Playwriting Workshop Teacher's Notes

Activity 3 — Analyzing and Revising

The objective for this activity is fourfold:
  1. It creates a template into which the student can "drop" his or her story and have a standard format. This format can be used for any play and is completely serviceable for all who might use it.
  2. It encourages the student to revise, one of the most difficult things to get students to do.
  3. It introduces the monologue, a very important device in theater.
  4. It introduces the element of review to the student and puts forward a series of questions that he or she can use to analyze not only his or her own work but the work of others.
This playwriting format is not the only one in existence, but it is one of the easiest. It also contains all the elements of good play structure. Please feel free to have the students explore the initial elements: TIME, PLACE, and AT RISE.

Interesting note: The term "At Rise" comes to us from the old days when plays commenced with a curtain being pulled up to the ceiling.

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Activity 4 — The Third Character

The objective for this activity is threefold:
  1. It introduces a new character to further the story line.
  2. Once again, it instructs students to rewrite their plays, creating an environment for editing and further development of the play.
  3. It encourages students to think for themselves and to make decisions based on critical thinking.
It is important to stress that students don't merely tack on this third character at the end of the play. The addition should be integrated into the play so that it becomes an organic part of the student's piece.

Activity 5 — Rewriting Your Play

The objective for this particular activity is very simple: Rewrite and develop, rewrite and develop, and rewrite and develop!

At this juncture, it is extremely important for students to follow the directions of the activity. You might want to ask students to write down on a separate piece of paper what two new elements they want to add to the play before they actually start. An opening discussion can be an enlightening process and encourages students to develop the work and not, as many are prone to do, keep it as is.

Please stress that playwriting is an evolutionary process and most playwrights (myself included!) work on plays for a very long time before we consider them finished.

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Activity 6 — Adding New Scenes

The objective for this activity is twofold:
  1. It gives the hardworking student (and teacher) further knowledge of a play's structure. Creating separate scenes is not as important as some of the other elements when teaching playwriting, but it can make a good play great. Each scene should be a unit of action or take place at a certain site.
  2. Creates a new situation in which the student playwright must examine his or her play and make critical decisions to further his or her ideas and work.
If this is done, be certain to set up the scenes as follows:
Scene 1

Time:
Place:
At Rise:

Congratulations for a job well done. You can now use all of this to reexamine published plays and see if they are much clearer to understand and possibly stage!

Best wishes for your success!

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