Introduction to the Theatre

THE 101 / University of Idaho

Chapter 6 / The Playwright

“My words fly up, my thoughts remain below, words without thought

never to heaven go” - Claudius, Act III, Scene 3, Hamlet.

The Playwright’s Role and History

     The critical flash point in theatre is the development of the script.   The script feeds the fire of the dramatic imagination and fuels all the other elements in the creation of the production.   It is the singular most important catalyst of the performance yet it is the least visible part.   The playwright is the practitioner who develops the literary piece we call a script.   The title playwright gets its interesting spelling from the same root word as shipwright and wheelwright.   It is a term from old English guild classifications and it means, “someone who pursues a craft."   A fitting title, playwrights continue to hone and refine their craft and skills, production after production, and script after script.

     Some people view playwriting as a series of events and often call it event writing.   Note the change in spelling.   A playwright is a person.   What they do is playwriting.   Although a playwright uses a series of events to tell the story, event writing is a misnomer.  

     Unlike standard literature, where the writer can explain and describe the who, what, when, where, how and why of a story using long passages of descriptive narrative, the playwright has only three basic tools at their disposal:  dialogue, stage directions and structure.

     Dialogue, quite simply, is the scripted conversations of the characters.  It is what the characters say and how they say it.  However, it is through these conversations or personally vocalized thought that the character is revealed.  For example, how a character speaks - the use of slang, an accent, a stutter, etc., can reveal a character’s level of education, race, nationality, and cultural background.   In addition, what a character says reveals goals, needs, fears and desires.   As a result, dialogue is essential to the theatre storytelling process.   Dialogue provides actors with the clues they will need in developing their character.   It provides the director with ideas about the play's theme and intent as well as giving them clues into the relationships of the characters.   The dialogue also provides the designers with clues and images so that their designs relate to the characters.   Finally, dialogue provides the audience with the necessary information to follow the characters on their journey.

     Stage directions, on the other hand, are the playwright’s explanations and descriptions on what happens on stage.   Stage directions reveal action.  Action refers to movement, whether it is a physical action or a mental decision on the part of a character.   For example, consider the following simple stage direction:

(Wiping sweat from his forehead, JOHN crosses to the desk and picks up the phone.  He pauses a moment, then dials.  Mid-way through dialing, he stops.  Pause.  He looks at the phone, and then sets down the receiver.  He trembles, lets go of the phone and then EXITS.)

   So what does this stage direction tell us about John?  What is doing?  What is his state of mind?   What decision does he make?  What kind of reaction does the decision cause? The playwright does not tell us that John is a basket case.  That he is nervous or that he decides not to make the phone call.  The playwright shows us this by describing the action as it occurs on stage.  Stage directions help the actor further refine their character intent and motivation and these written actions also give the director ideas for picturization, blocking, and stage business.   In addition, it gives the designers ideas about the size of the design and how the characters use it.   Finally, action gives the audience something visually to watch.

     The third writing tool of the playwright is structure.   Structure is the way in which the playwright arranges the sequence of events.   It is the framework on which the play is hung.   This sounds pretty basic, but structure can be one of the most complex elements of the playwright’s craft - particularly in modern theater.   A play’s structure can be either linear and chronological or non-linear.   If it is linear, the first scene will take place in the morning and the last scene will take place the same night.   At the other extreme, the play can be non-linear and jump around in time and space connected or structured in a way that says something unique about the world of that play.

     As artists, playwrights are continually pushing the edge of the art form by experimenting with structure.   Modern theater has seen an explosion of experimentation with the way plays are structured.   Playwrights are incorporating the film editing technique of montage to create non-linear but causally related structures as seen in the film Seven Monkeys, and are using separate but simultaneous and intertwined occurrences as used in Pulp Fiction.   In addition, the use of the cross-faded flashback and use of two or more actors playing the same role, as seen in Titanic, has been used by modern playwrights for several decades - a good example being Marsha Norman’s play Getting Out.

     Moreover, just like dialogue and stage directions, the structure of the play provides additional clues to the actors, the director, and designers.   Most importantly the structure of the play provides the audience with a sense of logic and creates suspense.

