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I liked how it started off by saying how most students have a “knack for playwriting.” It made it sound like a fun concept. I also liked how it mentioned different playwright authors and how they came to discover their talent for playwriting. Plays are being portrayed as something exciting since it is live and the actors don't get a second chance, making it seem more fun than other creative writing genres. While reading I noticed it kept saying how dialogue is extremely important and how it has to show who the character is without a lot of background which sounds a little bit hard and I think I'll end up struggling with it.
ReplyDelete“Sure Thing” was sort of confusing for me but once i went to read the introduction to the play it all made sense and it seemed sort of sad to me how hard it is to say the right thing at the right time.
“Trying to Find Chinatown” was very frustrating to read. It's amazing how people jump to conclusions about others very fast. It was also cool seeing how both characters were talking but then later weren't yet still were together on the stage but doing their own thing.
It's interesting that conflict should always play a big role when writing plays, “... the protagonist keeps butting heads with one or more antagonists.” Structure is something very important when writing plays which is something I feel I should have known but didnt know how important it is. I think I will find it difficult to write a play since its only 10 minutes and every line counts, every line has to be important and deciding what's important and what isnt can sometimes be hard.
Knowing how many actors you put in a play is something so much more difficult than I imagined. It's cool seeing how the characters become their own person who call the shots in the play, as a writer you must let them do what they have to do.
-Rebecca Muniz
We’re introduced to ten-minute plays in this chapter and Starkey gives us what these plays consist of and how they develop. I’ll admit that thinking of writing a play sounds a little scary because I do not think I’d be able to come up with ten minutes worth of material. Though Starkey does give us a lot to go off of and think about as we write, I’m still not sure I’m creative enough to do it. In the chapter Starkey tells us that the characters relationship must develop at a believable pace but I didn’t really see that in any of the plays we read. I feel like relationships developed oddly fast but they kind of have to since it’s only ten minutes of material.
ReplyDeleteThe ten-minute play I enjoyed the most was “Sure thing”. Two characters are introduced to each other and a bell goes off every so often but is never acknowledged. It seems that every time the bells rings, a new reality is given. Almost like every time the characters say something the universe doesn’t like, it corrects them and gives them another chance to say something else so that the outcome the universe wants, happens. This was the only play I saw fit every criteria that Starkey gave.
I think as we further discuss writing ten-minute plays and how they come to be, I’ll get a better grasps on how I can write mine.
- Arianna Martinez
This chapter was a really good introduction to playwriting. One of the many fears I had with this part of the semester was the fact that we were going to be writing a play. This chapter makes it a little easier to follow in the process of playwriting. Some misconceptions of mine were addressed in this chapter, mainly the topic of screenwriting. I just assumed writing for a play would be similar. But there are some nuances that the camera picks up that might not translate well onto the mainstage. In stage acting you have to act for the back row so you have to accommodate your play for those things. I also appreciate how the author laid out the structure for the play right down to the pages on page 262. One of the things that I feel like I’ll have problems with is the stage directions. These directions I feel will get muddled (in my head) with the dialogue. So I have to find a way to say enough but not too much and show things through characters actions and motivations. There’s definitely a lot of things that have to go through your head when thinking up the perfect 10 page play. - Jesús Iván González
ReplyDeleteTrying to Find China Town was an interesting read because of its racial identity between two mans. One being an Asian American and the other white. The two main characters in this play is Benjamin and Ronnie. I always found it interested to read some plays because it always leaves you wondering what will happen next, and what will the character say then. It is more exciting to me as a reader to read a play rather then the kinds of stories we are used to reading. The both seem very knowledgeable like Benjamin in page 251 as he is explaining the roots of a white racist patriarchy, from history books to the sexual objectification of this Asian female. So they keep this conversation going talking about their experiences of colleges, which is very interesting how each character has its own way of thinking differently, but yet both share an interest of the importance of race. I also notice how in between the play their is also the narrator that mentions what each character is doing like in page 254 (Ronnie puts his violin to his chin....) That opens the eye of the reader to clearly see the scenario that is happening in this scene.
