NWC #2-
"Imbalance" DUE Nov 3rd at 8am CST
Imbalance and asymmetry
are at the heart of conflict and drama.
Form a STATIC image on
stage. Use human bodies interacting with something VERY LARGE. Set something into motion that causes
imbalance. Return to balance.
Challenge: Start with
balance and then let there be imbalance - physically on stage. We need to see
it and the characters need to feel it. Take the rest of the play to NEARLY fix
the imbalance. The struggle exposes imbalances in their souls or relationship. The
fix? Does it happen? From "the gods"? From within? From inner peace? Up
to you.
DO NOT BE AFRAID OF YOUR
FIRST THOUGHT
DO NOT BE AFRAID OF CLICHE
Dive in to those things
deeply, deeper, more! Grab on and wrestle with it. Get it dirty. That's where the good stuff is.
**********
ABORTIVE NEW PLAY IDEA
THOUGHTS BEFORE REALIZING I HAVE ANOTHER ACTUAL WRITING DEADLINE I AM AVOIDING
1) Is it wrong that my
first thought was orgy?
2) No, but since you've
never been in one, it may be hard to stage.
3) Not if you play it for
comedy.
4) Is it wrong that my
second thought was Twister (the game, not the movie)?
5) No, but it's not as
amusing as orgy.
6) Stop thinking about
Human Centipede. Stop thinking about
Human Centipede. Stop thinking about
Human Centipede.
7) OK, I am so grossed out
now, I have driven myself into the waiting arms of an actual writing deadline
that I used yesterday's challenge to sidetrack me from :)
BUS PLAY #1
(There is a bus.
On the ice.
Among the Art Shanties on
White Bear Lake in Minnesota in February.
The bus is decorated on
the outside and the inside with pictures and words.
It is a descendant of the
bus called "Further" driven by Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters
back in the 1960s, chronicled by Tom Wolfe in "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid
Test."
You were either "on
the bus" or "off the bus."
This bus is called the
"Vehicle of Expression."
It is dedicated to the art
of the word.
There is poetry. There is fiction.
And there are these plays.
Short interludes written
by five different people.
This is one of them.
There are seats in pairs down
each side of the bus.
On the back of every bus
seat, there is an envelope.
Every envelope has a
number.
In every envelope there is
a script.
Each partner in a pair of
scripts is placed in one of these envelopes.
The "bus driver"
(an actor) asks an audience member to pick a number between 1 and 10.
That number determines
which script will be read in any given space of five minutes.
The people sitting in the
seats that face the envelopes with that number will pull the scripts out of the
envelope.
They have a choice.
They can hand the script
off to an actor - who will also be sitting in one of the seats, clearly marked
with a name tag that says ACTOR and extremely friendly.
Ready and willing to read.
Or the person with the
script in their hand can choose to read the script themselves.
The other person with the
same script may be seated next to them.
The other person with the
same script may be seated at the other end of the bus.
They will turn to each
other.
They will make eye
contact.
They will decide if they
want to be in their current proximity to each other
or if they want to move
to get closer
or further apart.
Do they stay in their
seats?
Do they stand in the
aisle?
Do they perform for the
rest of the people on the bus?
Or do they perform just for
one another?
We might ask them to do
something like this - )
READER
We
need to decide who will be reader 1 and who will be reader 2.
OTHER READER
It
doesn't matter to me.
READER
Nor
me.
OTHER READER
Being
polite sure does slow things down
READER
Agreed.
OTHER READER
and
READER (at the same
time)
I'll
be reader number _____ (pick a number)
READER
Did
we just pick the same number?
OTHER READER
Yes
(or No) (depending)
READER
OK,
I'll be reader number _______ (pick a number)
OTHER READER
Thank
goodness we got that settled. It's cold
out here and this scene is only supposed to last a couple of minutes.
#1
Hello.
#2
Hello.
#1
(smiles
at #2 - for a while, says nothing)
#2
(looks
back at #1 as if to say, "Why are you smiling at me?")
#1
(shrugs,
smiles engagingly at the rest of the audience on the bus)
[The other people on the bus are: nervous? smiling
as well in spite of themselves?]
#2
(shrugs
as well)
#1
(waves
to #2)
#2
(shrugs,
waves back to #1)
#1
(waves
to the rest of the people on the bus very enthusiastically)
[The other people on the bus: laugh nervously? also
wave?]
#2
I
thought this was supposed to be a scene.
Doesn't anyone have any lines?
#1
I
think you just had one.
#2
So
I did.
#1
As
did I.
#2
This
is a bit non-sensical.
#1
Yes,
but essentially harmless.
#2
I
suppose theater isn't that scary after all.
#1
No
scarier than being on a bus on the ice in the middle of winter.
#2
It
could be scarier.
#1
It
could be the end of winter and the ice could be melting.
#2
Exactly.
#1
So
we're saying that we're actually happy that we're stuck in the middle of winter
in Minnesota.
#2
Well,
under the circumstances, it's much safer.
#1
Thank
you, Minnesota winter.
#2
Thank
you, bus.
#1
Thank
you, random strangers.
#2
And
so we continue.
#1
(waves
to the audience)
#2
(waves
to the audience)
#1
(bows)
#2
(bows)
[The other people on the bus: applaud? laugh? wave
back? all of these things?]
[The two readers now speak to the others on the
bus.]
BOTH #1 and #2
Your
turn!
[The bus driver asks an audience member to pick
another number - and on we go]
No comments:
Post a Comment