stealing at all--it was more like a collaboration (between me and a dead man).

I don't like to hear writers complain about being "blocked" or having nothing to write about. There are stories everywhere. Read a newspaper. Read a history book. Or explore the works in public domain that are there for you to sample (literally). We will hopefully get around to doing an adaptation exercise (using Shakespeare Sonnets) sometime next week.

I hope you enjoy the reading.

Assigned Workshop Dates

Workshop Tues. Feb. 13th
(Distribute plays to class on Thurs. Feb.8th)
Tanisha
Joe

Workshop Thurs. Feb. 15th
(Distribute plays to class on Tues. Feb. 13th)
Andy N.
John
Scott

Workshop Tues. Feb. 20th
(Distribute plays to class on Thurs. Feb. 15th)
Erin
Andy A.
David

Workshop Thurs. Feb. 22nd
(Distribute plays to class on Tues. Feb. 20th)
Katie
Leigh
Alyse

Workshop Tues. Feb. 27th
(Distribute plays to class on Thurs. Feb. 22nd)
Evan
Nathan
Andrew

Workshop Thurs. Mar. 1st
(Distribute plays to class on Tues. Feb. 27th)
Ashlee
Ashley
Amanda