Play outline notes from Roy Conboy

Hi all,

I'm writing to offer some clarification about this  week's assignment.
As I announced in class, the assignment is to write a one-paragraph summation of your project. This isn't an easy thing to do, but it's a useful exercise. Use it to try and clarify for yourself the dramatic nature of your project.

Helpful hints:

- Take some time to go back and reread the scenes you've already written. Resist the urge to rewrite, and try to see these scenes with fresh eyes.

- Analyze what's already there. Ask yourself some fundamental structural questions.

If your piece is driven by a character's journey (such as Laura's scenes about Penny), ask yourself:

Who's the main character?
What is her journey?
Where's she going?
What's she after?
What are her obstacles?
Who are her enemies?
Who are her allies?
What is the play telling you about what she needs to accomplish?
How will she accomplish what she needs to accomplish?

If your piece is driven by other factors (such as Peter's multi-plex scenes), adapt those questions into something like these:
What's the dramatic focus of the piece?
What is the dramatic journey and who's taking it?
What holds the play together and keeps the audience in focus?
Are there any characters or circumstances in the play that haven't been explored?
What is the play attempting to accomplish for the characters?
For you?
For the audience?


- I never outline before I start, but I do outline when I'm halfway through, because it helps me to analyze what I've already written, and to begin to see it's larger movements and rhythms. I use a very specific format. For each scene:

1. Assign a title.
2. List the characters in the scene.
3. Describe the setting.
4. Note the length in pages.
5. Write a one-sentence explanation of the action in the scene.


This often reveals to me what's missing from the play, as well as giving me ideas about the nature of the play's journeys.

My theory is that the first half of any play contain almost all the answers for the rest of the play.
Understand what you've accomplished so far and it can point the way to what needs to be done to finish the play. Or put another way, let the play speak to you and it's own emotional logic will begin to become apparent.

Okay? Clear as mud?

So next week we'll use these one paragraph summations as a springboard to discuss each project, and think about what their opportunities are, and where they might go on their journey to finish. And I'll ask you to hand in the summations at the end of class.

Questions and comments are always welcome.

Roy