Transcript Chapter four - Emporia State University

The Playwright
The nature of playwriting, the qualities that make a fine play,
and the process and career of playwriting.
What does a playwright do?
The playwright provides the point of
origin for nearly every play
production...the script.
 More and more today, the role of
the playwright is to write the play
and then to disappear
 Today’s playwright is considered
an independent artist whose work
is executed primarily in isolation.
Some notable playwrights
Sophocles 497-406 BCE
William Shakespeare 1564-1616
Hamlet and Gertrude
Act 3, Scene iv
HAMLET “The Closet Scene”
ACT THREE, Scene 4
Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, has just learned that his
uncle Claudius was responsible for the murder of
Hamlet’s father, the former king. He has come to his
mother Gertrude’s “closet” to confront her about the
murder. Hamlet cannot believe that his mother would
marry the man that murdered her husband and wants to
confront her with the truth. The king’s advisor Polonius is
hiding in the room and during the encounter, Hamlet kills
him thinking he might be Claudius spying on him.
Derek Jacobi and Claire Bloom
Mel Gibson and Glenn Close
David Tennant and Penny Downie
Hamlet and Gertrude
Act 3, Scene iv
Notable American playwrights
Eugene O’Neill
b. Oct. 16, 1888, New York, N.Y.,
U.S. d. Nov. 27, 1953, Boston, Mass.
in full EUGENE GLADSTONE
O'NEILL foremost American dramatist
and winner of the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1936. His masterpiece,
Long Day's Journey into Night
(produced posthumously 1956), is at
the apex of a long string of great
plays, including Beyond the Horizon
(1920), Anna Christie (1922), Strange
Interlude (1928), Ah! Wilderness
(1933), The Iceman Cometh (1946),
and A Moon for the Misbegotten
(1947).
Notable European playwrights
Samuel Beckett
Anton Chekhov
Henrik Ibsen
21st Century Americans
Tony Kushner
Neil La Bute
Suzi Lori Parks
Sarah Ruhl
We are all playwrights
As dreamers, we are all beginning playwrights
WHY a playwright?
A playwright “makes” plays as a wheelwright makes
wheels or a cartwright makes carts
So, although a literary art, playwriting is much more
than an arrangement of words, rather it is a blueprint
for a play.
Examples of the playwright’s craft
 Oh! Oh! Oh! (Shakespeare’s OTHELLO)
 Howl, howl, howl, howl! (KING LEAR)
The above are more than text, they are pretexts for great
acting...
Playwrights use formal literary values that are fully
integrated into the whole of the theatrical event
Playwriting as event writing
 The core of the play is action...the ordering of
observable events that can be dramatized
 A series of events forms a PLOT which are expressed
using the playwright’s tools
 Fundamentally, the playwright works with two tools
1. Dialogue
2. Physical action
Events of a play are linked
 Chronologically (cause and effect) as in realistic
theatre. Such plays are CONTINUOUS in structure
and LINEAR in chronology
 Many plays are discontinuous and nonlinear as were
many of our classic plays which were character-driven
and episodic
 Shakespeare’s plays shift, time, place and action
 Modern and postmodern audiences accept whatever
structure the play requires
Qualities of a fine play
Credibility and intrigue
Peter Pan
CREDIBILITY is the audience imposed demand that the play’s actions and
characters flow logically and believably.
INTRIGUE is that quality of a play that
makes us curious to know what will happen
next.
Alan Alda and Liev Schreiber in GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
Speakability
A line of dialogue should be written so that it achieve
its maximum impact when spoken...as in this example
from Shaw’s MAJOR BARBARA
UNDERSHAFT [hugely tickled] You don't say so! What!
no capacity for business, no knowledge of law, no
sympathy with art, no pretension to philosophy; only a
simple knowledge of the secret that has puzzled all the
philosophers, baffled all the lawyers, muddled all the
men of business, and ruined most of the artists: the
secret of right and wrong. Why, man, you're a genius,
master of masters, a god! At twenty-four, too!
