Playwriting

Welcome to "Playwright Spotlight" — your exclusive backstage pass to the creative minds crafting the incredible plays featured in our Theatrefolk catalogue. Discover the magic, quirks, and genius of the playwrights who help bring the stage to life. Let's meet one of these exceptional playwrights who offers the chance for your student performers to shine in their spotlight. What inspired you to start writing plays specifically for high school & middle school students?My need as a high school theatre to have scripts that students find challenging. Can you share a bit about your creative process when developing plays that resonate with students?Listen to the students. How they walk, talk and exist matters when writing for them. Are there any challenges you face when writing for student performers, and how do you overcome them?To keep it appropriate and have boundaries without sugar coating. Students see through sugar coating every time. What themes or messages do you aim to convey through your plays?Truth; the possibility to be better; the ability to face the scary. Also Hope. Change is possible if we commit to it. How do you balance education and fun in your scripts?I workshop drafts with students. They seem to like it a lot. Can you share a memorable experience or feedback from a student performance that left an impact on you?The first time we did Clowns With Guns: A Vaudeville at the Montana Thespian Festival. The shock and awe was so thick at the end that you could cut it with a knife. Any advice for teachers or directors looking to choose engaging and age-appropriate plays for their student performers?COMMUNICATE! Make sure you communicate with Admin, parents & students so there are no surprises. Also, listen to your theatre kids. They are more creative than you know. What is your favourite play you've written so far?Whatever one I'm writing currently. Anything else you'd like students and/or directors to know about you as a playwright?I like to push buttons. I strive to achieve messages through absurdity sometimes.

Welcome to "Playwright Spotlight" — your exclusive backstage pass to the creative minds crafting the incredible plays featured in our Theatrefolk catalogue. Discover the magic, quirks, and genius of the playwrights who help bring the stage to life. Let's meet one of these exceptional playwrights who offers the chance for your student performers to shine in their spotlight. What inspired you to start writing plays specifically for high school & middle school students?Adult plays are so stuffy, overblown, dramatic. Kids have a better sense of humor and it's a time in everyone's lives when there are endless possibilities. Can you share a bit about your creative process when developing plays that resonate with students?As a teacher, I'm surrounded by kids most of the year, so I try to pay attention to what they care about, the things that make them mad, happy, laugh, cry. Nine times out of ten, it starts with a scenario: What will happen if we put these particular teens together? What issues matter to them? How will they deal with them? Are there any challenges you face when writing for student performers, and how do you overcome them?Sometimes, issues are difficult to talk about, and not everyone wants to put them on stage. But the truth is that we need to be honest. The issues kids are dealing with are real, and without portraying them honestly, we are lying about how important they are. Of course, you try to write about them sensitively, but they can't be avoided. A lot of times, I try to come at the serious stuff with humor--just like in real life. Sorta softens the blow. What themes or messages do you aim to convey through your plays?Everyone is on their own journey, and it's totally okay if yours isn't the same as everyone else's. There's community in difference. How do you balance education and fun in your scripts?You can't get the education without the fun, I think. It gets you there. It's a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down. Hopefully, you see the show and laugh, but leave with something to think about. Can you share a memorable experience or feedback from a student performance that left an impact on you?A director once remarked that my show was super accessible to the kids and easy for them to self-direct, which I thought was so cool. Student ownership over the process is critical, and if my shows make it easy for kids to take an active role in how they're going to run, that's a win. Any advice for teachers or directors looking to choose engaging and age-appropriate plays for their student performers?Look for entertaining scripts that kids can have fun performing--roles with substance, even if they're silly. Roles with emotion. Nuance. They can do it. What is your favourite play you've written so far?Better Than the Movie. First date that goes horribly wrong but ends so right. Perfect. Anything else you'd like students and/or directors to know about you as a playwright?I would love to play almost all of my characters. I can hear them in my head. They're fun to play. Over the top. I worked in theatre at my high school for 15 years, and it was the best time ever.