The Aesthetics of a Crafted Script

     How does one judge a well-crafted script?   What does the theatre artist look for when reviewing scripts for production?   How does the casual reader know if what they are reading is of merit?   Play scripts are various, span many centuries and cultures, and can be intimidating a first glance.   Here are some basic tools by which you can examine the merits of a play script.

·        Credibility and Intrigue

·        Translation to the Stage

·        Richness

·        Gravity and Pertinence

·        Compression, Economy, and Intensity

    Credibility and intrigue address the believability of the characters and events in the play and how well it involves you in the story.   A good script should be believable enough that you can actually imagine the events in your mind's eye.   It should be, as Louis E. Catron states in his book The Elements of Playwriting, “plausible, probable and playable.”   As for intrigue, humans are inherently voyeuristic, so we are naturally intrigued by other peoples' lives, fortunes, and misfortunes.   A good script should appeal to this inherent trait.   It keeps us involved with the developing story.   Finally, is there an exotic nature about the play script?   Real life is less appealing than fiction or action as an entertainment, just look at the success of a film like Men in Black or any of the Indiana Jones movies.   As humans we also vicariously seek a change of pace.   A good script will normally address these elements to some degree.

     Translation to the stage addresses three main concepts of a play’s stage worthiness.   Are the parts somewhat easy to represent in both dialogue and action?   Meaning, can the actors play the roles and speak the lines?   Is the play script able to be realized in a stage production?   Can the play be done relatively inexpensively or what is required visually to tell the story?   For example, Star Wars is a film classic but it would be extremely difficult to recreate on a normal stage.   Will the theatre audience understand it, or can the play script be marketed and promoted?   Finally, does the play script have flow?   Will the production, once mounted, attract and retain a continuing audience?

     A play’s richness addresses the depth to which the play develops plot, character, dialogue, and action.   Remembering that plot keeps us intrigued, characters help us identify with the story, words give us the clues, and action keeps us entertained.   Richness makes these elements all the more powerful.  

     Gravity and pertinence address the thematic concerns of the play script.   The meaning and themes of the play should have relevance and a universal quality about them.   It should address issues that a majority of the audience will understand, empathize with or at least recognize.   Take the themes of movies like Places in the Heart where “you never really die if you are remembered”, or in It's a Wonderful Life where “no person is a failure who has friends.”   These are themes that at least most of us can all relate to and believe in.   A good play should have a meaningful message and a coherent theme.

     Compression, economy, and intensity are also referred to as style in a play script.   How are the aspects of time, character, and the intent of the characters over time addressed?

The Playwrights Process

     There are three main phases to the playwright's process, the internal phase, the crafting phase, and the development phase.   Each phase is significant in providing the foundation for the next phase and are separate in their focus.

     The internal phase is the collection, research, and thought process stage.   Since artists react to the world around them, playwrights have a voracious appetite for cultural and media input.   They read books, newspapers, tabloids, journals and cereal boxes.   They watch television, films, dance, opera, and theatre.   They go to museums, national parks, zoos, amusement parks, and libraries.   They hang out in coffee shops, malls, train and bus stations, and bars.   They travel across country and abroad.   They try to experience what it means to be alive - and awake, in today’s world and in their culture.   To do this they listen to the human voice, watch human interaction, and feel the human condition.

     Through this experience and observation, the playwright can create many potential play script ideas.   They are called germinal ideas.   They are, as the name implies, seeds.  Many playwrights keep several of these seeds in their head at a time and some do not begin to grow for years.   However during the germination process, the playwright may develop a rough story line, creates characters, and or begin to envision stage moments that they will want to include.   After this phase, they proceed to do research on the history, politics, style, language, society, and culture of their created world.   They examine all the possibilities of their idea and its stage worthiness.   They also examine the potential theme and message that the work will have.

     As these ideas are beginning to develop the playwright considers how he or she will use the tools of dialogue (character), stage directions (action), and structure (plot).  

The playwright decides whether the dialogue will be actual, like from an interview, or whether it will be remembered and interpreted.   They might choose to extrapolate the dialogue from key words and phrases they have eavesdropped on in their many hangouts and readings.   They may completely imagine the dialogue between their characters.   Although this is the process of the playwright, the character ultimately determines dialogue - good dialogue.