National Theatre production of
MAJOR BARBARA
Stageability
A STAGEABLE script is one which staging and stage
business are not adornments but essentials
Edward Albee’s ZOO STORY (above) and PETER AND JERRY
Flow. A play that continuously says
something to the audience and is not
constantly interrupted by changes of
scenery, shifts in time, or too many
intermissions.
Richness is not an easy quality to
develop in writing
It is depth, subtlety, fineness, quality,
wholeness and inevitability. Here is
an example from Margaret Edson’s
Pulitzer-Prize winning play WIT
VIVIAN. I don’t mean to complain, but I am
becoming very sick. Very, very sick. Ultimately
sick, as it were. In everything I have done, I have
been steadfast, resolute—some would say to the
extreme. Now, as you can see, I am
distinguishing myself in illness....What we have
come to think of as me is, in fact, just the
specimen jar, just the dust jacket, just the white
piece of paper that bears the little black marks.
A scene from WIT
Depth of Characterization
Anthony Sher as Richard III
Phylicia Rashad as Big Mama
in Cat on a Hot, Tin Roof
Laurence Olivier as Hamlet
Gravity
A play’s theme must be important...
Roger Robinson as Bynum
“You just can’t look at it like that.
You got to look at the whole thing.
Now, you take a fellow go out
there, grab hold to a woman and
think he got something ‘cause she
sweet and soft to the touch. It’s
in the world like everything else.
Touching’s nice. It feels good.
But you can lay your hand upside
a horse or a cat, and that feels
good tool What’s the difference?
When you grab hold to a woman,
you got something there....”
Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 1)
HAMLET: To be, or not to be--that is the question: Whether 'tis
nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep-- No more--and
by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand
natural shocks That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep-- To sleep-perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub, For in that sleep of
death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off
this mortal coil, Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life....
Pertinence
The play needs to be relevant to its time. Arthur Miller
wrote THE CRUCIBLE in the 1950s during the McCarthy
hearings to mirror the witch-hunting frenzy in 1692 New
England...
Other qualities
 COMPRESSION refers to the playwright’s skill in
condensing a story
 ECONOMY relates to an author’s skill in eliminating or
consolidating characters, events, locales and words
 INTENSITY is the result of the playwright’s success in
compression and economy AND can take many
forms...harsh, abrasive, explosive, calm, physical, etc.
Celebration
 Finally, a play celebrates life...relishing the human
experience in all its forms
Playwright’s Process
 DIALOGUE should sound fresh and authentic as if the
words spoken really happened
 CONFLICT is at the core of drama, but if forced can come
across as ineffective. Events such as discovery, victory,
rejection, revelation, separation, or death are climactic
scenes in a play and define structure.
 STRUCTURE connects the various parts of the play together
in a whole...some playwrights work from outlines, others from
inspiration, still others from transcripts. But wherever the
structure comes from, it needs to “work.”
Playwright’s rewards
“The rewards are tangible and intangible. At its
best, playwriting is more than a profession and
more than just a component of theatre. It is a
creative political act that enlarges human
experience and enriches our lives...”
The Pulitzer Prize
Edward Albee with
the TONY Award
Current American Playwrights
David Mamet (born 1947)
“Race” NYC, 2010
Tony Kushner
Born 1956
David Henry Hwang
Born 1957
...was awarded the 1988 Tony, Drama Desk,
Outer Critics, and John Gassner Awards for
his Broadway debut, M. Butterfly, which was
also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. For his
play Golden Child, he received a 1998 Tony
nomination and a 1997 OBIE Award. His new
book for Rodgers & Hammerstein's Flower
Drum Song earned him his third Tony
nomination in 2003. He was the book writer
of Disney's Tarzan, with score by Phil Collins,
and also co-authored the book for Elton John
and Tim Rice's Aida, which ran almost five
years on Broadway and won four Tony
Awards. His most recent work is Chinglish
which opens on Broadway this fall.
