Playwriting Exercise: The Proust Questionnaire

Use this exercise to practice creating titles based on a picture. • Find a photograph. A great source for public domain photos isflickr.com/commons. • Take a few moments and study the photograph. Look at it carefully, with the eye of a writer. What is going on? Who is in the photo? Who is in the foreground? Who’s in the back ground? What is the landscape? What might be happening out side the frame? • *Title One: * Come up with a title that you think best describes the picture. • *Title Two: * Come up with a title that defines the dominant emotion in the picture. • *Title Three: * Come up with a title that is inspired from a line of poetry. • *Title Four: * Come up with a title that rhymes. • *Title Five: * Come up with a title that is just one word. What is the one word that captures this picture? • *Title Six: * Come up with a title that has a symbolic connection to the picture rather than a direct connection. • *Title Seven: * Come up with what you think would be the absolute worst title for this picture. • *Title Eight: * Come up with a title that describes the emotional state of the person taking the picture. • *Title Nine: * Come up with a title that hints to an upcoming action of the person taking the picture. • *Title Ten: * Come up with a comedic title for this picture. • *Title Eleven: * Come up with an absurd title for this picture. • *Title Twelve: * Come up with a tragic title for this picture. • *Title Thirteen: * Come up with a title that includes the name of the picture location. Part Two of this exercise is something that can be done with a class. After everyone has come up with their titles, have them choose a couple, write them on slips of paper and put them into a hat. Then, everyone chooses a slip of paper and based on the title they receive writes a brief description of the play they think fits that title. It’s an exercise in how easy a title is to visualize as a full work. And another: Hand out brief descriptions of movies or plays. I would suggest choosing from older words that your class wouldn’t necessarily know. Based on the description, have students create titles. Then share the real title.IMDB.com is a good place to get short concise movie descriptions, for example: • A lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice. (To Kill A Mockingbird) • Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. (The Shawshank Redemption) • A small time boxer gets a once in a lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champ in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect. (Rocky)

A common acting exercise for students is to imagine what their character is doing next when they exit a scene, and what they’re doing when they aren’t onstage. We’re turning that exercise into a playwriting prompt — writing the next scene for an exiting character. Where did they go? What are they doing? Why did they leave? Let’s figure it out! Instructions 1. Select a play, and have students each choose a moment where a character exits within the scene (preferably not the lead character). Students need to identify the character’s name as it appears in the script, write a one-sentence summary of what caused them to exit, and note the exact line that is spoken or sung to make them exit. Be sure to also note the act and scene number (if identified), as well as the page number of the script. 2. Write a scene immediately following their exit. Their first line is the last line they say before they exit (or the line of the character who causes them to exit). Where is the character going? What are they doing? Who are they meeting with? What are they talking about? How is the character feeling? For example, in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, the character Clarisse is magically drenched by toilet water when she corners Percy in the camp bathroom. Her exiting line is, “You’re worm meat, Jackson… WORM MEAT!” What does she do when she leaves the bathroom? Does she grab her fellow Ares cabin mates and start plotting revenge? Does she go to the lake and cry in secret? Does she set fire to Percy’s bed? Here’s another example. What does Courtney, the snooty salesgirl in the opening number of Legally Blonde: The Musical, do after Elle calls her out for showing her a dress from last year? The line that causes Courtney to exit is her manager singing “Elle Woods! Sorry, our mistake, Courtney take your break! Just ignore her, she hasn’t been well.” Does Courtney sneak out the back of the store? Does she write a letter of resignation and enrol in college? Does she steal her manager’s car? It’s up to you! 3. From here, students can be as inventive as they want for their scene. It can be the same tone or genre as the established play, or go in a totally different direction. Perhaps a character from a play exits and bursts into song in their scene, or a character in a tragedy starts cracking jokes. Perhaps a seemingly happy-go-lucky character reveals a hidden dark side. Students can invent new characters for their scene or use established characters who are not currently appearing onstage in the play. They need to develop their focus character’s personality beyond their currently scripted lines in the play. Give the character a proper name if they don't already have one (for example, in Heathers: The Musical, some of the characters include Beleaguered Geek, Hipster Dork, and New Wave Girl — they need proper names). Include the new setting at the top of the scene as well. It doesn’t matter if this scene follows the established plot of the show or not. Students are welcome to tie it back to the original play if they wish, but they don’t have to. It can be a side journey, or take the play in a whole new direction. Who knows — perhaps this writing exercise will inspire a sequel or spin-off production! 4. If you wish to add a performance aspect to this writing exercise, have students read the scenes aloud, or create a staged reading series of all the new scenes. If the scenes are all from the same play, arrange them in order of where they occur within the established script. 5. Have students complete an exit slip responding to one of the following questions: • How does this exercise make you a better writer? • What is the purpose of this exercise? • How could you use this scene or this exercise process for future work in class? Kerry Hishon is a director, actor, writer and stage combatant from London, Ontario, Canada. She blogs at www.kerryhishon.com.

It’s time to have some fun with words! We’re taking a word that means a mouthful and using it as an inspiration for a scene. But not only that, the word in question is from a foreign language. Today’s word is: WaldeinsamkeitThe definition of the German word Waldeinsamkeit is………. drumroll please…… • the feeling of being alone in the woods. That is gorgeous. How do you feel when you’re alone in the woods, even if you’re not actually alone in the woods? Waldeinsamkeit! And what does that mean, exactly? What does it mean to be alone in the woods? Is it peaceful and quiet? Do you feel like the trees are watching you? Is it fearful? Does it mean you’re lost and alone, without cell service? Playwriting Exercise• Automatic Write for two minutes on what it means to be alone in the woods. What is your interpretation of the phrase? Is it something wonderful, or something fearful? • Look around on the internet for a picture of an intense forest. What do you see when you look at the picture? Start to reach beyond the logical here. Do you see faces? Do you see emotions? Do you see shapes? • Write a monologue from the perspective of the person who took the picture. They are alone in the woods. Who are they? How long have they been there? What inspired them to take the picture? Who are they talking to in the monologue?