Welcome to "Playwright Spotlight" — your exclusive backstage pass to the creative minds crafting the incredible plays featured in our Theatrefolk catalogue. Discover the magic, quirks, and genius of the playwrights who help bring the stage to life. Let's meet one of these exceptional playwrights who offers the chance for your student performers to shine in their spotlight. What inspired you to start writing plays specifically for high school & middle school students?Seeing local plays at school theatres and laughing out loud. I’ve always written for young people, first for television and now for student performers. Can you share a bit about your creative process when developing plays that resonate with students?I write really fast at first, to get all my ideas down, then I edit ALOT. I want to give actors a chance to be goofy. Being at school is hard these days so theatre is the place they can inhabit a character outside of the daily pressures. And dive deep into their own creative process whether as an actor or crew. Are there any challenges you face when writing for student performers, and how do you overcome them?Shorter speeches. More characters. Opportunities for backstage creativity. What’s not to love? What themes or messages do you aim to convey through your plays?It’s ok to be smart. It’s ok to be different. How do you balance education and fun in your scripts?I aim for fun. Any learning is purely coincidental. Can you share a memorable experience or feedback from a student performance that left an impact on you?Every time I’ve seen a performance of my plays I’ve been amazed at just how GOOD the actors and crew are. And how great the theatre programs are in building community within a school. Any advice for teachers or directors looking to choose engaging and age-appropriate plays for their student performers?You know your crowd best. What is your favourite play you've written so far?That’s like picking a favorite child. I’m gonna say the next one… Anything else you'd like students and/or directors to know about you as a playwright?I’m available for questions.

Welcome to "Playwright Spotlight" — your exclusive backstage pass to the creative minds crafting the incredible plays featured in our Theatrefolk catalogue. Discover the magic, quirks, and genius of the playwrights who help bring the stage to life. Let's meet one of these exceptional playwrights who offers the chance for your student performers to shine in their spotlight. What inspired you to start writing plays specifically for high school & middle school students?I love the energy that middle and high school students bring to a production. Students will get excited about a script and jump into the production process with both feet. That makes writing for them really fun! Can you share a bit about your creative process when developing plays that resonate with students?First and foremost, I want to tell a good story, no matter who I am writing it for. After I have the foundations of a story I work very hard to create believable characters that students enjoy playing. I also carefully choose the words and language the characters speak so that the characters are both challenging and relatable to middle and high school students. Are there any challenges you face when writing for student performers, and how do you overcome them?The biggest challenge is threading the needle between material that is challenging yet appropriate for young people. I try to respect who these performers are, while at the same time giving them materials that allow them to push their boundaries either physically or vocally. I also try to provide opportunities for more challenging design work for tech students whenever possible. What themes or messages do you aim to convey through your plays?I always try to find the truth of the character, whether in a comedy or drama, and encourage the performers to connect to that truth. How do you balance education and fun in your scripts?To explain my philosophy on this balance I will reference a quote by Walt Disney: 'I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something, than educate people and hope they were entertained." Can you share a memorable experience or feedback from a student performance that left an impact on you?I recently wrote a script of ghost stories and had the good fortune of having a class of high school students do a first reading for me. At one point in the script, a malevolent character turns to the audience and starts looking for a child as their next potential victim. When these stage directions were read, a number of students gasped out loud! That's when I knew they had completely bought into the story. That's when I knew the script had real potential. Any advice for teachers or directors looking to choose engaging and age-appropriate plays for their student performers?Choose materials that will challenge your students with achievable goals. Push them just beyond what you think they are capable of, and watch their pride and growth as they rise to the challenge. What is your favourite play you've written so far?That's like asking who my favorite child is! However, if I had to choose right now, I would have to say Arctic Adventure Theatre: The Case of the Crazed Crashers. It is based on characters I created when I was in middle school and when I finally sat down to write a script for these characters, the words just leapt onto the page. Plus it is written in a style - a radio play - that was a lot of fun to write. Anything else you'd like students and/or directors to know about you as a playwright?I'm not just a playwright, but also a director, actor and educator. Therefore, when I write, I try to give directors and actors the opportunity to not only successfully produce the script, but also explore it to its fullest potential. That means my scripts are designed to be produced by theatre programs from beginning and advanced, and everything in between. My goal is to create works that compliment a theatre program, no matter how deep its talent pool is or how much tech support it has.

