Teaching Playwriting : Creativity in Practice

Playwriting is a skill under-explored in the classroom, despite the strong evidence that it’s an engaging and rewarding activity for young people. Teaching Playwriting addresses this gap and is an essential resource for teachers wanting to gain the skills and confidence necessary to introduce playwriting to their students. Based on rich research and clearly explained theoretical concepts, the book explores the lessons from creativity theory that will provide the teacher with the skills and knowledge necessary to empower students’ writing and creativity. It also includes extensive practical activities and writing exercises to develop students' playwriting proficiency and creative capacity. Discussing key concepts in playwriting such as idea, dialogue, character, action and structure, the book enables teachers to respond to the unique learning needs of their students and help them tell their stories and reach their potential as young playwrights. Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 7 Part 1: Playwriting and young writers 8 Chapter 1: Introduction 10 What theatre does 10 What a playwright does 12 What is a play? 13 My research 15 What this book does 15 References 17 Chapter 2: Why playwriting? 18 Introduction 18 What is agency? 19 Why teach playwriting? 24 Conclusion 24 Summary 26 References 26 Chapter 3: Creativity and engagement 28 Introduction 28 The systems view of creativity 34 Conclusion 40 Summary 40 References 41 Chapter 4: Spectrum of playwriting approaches 45 Introduction 46 The spectrum 48 Key lessons from dramaturgy 51 The alternative to a closed approach 56 Teaching the spectrum 59 Conclusion 61 Summary 61 References 62 Part 2: How to teach playwriting: the approach 66 Chapter 5: How to use this book 68 The student playwright 68 Approaching playwriting in the classroom or workshop: Teacher as dramaturg 75 Writing and rewriting: Finding the gold 79 Conclusion 80 Summary 81 References 82 Chapter 6: Teaching the idea 83 Introduction 84 First thoughts: What kind of play? 85 Idea and opinions 88 Getting started 90 Discussion and idea generation 93 Writing exercise: Idea creation 95 Voice 96 Finding the vehicle: Turning an idea into a theatrical vision for a play 101 Writing exercise: From big idea to situation 103 Creativity and imagination: Writing to find the idea 105 Writing exercise: Free writing 106 Writing exercise: Structured writing 107 Writing exercise: Guided writing 108 Writing exercise: Guided imagery 110 Writing exercise: Guess my play 111 Writing exercise: Character A and Character B 111 Writing exercise 112 How good is the idea? Evaluating creativity 114 Summary 115 References 116 Chapter 7: Creating character 118 Introduction 118 Ideas and characters 118 Writing exercise: Visualize your characters 120 Writing exercise: The monologue 125 Writing exercise: Character background 1 126 Creating your characters 128 Writing exercise: Realist approach to your character’s backstory 134 Writing exercise: Symbols of character – the backpack 138 Physical approaches to character 139 Writing exercise: Characters from elements 141 Writing exercise: ‘Leading with ... ’ – character from body positions 143 Writing exercise: Status 149 Writing exercise: Meeting new people 151 Summary 152 References 153 Chapter 8: Generating action 155 Introduction 155 Part 1: Character action 156 Writing exercise: Verbing the line 157 Part 2: Dramatic action 159 Writing exercise: Action and the elements of drama 162 Writing exercise: Action and environment 164 Writing exercise: Chain of actions 165 Writing exercise: Moments 168 Improvisation and writing 169 Writing exercise: Improvised action 170 Summary 171 References 171 Chapter 9: Crafting dialogue 172 Introduction 172 What is dialogue? 173 What can dialogue do? 174 Focus on listening 175 Writing exercise: Training the ear 175 Writing exercise: Theatricalize the everyday 177 Dialogue creates character 177 Writing exercise: Dialogue accent and dialect 179 Writing exercise: Stressful monologue 180 Writing exercises: Character voice 181 Exposition and levels of familiarity 182 Writing exercise: Familiarity 184 Writing exercise: Subtext 185 Writing exercise: The music of dialogue 186 Writing exercises: Dialogue riffing 188 Stage directions 190 Writing exercise: Stage directions 190 When to begin writing the dialogue 191 Embodied writing – improvisation and the drama workshop 192 Writing exercise: Dialogue writing workshops 193 Summary 194 References 195 Chapter 10: Building structures 196 Introduction 196 Understanding the scene 197 Writing exercise: The scene 200 Writing exercise: The class play 205 Writing exercise: Ideas into situations 207 Writing exercise: Creating situations 208 Writing exercise: Event structure 210 Writing exercise: Card the play 213 Writing exercise: Minimalist structure 214 Writing exercises: Time and shape 215 Writing exercise: Generating ideas with structure – climax card 217 Writing exercise: Tableaux 217 Summary 218 References 218 Chapter 11: Embedding symbol 220 Introduction 220 Everything is significant ... 221 Symbols and the poetic 222 Symbols as a contract with the audience: The paradox of collective meaning 222 Three types of symbol 223 Writing exercise: Who am I? 225 Verbal symbols 226 Writing exercise: Poetic monologue 227 Writing exercise: Unimportant objects, serious fights 228 Writing exercise: Backpack revisited 228 Writing exercise: Symbolic stage business 229 Writing exercise: Stage directions as symbols 233 Writing exercise: Symbols chart 234 Summary 237 References 238 Chapter 12: Page to stage 239 Introduction 239 Creativity and collaboration 240 Creativity workshop 242 Writing exercise: Workshop for idea generation 243 Summary 250 References 251 Chapter 13: Conclusion 252 References 255 Index 256 "Despite strong evidence that playwriting is both an engaging and rewarding activity for young people, it is still under-utilised in the classroom. Teaching Playwriting is an essential resource for teachers wanting to gain the skills and confidence necessary to introduce playwriting to their students. Based on rich research and clearly explained theoretical concepts, the author explores the lessons from creativity theory that will provide the teacher with the skills and knowledge necessary to empower students' writing and creativity. Exploring key concepts in playwriting such as idea, dialogue, character, action and structure, the book will enable teachers to respond to the unique learning needs of their students and help them tell their stories and reach their potential as young playwrights"-- Provided by publisher