21st Century Playwriting, A Manual of Contemporary Techniques 9781575259222, 2017959939, 1575259222

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21ST CENTURY PLAYWRITING A MANUAL OF CONTEMPORARY TECHNIQUES

Timothy Daly

21ST CENTURY PLAYWRITING A MANUAL OF CONTEMPORARY TECHNIQUES

Timothy Daly

A SMITH AND KRAUS BOOK

2019

A Smith and Kraus Book 177 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755 editorial 603.643.6431 To Order 1.877.668.8680 www.smithandkraus.com

21st Century Playwriting A Manual of Contemporary Techniques Copyright © 2019 by Timothy Daly All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that the material represented in this book is subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, and of all countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth), and of all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproductions such as information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and the rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved. ISBN: 9781575259222 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017959939 Typesetting, layout and cover by Elizabeth E. Monteleone Cover art by: Peter Sheehan For information about custom editions, special sales, education and corporate purchases, please contact Smith and Kraus at [email protected] For orders: number 877.668.8680 Printed in the United States of America

For Charlie Little. Advisor and friend.

$ർ඄ඇඈඐඅൾൽ඀ൾආൾඇඍඌ I’ve learned my craft from hundreds of actors, writers and directors. 7KHPRVWLQÀXHQWLDO,OLVWKHUHHVSHFLDOO\WKRVHZKRWDXJKWPHVRPXFK during my early years. They include Ros Horin, Frank McNamara, John Clark, Peter Cook, John Krummel, Kevin Jackson, James Waites, Isabelle Starkier, Michel Lederer, Rodney Fisher, Charlie Little, Carol Woodrow, Jim Searle, May-Brit Akerholt, Keith Gallasch, Louise O’Halloran, Wayne +DUULVRQ0DUN.LOPXUU\&DWH%ODQFKHWW*HR൵UH\5XVK-DFNLH:HDYHU Dick Reichman, Dawson Moore, David Chandler, Ron Blair and Terry Clark. A huge Thanks to Gayle Mortimer and Mark Grolman for their work on the manuscript (or whatever I’ve currently got), as well as to Peter Sheehan for his superb assistance with many of the tables and illustrations. Finally, to my priceless friend and manager, Victoria Wisdom, a special thanks. And to the wonderful women in my life, Angela, Ursula, Maryanne, Kathie, Cathy and Madeleine, who helped to teach me things only the heart can learn.

&ඈඇඍൾඇඍඌ Foreword Introduction: A Portrait of the Young Man as an Artist

9 11

1.

Gateway 1: Becoming a Modern Playwright Writing for the 21st Century

15

2. 3. 4.

Gateway 2: Getting Started Quick Start: Shaping the action Slow Start: Building your skills Becoming a story teller

29 35 45

6. 7.

Gateway 3: The Basics of Theatre Space—and its Audience Understanding the Audience (I): Hitting the F Buttons and other basic techniques 51 Writing for Theatre Space (I): First Principles 69 Writing for Theatre Space (II): The Spatial Axis 75

8. 9.

Gateway 4: Understanding Stories and their Patterns Classical Story Shape Narrative Types; or, Knowing what story you’re writing

5.

10. 11. 12. 13.

14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

Gateway 5: Getting Familiar with Theatrical Language and Dialouge Dramatic Language (I): The basic concepts and the GL൵HUHQFHVEHWZHHQWKHDWUHDQG¿OPGLDORJXH  Dramatic Language (II): Syntax, punctuation, rhetoric and other tools of dramatic language Dramatic Language (III): Modernism and its techniques Dramatic Language (IV): Using texture to create theatre space Gateway 6: Writing Characters for Actors Acting and the Art of Writing Great Roles For Actors Character (I): Character as Symbol Character (II): Creating a powerful character journey Character (III): More Character Techniques Character (IV): The Relationship Journey The Art of Titles

87 111

 133 167 187

199 221 237 249 255 261

Gateway 7: All about Dramatic Structure 20. Dramatic Structure (I): Structure and the unleashing of energy 21. Dramatic Structure (II): The techniques of scene & phase writing 22. Dramatic Structure (III):The 2-Act Play More theories of narrative and dramatic form 23. Dramatic Structure (IV): Universalisms, dramatic tone, DQG¿QGLQJWKHWUXWKRI\RXUGUDPDWLFZRUOG 24. Dramatic Structure (V): New formal possibilities for the 21st century 25. Dramatic Structure (VI): A Theory of Everything Gateway 8: Becoming a Modern Playwright 2 26. Understanding the Audience (II):The two largest audiences for theatre 27. Understanding the Audience (III): Liberal Anxieties, or How to win a Pulitzer Prize and other mysteries of modern theatre culture

28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33.