Welcome to "Playwright Spotlight" — your exclusive backstage pass to the creative minds crafting the incredible plays featured in our Theatrefolk catalogue. Discover the magic, quirks, and genius of the playwrights who help bring the stage to life. Let's meet one of these exceptional playwrights who offers the chance for your student performers to shine in their spotlight. What inspired you to start writing plays specifically for high school & middle school students?After retiring from the bench, I was asked to direct a play at a local Junior High School. I soon found I needed plays for the kids to perform. So I wrote my first, Little Nell and the Mortgage Foreclosure. Can you share a bit about your creative process when developing plays that resonate with students? I start with the germ of an idea, and begin to write. Are there any challenges you face when writing for student performers, and how do you overcome them?I try to remember what my life was life when I was the age of those that I am writing for, and I try to write something that would have interested me. What themes or messages do you aim to convey through your plays?When I have written my farces, my only message is "have fun!" When I wrote my Holocaust play, I Wanted to Live I wanted to teach my actors and audience of the Horrors of the Holocaust, and demostrate the courage of a 10 year-old Jewish Child who acted heroically in her efforts to save her life and the lives of her family membered, and to teach young people today what hatred can lead to. When I wrote Mornings After The Dream I was trying to show black children in America that if President Obama could be elected President, that they too could succeed — if they were willing to put in the needed effort, and that American, if it had been a racist country, would never had elected a black President. How do you balance education and fun in your scripts?I believe vocabulary is critical to the success of every child. I never hesitate to use big words in a script. But I always use the words in a context where they are clearly understandable to the student actor. Can you share a memorable experience or feedback from a student performance that left an impact on you?On more than one occasion, I have cast students who were doing poorly in school, only to see them succeed in their performance, and thereafter become confident in themselves. This led to their new success in school. Any advice for teachers or directors looking to choose engaging and age-appropriate plays for their student performers?Don't be afraid to choose a play with a strong positive message. What is your favourite play you've written so far?My favorite melodrama is Little Nell and the Mortgage Foreclosure. My favorite farce would be The Day Ma's Boys Done Went to Town to Rob The Bank Again. My favorite Christmas Play would be my The First Herald Angel, or The Stuffed Animal. My favorite serious play would be I Wanted to Live, my Holocaust play. My favorite Halloween play would be Death Warrant for Dracula. My favorite murder-comedy would be The Gulls. I am very proud of all my plays. Anything else you'd like students and/or directors to know about you as a playwright? As a young lawyer, I decided I wanted to be a judge. At 32 years of age, I ran to be elected a Circuit Judge. I took no money from anybody, except my dad and brother, for my campaign. I didn't ask permission or blessing from the political bosses. I went door-to-door for six months, and I won both my primary and general election. I became a Circuit Judge at age 33, and remained on the bench, through four "retention" elections, for 26 years, until my retirement. In my retirement, I served as a volunteer theatrical director for our local Catholic High School, and three junior highs. I have published 18 plays, and more recently three books about America's Great Depression of the 1930s, two Christmas Children's stories, four books of my political opinion pieces that originally appeared in our local newspapers, and two other short books. My books can be seen on my author's website, and they can be found ordered on Amazon by simply typing in my full name: John Donald O'Shea. More details can be found on my author's website, which can be viewed here.

