Writing from The Heart: Dramaturgy for Theatreworks Singapore

Writing from The Heart

"Writing from The Heart" is a workshop on creative writing, creative drawing, and creative drama. There are three available versions of this workshop: one for beginners on the secondary, tertiary, and graduate levels, and another for practitioners. A third version of this workshop is designed as an outreach program to disadvantaged and underserved audiences such as the disabled, the poor and the marginalized, victims of human trafficking, battered women and abused children, drug rehabilitation center residents, child combatants, children in conflict with the law, prisoners, and gang leaders. This third version incorporates creativity and problem awareness, conflict resolution, crisis intervention, trauma therapy, and peacemaking.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Dramaturgy for Theatreworks Singapore

Samantha's Play: "Untitled"

Dear Samantha,

You sent me two manuscripts, both untitled. I read both of them.

The works are dark sketches (not to be confused with skits) rather than plays, the first about courtship and death, the second about marriage and suicide.

1. First Untitled Sketch (sent earlier):

This version is the more promising of the two. It is derivative, however, of Tennessee Williams's "The Glass Menagerie" a.k.a. "The Gentleman Caller"--you even subconsciously named one of your characters AMANDA, which happens to be the name of one of the characters in the Williams play, not the daughter but the mother.

The ending is uncalled-for and unexpected, and will come across to the audience as a betrayal.

2. Second Untitled Sketch (sent later):

This is really the scenario for a video rather than for a stage play. Unlike Mayura's play, it is un-theatrical and cannot stand up as a stage play.

Never employ flashbacks if the dramatic content can be done via exposition--as in a monologue or in dialogue.

Jumps in time, especially using very short scenes, are difficult to manage.

Here, then, is my advice to you:

You have not yet identified the subject matter that you wish to seriously develop into a play. This is fine; you have your own pace and I will wait for you to be able to do that.

As I suggested during the workshop, read The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri. Read the whole book from cover to cover, not just parts of it. Be patient with the archaic English. In creative writing, you cannot deconstruct if you have not yet mastered the Aristotelian unities--as in art, you cannot go abstract until you have mastered human and animal anatomy. Only after you have mastered these can you break the rules.

Determine which subject matter is important to you as a person NOW. That is always a good starting point.

What motivates your writing? Anger? Revenge? The desire for success? Power? Boredom?

Do not look to TV shows, movies, novels, and other plays for inspiration. Those have already been written, and do not need to be written all over again.

One is driven to write. One writes because one will just die if one doesn't write. One writes because it is as necessary as breathing and drinking and eating.

Look within your heart, because everything is already there.