     The playwright begins to develop action based on the characters needs, goals, wants and desires, because it is usually these that fuel the central conflict that drives the script.   In addition, the playwright builds the central conflict and by developing the events that lead up to it.   A playwright may add sub-conflicts to increase the tension of the play script, decide some events are meaningless to the conflict and get rid of them or may even change the central conflict if it does not produce the effect they are wanting to achieve.

     The playwright also considers the over arching structure of the idea.   Is it strictly climactic - building to a central conflict or confrontation, or is it also episodic and take us on a journey?   Is the play perhaps part of a bigger journey that we will not see?   Perhaps the play would be better served by a structure that mimics a life cycle (life to death) or a natural cycle (winter to spring)?   As stated before, the structure is the framework on which action in the play is hung.

     The three levels of attack are combined with the playwrights' ideas, inspirations, imagination, characters, and situations to create a relatively finalized idea.   At this point the playwright begins the external crafting phase or the actual writing process.   There are various methods of crafting.   Here are a few.   Many playwrights begin with character.  They have had an idea for a character or a type of person they want to create a play about.  Other playwrights may feel more comfortable beginning with the story or plot. Some playwrights may choose to target a scene, such as the crisis scene, and then work around it like a good dart player works the dartboard.   Still other playwrights will work backwards from the resolution.   I have seen playwrights make puzzle notes of situations, characters, and ideas, scramble up the notes and see what can be assembled.   While still other plays are written by performance groups.   This is a collaborative writing process and uses a group composed mostly of actors and other writers.   This process is used mostly by independent theater companies and by ensemble comedy groups like Saturday Night Live and Second City.   No matter what the process, more often than not, playwrights think on paper.   They actually sit down at a typewriter or a word processor and start writing.   All of these methods can work individually or in any combination.   What is important is that the playwright is comfortable with their method.

     Once the play is written it undergoes the most important phase of all, the developmental improvement.   This is done in several ways, there can be readings and critiques, there is the production and the post-mortem, and there are new productions after various rewrites.   It is important that a play should evolve over time through production to its full potential.   Since playwriting is a craft, its full worth becomes apparent in production.

Production Path of a Play Script

     Once a script has been written and developed, it is usually submitted to producing organizations through several means.   It can be submitted by entering new play competitions.   Individual playwrights may be solicited and commissioned to write new works by producing organizations.   Playwrights may also apply to organizations looking for playwrights in the hope of developing new work.   Finally, playwrights may have their works published so their works will be included with the work of other playwrights in publications producing organizations use to develop seasons.   Some of the larger publishing houses for play scripts are Samuel French, Inc. and The Dramatic Publishing Company.

     Once a producing organization has chosen a script it may elect to have the playwright be in residence while the play rehearses.   This is normally the case for new works, as adjustments may need to be made.   In the case of established playwrights, productions are just rehearsed and open.   In any case, playwrights receive royalties for their work.   A royalty is a fee that the producing company pays the playwright for the right to present their play.   The playwright retains ownership of the play and the producers in a sense pay rent.   Royalties may be negotiated through the playwright or their agent.   The amount of a royalty varies depending on whether the script is a one-act, full length or a musical and can be paid on a per performance, percentage of gross or flat fee basis.   In addition, the producing organization usually contracts to provide the playwright with all programs, reviews and publicity from their production.   This is to insure that proper credit has been given and that the playwright receives feedback on their work.

Playwrights and Their Times

Greek Playwrights

Aristotle

Euripides

Sophocles

Aristophanes.

Roman Playwrights

            Plautus

Terrence

Seneca

Medieval Playwrights

            Hrosthvitha

English Renaissance Playwrights

            Shakespeare

Johnston

Marlowe

France Neoclassical Playwrights

            Moliere

Racine

Cornielle

Italian Renaissance Playwrights

            Goldoni

Restoration & Romantic Period Playwrights

            Goldsmith

Congrieve

Wicherly

Realistic Period Playwrights

            Strindberg

Chekov

Ibsen

Anti-Realistic Period Playwrights

Classical Opera                        Wagner

Symbolists                                Oniel, Rice, Ionesco, Pirandello

Absurdists                                Beckett, Ubu

Expressionist                            Brecht, Tarentino

Surrealists                                 Appolonaire

Post-War Realism                    Miller, Williams

Modern/Multi-Cultural

            Sam Sheppard

Tina Howe

Mark Medhoff

MeganTerry

AugustWilson

Ntsoka Shange