Gateway 9: Contemporary Theatre Writing as an Art, Craft & Business Working Methods: How to start work on your play The Marketplace (I): Getting your play produced, networking and writing for the world theatre market The Marketplace (II): What to do when your play is scheduled for production Life in the rehearsal room: Working with actors, directors, dramaturgs Twenty-one years... twenty-one lessons Becoming a successful artist Index

267 285 299  339 347

353

373

385 393 423 429 441 449 455

)ඈඋൾඐඈඋൽ In my role coordinating the Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference, I’ve been privileged to work around a lot of great dramaturgical thinkers, from staggering intellects like Edward Albee, Paula Vogel, and William Missouri Downs, to spiritual theatre leaders like August Wilson, Michael Warren Powell, and Erma Duricko. None of them are more impressive than Timothy Daly. Timothy’s book has ideas in it that you’ve never thought of before, ZKHWKHU\RX¶UHMXVWWKLQNLQJDERXWZULWLQJ\RXU¿UVWSOD\RU\RX¶YHEHHQ studying playwriting for decades. They range from common sense adages WRKLJKOHYHOUHÀHFWLRQVDERXWKRZWKHDWUHH[LVWVLQWKHPRGHUQZRUOG The key to pretty much any dramaturgical challenge you face, I promise, it’s in here. I’ve known Timothy for the past decade; he works for the Conference as a Featured Artist and a respondent in our developmental Play Lab reading series. His classes are fast-paced, witty, and dynamic. Participant HYDOXDWLRQVDUHDOZD\V¿OOHGZLWKSOD\ZULJKWVVLQJLQJKLVSUDLVHV2QWRS of Timothy’s massive vocabulary of words, higher concepts and deep insights is a real joy in the search for great theatre. He is cheering for all playwrights to achieve their greatest scripts. His responses ring true with the audience. Before the hyperbolic writing makes me seem insincere, I don’t agree ZLWKHYHU\WKLQJFRQWDLQHGKHUH:HZRUNLQDYHU\VXEMHFWLYH¿HOG¿OOHG with preference and opinion, and I have my own long-established and thoroughly-reasoned opinions which sometimes take me the opposite direction. The places where we disagree are almost more useful than where ZHFRQFXU:KHQ,¿QGVRPHRQHDVEULOOLDQWDV7LPRWK\ZKRWKLQNVGLIferently than I do, it makes me look more deeply at my beliefs. It’s a gift. This book is very approachable. It’s broken down into hundreds of small, delicious bites of knowledge. You can start from the beginning and work your way through it. Or you can look for the chapter that you think ZLOOKHOS\RXZLWKZKDWHYHUFKDOOHQJH\RX¶UHIDFLQJULJKWQRZ,W¶VD¿QH read, and has the knowledge that you were looking for when you picked LWXSLQWKH¿UVWSODFH This book’s existence is a boon to our craft. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Dawson Moore Coordinator, Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference

11

,ඇඍඋඈൽඎർඍංඈඇ A PORTRAIT OF THE YOUNG MAN AS AN ARTIST or How I got to the writing of this book. This book has been over a decade in the making. It didn’t start out that way. In fact, it didn’t even start out as a book. It was an attempt to VDYHP\FUHDWLYHHPRWLRQDODQG¿QDQFLDOOLIH To explain that, I’ll have to go back a bit. I was not born into a theatrical family. Very few people are. My family was not particularly interested in theatre or the creative arts. My own theatre career began when, in my mid-twenties, I decided that I was DZULWHU1RVXGGHQEUHDNWKURXJK1RIDOOLQJR൵DKRUVHRQWKHURDGWR Ephesus. I just woke up one morning and decided that I wanted to express P\ZRUOGLQZRUGVUDWKHUWKDQPXVLF,ZDVDPXVLFLDQ¿UVWDQGWUDLQHG professionally in music.) After having beginner’s luck in writing a one-act play that was produced by Sydney Theatre Company, one of Australia’s most prestigious theatres, I then entered the World of Writer’s Reality, where every new play makes you a beginner again. This is doubly true when you really are a beginner in writing. I struggled for several years, desperately trying to maintain a relationship, income and to master the nebulous art of the full-length play. In the early 1990s, after years of trying to please theatre audiences and the gate-keepers of modern theatre—the Artistic Directors—I decided WRKDYHRQHODVWÀLQJDWWKHDWUHZULWLQJ%\ZULWLQJDSOD\WKDWZDVIXOORI the things that had made me want to plunge my life into theatre—a play full of chaos, pain, magic, hope, enchantment and virtuosity. Instead of pleasing others, I decided to ‘delight myself’, as a friend advised me. I wrote a play based on the bizarre attempt by my literary hero, Franz Kafka, WRPDUU\WKHVDPHZRPDQ²WZLFH,¿OOHGLWZLWKZRUGSOD\WKHDWULFDO devices, schtick, big speeches and fun. It was my ideal theatre. I was also convinced that it would never be performed, being so unlike Australian theatre of the time. After asking several people, “Would you go and see a play called Franz Kafka Learns to Tap-Dance?”, and watching their eyes glaze over, I settled on the simpler title: Kafka Dances. Almost immediately, a miracle occurred: a theatre director called Ros Horin, who ran a small theatre company in Sydney, Australia, had read the script (I’d sent just one copy out), and despite the chaos of the play (or perhaps because of it) Ros thought there was a play buried somewhere inside it.