Welcome to "Playwright Spotlight" — your exclusive backstage pass to the creative minds crafting the incredible plays featured in our Theatrefolk catalogue. Discover the magic, quirks, and genius of the playwrights who help bring the stage to life. Let's meet one of these exceptional playwrights who offers the chance for your student performers to shine in their spotlight. What inspired you to start writing plays specifically for high school & middle school students?As a new Drama teacher (in 2005) I needed a play that served my students. After a fairly exhaustive search trying to find a play that would be dynamic, safe, and appropriate for high school while also being challenging. Metaphorically I created a meal myself since I couldn’t find a restaurant. And then of course I fell in love with playwriting. Can you share a bit about your creative process when developing plays that resonate with students?I’ve become a much better actor because I am around talented young people consistently. The same principle is true with writing. Being immersed in school life and observing the issues and challenges young people face on a daily basis. Are there any challenges you face when writing for student performers, and how do you overcome them?I am old. Cough, cough. Older than the students I serve. I’m aware I can easily backwards hat, cringe dad joke guy. See I did it there. What themes or messages do you aim to convey through your plays?I aim to consider the emotional and mental health challenges that face young people. There is a hero in each young person I serve. If something I write can help a young person have the courage to find and enhance their inner hero. How do you balance education and fun in your scripts?Imagination is an amazing connector. By stretching my own imagination I hope I challenge the creatives to do the same. Can you share a memorable experience or feedback from a student performance that left an impact on you?I had the opportunity to see a performance of Chemo Girl and Other Plays. As a person who won a battle with cancer watching this production was immensely powerful for me. After the curtain call the cast brought me up on stage and gave me a cactus. I planted it my front yard. A cactus can survive in the the most harsh environments. And I/we did too. Any advice for teachers or directors looking to choose engaging and age-appropriate plays for their student performers?Take a risk. Not just in the play(s) you select but in the way you produce the play(s). Reconsider your use of the fourth wall, encourage the audience to react/respond, connect with your love of the play and each other. What is your favourite play you've written so far?Who’s my favorite child? How dare you! Haha. Discovering Rogue. I feel it. Every single time. Anything else you'd like students and/or directors to know about you as a playwright?I am available to be a part of your process and depending on Southern California traffic attend your production.

Welcome to "Playwright Spotlight" — your exclusive backstage pass to the creative minds crafting the incredible plays featured in our Theatrefolk catalogue. Discover the magic, quirks, and genius of the playwrights who help bring the stage to life. Let's meet one of these exceptional playwrights who offers the chance for your student performers to shine in their spotlight. What inspired you to start writing plays specifically for middle school students? When I started my educational theatre playwriting career, I only focused on writing for high school. I didn't even consider the middle school market! But after a trip to a conference in Texas, I met so many middle school drama teachers over the course of a weekend who were looking specifically for plays written for middle school performers that dealt with middle school issues. And the big thing they told me middle school students didn’t want was fairy tales or similar childish stories. I took on the challenge and wrote School Daze as my first middle school specific play. Can you share a bit about your creative process when developing plays that resonate with middle school students?Talking to middle school teachers and students is the best way to develop plays that resonate. I've gone into classes and had discussions on topics, I've done workshops, and I always like to get plays in the hands of middle schoolers to get their feedback. They always have great insight into their own particular world and I appreciate hearing what they think. Are there any challenges you face when writing for middle school performers, and how do you overcome them?Middle school students aren't kids but they're not teenagers. That means that the topics, characters, and dialogue has to ring true in quite a narrow window. I've read many plays which are identified as middle school but the dialogue reads quite childish. I've seen plays that say they're appropriate for high school and middle school and they're clearly beyond the scope (in language and subject matter) of a 12 year old. And there are so many fairy tale adaptations out there! The best way to over come them these challenges is to share my work with middle school teachers and students. What themes or messages do you aim to convey through your middle school plays?For me, the biggest theme for middle school plays is identity. Middle school students go through some huge external and internal changes. They are at the age when they start making decisions about who they are, how they want others to see them, and how they see others. These are the stories and characters I want to share. How do you balance education and fun in your scripts for middle school productions?I don't think about it that way. I focus on characters experiencing a specific story. If I think about making something "educational" it's going to read stilted. Can you share a memorable experience or feedback from a middle school performance that left an impact on you?I have two related stories: First, I watched a 13 year old boy deliver one of my monologues in a competition. The character in the monologues talks about his life and how his family treat him after a suicide attempt. The monologue was written for a 16 year old character and the impact of seeing it done by a 13 year old was huge. This led me to question: does suicide happen in middle school? Secondly the director of one of my plays shared a rehearsal exercise she did with her cast in which her middle school students wrote on post-it notes the positive and negative things they say to themselves or hear others say to them.The negative board three times more post-its than the positive one. This led to the question: do middle school students get depressed? I fully admit, I didn't think so.That’s when I started researching the topic. I found that not only do middle school students get depressed but it’s often overlooked as laziness, and ignored because they’re seen as “too young” to be depressed. Many times the issue is never addressed. I knew I had to bring this issue to life in a play, which led to the play The Happiness Shop. Any advice for teachers or directors looking to choose engaging and age-appropriate plays for their middle schoolers?Talk to your students. What do they want to do plays about? Certainly there are limitations you may encounter from admin or parents, or even the students themselves. But the best thing I ever did as a writer was talk to students and learn their point of view of the world. What is your favourite middle school play you've written so far?My favourite middle school play that I've written is Box, which is part of the middle school trilogy of Hoodie, Box, and Boat. I've heard many times from teachers and students how authentic the characters and dialogue is. Having my writing seen as authentic, when I am so far away from being a middle school student myself, is something I'm really proud of.