Chinglish
M. Butterfly
William Hauptman
William Hauptman was born in Texas and
attended the University of Texas and the Yale
School of Drama. His plays include HEAT,
DOMINO COURTS (Obie Award) and GILLETTE
(LA Drama-Logue Award). For BIG RIVER (with
a score by Roger Miller), he won a 1985 Tony
Award for Best Book of a Musical. His fiction has
appeared in The Best American Short Stories
anthology, The Atlantic Monthly, Southwest
Review, and Playboy Magazine. He is the author
of the novel Storm Season and the stories, Good
Rockin' Tonight. He has also written screenplays
for film and television, garnering an Emmy
nomination and an NAACP Freedom Foundation
Award, and was a guest professor at the Texas
Center for Writers, a program of the University of
Texas in Austin. He lives in Brooklyn with his
wife, Marjorie, and their son, Max.
ROGER MILLER
ROGER MILLER was born in Texas and grew
up in Oklahoma. He made his first significant
mark on the entertainment world as a
songwriter of such hits as "Invitation To The
Blues," "Billy Bayou," "Dang Me," "Chug-ALug" and "King Of The Road."
In 1964, "Dang Me" won five Grammy Awards for Best Country Song, Best New Country
Artist, Best Country Recording, Best Single and Best Male Country Vocal Performance; his
first album, Dang Me/Chug-A-Lug, was named Best Country Album of the year. Miller more
than repeated in the 1965 Grammys, when "King Of The Road" won six awards including
Best Song, Vocal Performance, Recording and Single, and his album, The Return Of
Roger Miller, was honored as Best Country Album of the year. During his career he
garnered six Gold Records, was inducted into the Nashville Association of Songwriters
International Hall of Fame and was presented with the Academy of Country Music's
Pioneer Award. His 31st and final album, Old Friends, was a collaboration with Willie
Nelson. In addition to having his own show on NBC in 1966, he was a frequent guest and
guest host on numerous television programs. Miller also appeared as Johnny Appleseed in
an episode of the series Daniel Boone, and scored and narrated the Disney movie Robin
Hood. Miller made his Broadway debut in 1985 as the composer and lyricist for the musical
BIG RIVER. It won seven Tony Awards including one for Miller's score, and was named
Best Musical of the season. Eventually Miller appeared in the production as Pap Finn, the
role created by John Goodman. His performance was a triumph. Roger Miller died on
October 25, 1992 at the age of 56.
Neil LaBute (Born 1963)
Playwriting credits
Filthy Talk For Troubled Autobahn (2003)
Times (1989)
Fat Pig (2004)
In the Company of Men
This Is How It Goes
(1992)
(2005)
Bash: Latter-Day Plays
Some Girl(s) (2005)
(1999)
The Shape of Things
(2001)
The Distance From
Here (2002)
The Break of Noon
(2010)
The New Testament &
Helter Skelter (2009)
Some White Chick
(2009)
Wrecks (2005)
The Furies (2009)
In A Dark Dark House
(2007)
In a Foreset, Dark and
Deep (2011)
reasons to be pretty
(2008)
The Mercy Seat (2002)
Helter Skelter & Land of
the Dead (2008)
Reasons to be Happy
(2013)
Suzan-Lori Parks
Born 1964
Lynn Nottage
Ruined (2009 Pulitzer Prize)
Intimate Apparel
(2003)
Mother Courage (adaptation)
(1998)
Born 1964
Crumbs from the Table of Joy
(1995)
Annie Baker
Annie Baker grew up in Massachusetts. Her
full-length plays include JOHN (currently in an
extended run at the Signature Theatre), THE
FLICK (Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Susan Smith
Blackburn Award, Obie Award for Playwriting),
CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION
(Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award for Best
New American Play, Drama Desk nomination
for Best New American Play), THE ALIENS
(Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Obie Award for
Best New American Play), BODY AWARENESS
(Atlantic Theater Company, Drama Desk and
Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best
Play/Emerging Playwright), and an adaptation
of Chekhov's UNCLE VANYA (Soho Rep,
Drama Desk nomination for Best Revival), for
which she also designed the costumes. Her
plays have been produced at over 150 theaters
throughout the U.S., and have been produced
internationally in over a dozen countries.