12

7ංආඈඍඁඒ'ൺඅඒ

We met, and she tentatively agreed to work toward production of the SOD\SURYLGLQJWKDW,¿QGVRPHFRKHUHQFHLQWKHVWUXFWXUH,SURPLVHGWR GRVRDQGVR5RVSURPLVHGWR¿QGVRPHDFWRUV,WZDVQ¶WHDV\7KHSOD\ was messy, and many actors did not like its profusion of energy and wordplay. After reading the script, the country’s top dramaturg at the time told Ros “You’ll never make a play out of this thing.” But as the play gradually got clearer, both in structure and thematic coherence, Ros began hiring the actors. She told me about an interesting new graduate from the Sydney-based NIDA (the National Institute of Dramatic Art.) She was young, enthusiastic and ‘had something’. I met her and agreed to the director casting her. (In Australia, writers often have a veto over casting. In this case, I didn’t use my veto.) Her relieved acting teacher told me that she’d not had an acting job in seven months. The actress’s name was Cate Blanchett. Cate went on to star in two seasons of the play in Sydney, before the play started being picked up by other Australian theatres and cities, and then going international. Since then it’s become the most internationallyperformed Australian play of all time, with thousands of performances all WKURXJKRXWWKHZRUOG&DWHZHQWRQWRWKHVWHOODU¿OPDQGWKHDWUHFDUHHU that we all know about. As for me, it gave me a career that has lasted RYHUWZHQW\¿YH\HDUVDQGDOOIURPDSOD\WKDWPDQ\ZHUHFRQYLQFHG was unproduceable. My life-long obsession with dramatic structure and playwriting technique grew from the painful path to dramatic coherence that re-writing Kafka Dances involved. My discovery of many of the writing principles and techniques that appear in this book all came from the study of hunGUHGVRISOD\VZKLFK,VWDUWHGWRUHDGRQO\LQRUGHUWRKHOSPH¿QLVK Kafka Dances. But since the days of that play, having established an international career with numerous international productions of this and other works, I decided that it was time to give something back to the international theatre community that has given me so much joy and career satisfaction. There are very few books on the actual writing techniques that make for great theatre plays, and of those that do exist, many are either out-ofGDWHQRWWHFKQLFDOO\VSHFL¿FHQRXJKRUHOVHWKH\KDYHEHHQZULWWHQE\ non-writers. Theatre writing is one of the most practical of arts, combining as it does the crafts of actor, director, lighting designer, sound designer/ composer, movement instructor, choreographer, set designer, costumier, make-up, ticket-seller, publicist... The list is long. Almost endless. More to the point, having seen quite a lot of American theatre in the last decade, it’s my belief that American theatre is in a crisis of sorts. The FULVLVLV¿[DEOHEHFDXVHWKHSUREOHPVDUHDHVWKHWLFDQGWHFKQLFDO,QVWHDG

21st Century Playwriting

13

RIZRUU\LQJDERXWµ¿QGLQJDQDXGLHQFH¶,¶PSURSRVLQJWKHUHYHUVHWhen the technique becomes more brilliant, the audiences will follow. Although currently living (some of the time) in Australia, my lifelong interest has been in the techniques that create extraordinary modern theatre, regardless of country of origin. It’s why this book has been written: to improve the understanding of writing principles and theatrical techniques available to us when we write plays. It’s dedicated, above all, to my friends and fellow-artists in the American and European theatre community, who’ve shown me such kindness and generosity. My personal motto is: Artists help each other. The rest are just business folk. If this book helps any artist in America, Australia or elsewhere, I’ll be delighted.

15

&ඁൺඉඍൾඋ WRITING FOR THE 21st CENTURY On March 22, 2009, an extraordinary event occurred. A play opened on Broadway to great acclaim and huge popular success. Nothing exceptional in that, given Broadway’s long history. However, this play was GL൵HUHQW,WZDVZULWWHQE\D)UHQFKZRPDQ7KHSOD\LQTXHVWLRQZDVGod of Carnage E\WKH)UHQFKSOD\ZULJKW