Free writing can be a great way to get your students into the drama class mindset. They have to pause, focus, and write for a specific amount of time without stopping or getting distracted. For this exercise, the topic is “your ideal future.” If students could have their ultimate dream lives, what would they look like? They’ll describe every detail of this ideal life. You can use the basic part of this activity as a bellwork exercise, a writing warm-up, or an activity to help students with social-emotional life skills like goal setting. Then, you can use the extension exercises found after the main instructions to have your students go deeper into the work. Feel free to adjust the wording of the basic instructions as needed depending on your students and their needs. Set a timer for your chosen time (between 5 and 10 minutes) and give your students time interval announcements as necessary (“Three minutes remaining,” “One minute remaining,” and so on). Free Writing Instructions• You will have five to ten minutes to free write, stream-of-consciousness style. This means to simply write whatever comes to your mind, as quickly as possible. No editing, going back, or second-guessing your thoughts. If it comes into your brain, write it. Write in full sentences, but don’t worry too much about spelling or grammar. Just get your thoughts down on the page. • Write in whatever method is easiest for you — handwriting, typing, talk-to-text, seated, or standing. Just don’t disturb your fellow classmates. • Your topic is your ideal future. If you had your ideal life where all your dreams have come true, what would that life look like? Go into detail. What are you doing? What are you wearing? What’s an average day in your life like? Who do you interact with? What brings you joy? No aspect is too minor. • Write in present tense like you’re already living your ideal life. For example, “I am doing _____ and it’s amazing. I go to _____ every day. I eat _____ for breakfast. I’m wearing _____ and I look fantastic.” • Avoid “I would like to,” “I wish,” or “I want” statements, unless it’s something like, “I go wherever I want, whenever I want” or “Whatever I wish for comes true.” In this ideal future, you’ve got everything you could want or wish for. • Don’t worry about what anyone else is describing in their ideal life. Everyone’s will be unique. Once students have completed the free writing session, have them complete one or more of the following extension exercises: • Focus on one aspect of your ideal future and go deeper. Choose one area and write for an additional five minutes about one of the following topics: your career, love life, physical health and activity, family or home life, social life, spiritual life, or whatever area you’d like to excel in. Tie it back to your initial ideal future writing piece. • Use your notes to create a scene of a moment from your ideal future’s daily life. It can be a monologue, a partner scene, a group scene — whatever you’d like. • Create a fictional character that lives this ideal life and write a scene of a moment from their life. (Some students like this option as it’s less personal.) • Respond to the following exit slip question: What is one small action you could do today to help you on the path to achieving your ideal life? • If you’re currently studying or performing in a show, write out your character’s ideal future where they’re living the life they want and talk about in the show. Don’t worry about whether your character actually achieves this goal at the end of the play. If you need to, you can write it as if they’re imagining living their dream life (still in the present tense). Having this idea in your mind while you’re performing can help to make your character’s desires more urgent, and may help you play your role in a stronger fashion. • If you’re currently working on writing an original play or scene, write out your main character’s ideal future. Then, figure out how to throw a wrench into that plan. This can help you create conflict for your character. Create a mind map that illustrates various aspects of your character’s ideal future — one aspect of awesome per section. Then, write out two to three potential problems that could arise for each aspect. Choose one of these and write a scene in which your main character is foiled, distracted, or delayed from achieving their goal.