ReplyDelete- Carina Pompa
Starkey describes 10 minute plays in these pages and we get to read some examples.I think it is going to be a big challenge to me to write scenes because one has to describe the scenery and develop the concept pretty much the way something in real life would happen. It is interesting that it is considered easy for young adults to write plays I hope that this is true and I can achieve gaining this new skills as I have never attempempted before. I really enjoyed the play sure thing. It was interesting how with every ring of the bell they had an opportunity to say something new in a way that they could connect and this concept is very relatable with the youth nowadays. I also enjoyed Trying to Find Chinatown that explores the question of race and ethnicity in very intriguing concept and theory.-MAria Ramirez Montoya
ReplyDeleteThis is the third unit of the semester and it is time to begin with another topic: ten-minute plays. I believe plays are a type of writing that seems like it is more interacting for the author and the reader because it consists of a lot of dialogue. Also, it is known that plays are meant to be performed for an audience, this means that plays need dialogue and not much narrative. This chapter is very descriptive on how plays should be written and what their elements are. As I mentioned that dialogue is very important, there is a section that will help in writing convincing dialogue that helps with character development and heightens the conflict of the play. It is also clearly stated that the dialogue should only revolve around that conflict and the theme of the play and not something else. Along the chapter there are examples of some plays that Starkey provided us to understand better how a play should be written like. What I liked the most from this chapter, besides how well-explained it was, is that since the beginning, Starkey is introducing playwriting and then mentions Shakespeare. I think this is very important because Shakespeare is an icon for playwriting, but Starkey is also telling us that we should not worry about that because it is very different, and I think it helps so we do not feel intimidated towards this new challenge. I have never written plays before, or even tried to, but I have always liked to read and see them performed, so I am very excited about this unit.
ReplyDeletePaulina Longoria
Starkey provides us with an thorough introduction to play writing very brief 10 minute plays. While the selection was incredibly informative, I still find the act of play writing incredibly daunting and nerve-wracking.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have never written a play before, I still have a lot of questions upon reading Starkey's introduction, mainly because I am starting on a complete blank slate.
I have many questions on how words/dialogue and what an audience sees can tell a story and introduce a character. This becomes even more convoluted to me when you add in the fact that some plays don't even have sets or costumes and only pantomime props.
Additionally, I question how to have a good method to keep track of every character and their physical location on a stage without having people or a stage in front of you.
Hannah Daniel
I have to admit that drama was just not my thing, but after reading the three selections my mind has changed. I was converted by the engaging dialogue. The "Sure Thing" by David Ives was simple and complex. The deliveries were done so that an ultimate conclusion would be made. Sharp and to the point. At times the repetitiveness of the exchanges were difficult to keep up with, but after a rhythm was established it became easier and not as tedious. "Trying To Find Chinatown" was raw, brutal, and rough giving way to beautiful music and the acknowledgement of some type of reached resolution between Ronnie, the Chinese Manhattan violinist, and Benjamin, the white Anglo Saxon adopted by Chinese Americans. It is quite clear from the beginning that an issue is brewing. Stereotypes and prejudices are recognized as the main theme. The characters are credible and the story is timeless. "The Divine Fallacy" was hard for me to understand in the beginning, but the story started to unravel and the theme became evident. I never thought of stigmata, which plagued Dorothy Kiss could have been attributed to thinning of the blood caused by alcoholism. Many blind eyes were opened as the story came to a climax. Such complex issues revealed without the use of elaborate dialogue or fancy props makes the ten minute play an arduous,but rewarding venture.
ReplyDeleteSpiro Zagouris
I’ve never been well educated enough in drama to know if I would enjoy it or not, but after this section, I found it really intriguing and found myself wanting to read more about it. It is very different type of writing that what I usually pick up or invest myself with, but very enjoyable nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed all three of the plays that were provided in this chapter. I know that the book states that a play is not a screenplay, but it gives you some insight of what it can really become. I enjoyed that the plays give you the characters and settings beforehand just, so you can instantly jump into the story without having to lead up to anything. They even include small but important notes before the play, so the reader can keep in mind of what to focus on or to make the play more clearly to understand while reading.
I can’t say I would be anywhere close to being good at writing drama in the beginning, but it is something I want to start working with. Everything takes practice, and it’s a new type of work that I can challenge myself with. I found it enjoyable while reading it, and that makes me believe that it will be more enjoyable to write it.
Angela Milan
“What is most important is not so much the story being told as the arrangements of the incidents… what follows should be the necessary or probable result of the preceding action.” I found this point to be extremely necessary on writing plays. I think we’re allowed to venture off in creative non fiction to an extent where the reader won’t get lost but if we suddenly have our actors yell out for seemingly no reason, it would sound off putting and unrealistic. I like how conflict is necessary. Multiple antagonist and obstacles that a protagonist must overcome in such little time sounds fun to replicate. The book mentions that it would be easier if we focused on two people in our play as we are beginners, but it does guide us if we want to branch out into three or four characters. The important aspect is to have action. Have them constantly involved in the play doing something, an objective. I found the questions to ask about our characters extremely helpful. They create the persona from the ground up. “I always look for roots because people carry their past on their backs.” “Are you writing the play that is best suited to who you are at this moment?” This line alone helps a lot too as sometimes we try to make certain themes happen but might not have enough content to delve into such creative aspects.
ReplyDelete-Leonardo Torres
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ReplyDeleteor
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or
call/whatsapp:+2349057261346