THE FLICK
The Flick is set in a run down
movie palace in Worcester,
Massachusetts and follows three
underpaid movie ushers, Avery,
Sam and Rose (who also runs
the film projector) who do the
humdrum and tedious labor
necessary for keeping it running,
including toiling to clean spilled
soda from the floors. The show
is a comedy of the mundane
delivered in bits of chat that
might be considered
insignificant.
Up close – Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller was one of the major dramatists of the
twentieth century. In the years before his death he
often was called the “greatest living American
playwright”.
BORN October 17, 1925
DIED February 10, 2005
SOURCE: Marino, Stephen. "Arthur Miller". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 May 2008
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3116, accessed September 2010.]
He earned this reputation during a career of more than
seventy years, from his first plays as an undergraduate
at the University of Michigan in the 1930s to his
achieved critical success in the 1940s with All My Sons
(1947) and Death of a Salesman (1949). In the 1950s
he wrote The Crucible (1953) and A View from the
Bridge (1955), refused to “name names” at his
appearance before the House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC), and
had a celebrated marriage
to the film actress
Marilyn Monroe.
He produced a critically acclaimed autobiography,
Timebends (1987), and premiered new plays on
Broadway and in London in the 1990s. In the new
millennium, Miller remained as active as at the
beginning of his career, publishing a collection of
essays, Echoes Down the
Corridor (2000), and
completing two new plays,
Resurrection Blues (2002)
and Finishing the Picture
(2004), which premiered
a few months before his
death.
Recipient of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for
All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and A View From
the Bridge...
ALL MY SONS on Broadway with John Lithgow, Dianne
Wiest, Josh Lucas and Katie Holmes (2008).
Death of a Salesman
American Actors in the
title role of WILLY LOMAN
Brian Dennehy
Philip Seymour Hoffman
...the Pulitzer Prize for Death of a Salesman, the Tony
Award for All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The
Crucible, and Lifetime Achievement and the Olivier
Award for Broken Glass...
...Miller clearly ranks with the other truly great figures of
American drama – Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee
Williams, and Edward Albee – and the pantheon of
great world dramatists, such as Chekov, Strindberg,
Shaw and Beckett.
Broadway revival of A VIEW
FROM THE BRIDGE, 2009-10
Arthur Miller was not only a literary giant, but also one of
the more significant political, cultural, and social figures
of his time, well-known as a man of conviction, with
rock-solid integrity, who frequently took popular and
unpopular stands on many issues. At his death, the
front page headline of The New York Times called him
the “moral voice of the American stage”. In the great
themes of his work – guilt and betrayal, family and
society, individual and social conscience, private and
public responsibility – he confronted the ethical issues
of his time.
In his own words...
Plays by Arthur Miller
The Golden Years
The Man Who Had All the Luck
The Creation of the World and Other
Business
The Archbishop’s Ceiling
All My Sons
The American Clock
Death of a Salesman
Playing for Time
An Enemy of the People
The Ride Down Mt. Morgan
The Crucible
Broken Glass
A View from the Bridge
Mr. Peters’ Connections
After the Fall
Resurrection Blues
A Memory of Two Mondays
Finishing the Picture
Incident at Vichy
The Price
One-Act Plays
Screenplays
A View from the Bridge (one-act
version)
The Misfits
Everybody Wins
A Memory of Two Mondays
The Crucible
Fame /
The Reason Why
Two Way Mirror:
Elegy for a Lady
Some Kind of Love Story
Autobiography
Timebends
Danger: Memory!
I Can’t Remember Anything
Clara
The Last Yankee