Whodunnit? Murder mystery plays are a lot of fun for both performers and audiences. Audiences get to be detectives and discover throughout the show who committed the crime, while the actors get to embody all sorts of interesting characters, all with a similar goal: to get away with murder! Murder mysteries are like spiderwebs — there are tons of connecting threads that all come together to make one fascinating and beautiful creation. They require a slightly different kind of planning, but it’s worth it to create a fun and intriguing piece of theatre. Read on for five tips (and five accompanying tasks) for writing a murder mystery play. 1. Choose your subgenre.Despite the fierce title, murder mysteries can be tailored to the playwright’s liking. They can be bloody and gory thrillers, “cozy” mysteries (a lighter mystery with clean language, and all violence occurring off-stage), or anything in between. A murder mystery might involve ghosts and the supernatural, or meddling kids might solve it rather than a detective. It could be set in a courtroom with a judge and jury, or in an abandoned house in a spooky forest. It might even involve audience participation! Students will need to decide how dark they want their mystery, and who their target audience is. Task: Have students determine what subgenre of murder mystery they want their piece to be (thriller, horror, noir, courtroom drama, dark comedy, farce, cozy, supernatural, etc.) and who their target audience is (adults, teens, elementary school children, families). Note: This might change as they work through the tasks. That’s ok! This is a starting point. 2. Map out your work.Murder mysteries generally have lots of characters. First and foremost: the victim. Who dies? When, where, and how? Then, there’s the rest of the motley crew: the victim’s various family members, friends, confidantes, lovers, enemies, employees or colleagues, and of course that one seemingly random character with a mysterious connection that is revealed later in the play. These are the suspects — the characters who have been accused of committing the crime. Not only are these characters connected to the victim, but they’re generally connected to at least one other character somehow. Task: Students will create a map of their characters, showing their connections to each other. Put the victim in the middle and the rest of the characters around them. Draw a line between each connected character. Some characters will have more connections than others. Students can sketch this on paper or a whiteboard, make a digital version, or create the classic cork-board-and-yarn setup (also known as a “conspiracy board,” “evidence board,” or “murder map”). 3. Determine the motives.Every character, including the main character, the detective, and even the narrator if there is one, needs to have a motive for the murder. Why did they want the victim dead? What’s in it for them? What do they stand to gain (or lose) from the victim’s death? Do they have an alibi? An alibi is a reason why the suspect couldn’t have committed the crime. Task: Determine a motive for each character, and an alibi if they have one. Add it to the character map created in Task 2. 4. Work backwards.Writing a murder mystery takes a lot of planning. This is one genre where it’s useful to work backwards — start with the final outcome of the piece and move backwards, adding details and perplexity, rather than trying to unravel everything at the beginning. Determine the crucial moments of the story, including scenes like the introduction of the characters, the murder itself, the discovery of the murder, the gathering of the witnesses, the sharing of alibis, the final outcome of the murder mystery — Who actually committed the crime? How did they do it? — and work backwards to the beginning of the piece. Include any important details that are specific to the piece. If students want to add complexity, they might try to have two scenes occur at the same time. Task: Make a backwards outline of the murder mystery. Write each important moment on a separate index card and attach the cards to a board with pins or magnets, starting from the end of the play and working back to the beginning. This way you can shift around, adjust, or eliminate the moments as necessary. 5. Show and tell.With the solid work students have done creating the outlines for their murder mystery plays, they can get started writing scenes. It’s easy to get lost in dialogue with murder mysteries — there’s a lot of information you need to relay. Remind students that plays are a visual medium and that the action of the show must be shown as well as spoken about. What scenes could you include with more action than dialogue? What can you show the audience that the other characters don’t see? What clues will be discovered when, and by whom? What red herrings can you include? (A red herring is a clue or piece of information that is intended to mislead or distract from the real issue at hand, and is frequently used in murder mysteries.) Task: Get writing! Be sure to check out some of Theatrefolk’s awesome murder mystery plays, such as She Wrote, Died, Then Wrote Some More and The Plucky Pie Murder.

In this article you’ll find instructions for a playwriting choice board exercise. For this exercise, students should bring in a photo of them as a baby or toddler. It needs to be a physical copy, not a screen capture on a phone, because some of the options require students to trade the image with a partner or put it up on the wall. If students are uncomfortable with bringing in a photo of themselves or aren't able to do so, they can bring in a photo of another baby or toddler — perhaps a parent or sibling, or a magazine cutout or printout from the internet. Depending on your timeframe and the size of the assignment you wish your students to complete, you can have students select one or more options from the choices below. Two of the choices are individual, two are for pairs, and two are for groups. So, for example, you may wish for students to complete one individual selection and one partner/group selection. If you want to add a performing component, you can have your students workshop the pieces aloud after they’ve been written. Adapt the exercise to best suit the needs of your class. You’ll find an evaluation rubric in the giveaway below. Choice Board Options:Individual: Write a monologue from the perspective of your younger self. It could be in the voice of the baby or toddler, or in an adult voice speaking about childlike topics. It can be comedic, dramatic, whatever you wish. Individual: Write a monologue from the perspective of the child about to have a total meltdown or temper tantrum. What happened that made them so upset? How did they get from the state they were in in the photo to melting down? How can you write the monologue to indicate that it should have different levels, not just screaming? Partner: Write a scene together in which your two younger selves meet for the first time. Where are they? Why are they meeting? Who are they with? What other details should you include? Partner: Trade photos with a classmate and write a character sketch about their baby photo. It doesn't have to be accurate — feel free to make up details! Trade the character sketches back and write a scene together from the perspective of the babies in the character sketches, using the details your partner created. Try to stick to what they wrote, not what you know about yourself. Group: The teacher will collect all the photos and post them on the wall in small groups (3–5 per group, depending on the size of the class). Those students will get together and write a Rugrats-style scene featuring the group of babies on an adventure. Group: In small groups, students will write a comedic “baby newscast” scene. Using the details in the photos, each group member will write a segment about issues facing babies, from the perspective of the baby. For example, if one of the baby photos features a baby with food all over their face, the baby might express frustration that they’re messy. A baby wearing overalls might discuss baby fashion dos and don’ts. One of the students’ babies can act as the host or anchor of the newscast to tie all the pieces together.

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.

Adaptations are super fun to perform. It’s really cool to see a favourite book, film, or even board game come to life before your eyes onstage. On top of that, you can put many different spins on an adaptation. Some adaptations are modernized, some are set in a different location, and some are turned completely on their head! Theatrefolk has over 50 different adaptations in our play catalogue — be sure to check them out. There are many different types of adaptations. Some are direct “page-to-stage” adaptations of famous stories such as Alice in Wonderland, Anne of Green Gables, The Wizard of Oz, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and more. There are also adaptations that put an interesting spin on the source material. The play Puffs is a humorous adaptation of the Harry Potter series, focused on the less-featured Hufflepuff House at Hogwarts. The Broadway musical Mean Girls is an adaptation of the movie starring Lindsay Lohan, which itself was adapted by Tina Fey from a nonfiction self-help book called Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. When students are exploring what source material to adapt, they’ll have to consider some of the following ideas: 1. What are the most important moments of the story to adapt? You can’t adapt everything, so some moments may need to be changed or omitted for length and pacing. Action** :** Choose a story that you’d like to adapt and create a timeline of the most important moments in the original story. Why are those moments important? Do they drive the action forward? If not, are they really necessary? 2. How many characters are in the story, and which are the most important? Are these characters interesting? Would you want to play them onstage? Do they drive the action of the story forward, and how? If there are too many characters, could some of them be combined or omitted? Alternatively, if there are too few characters, could you add an ensemble? Action** :** Create a list of characters that appear in the story. How many are there? Are there too many or too few? (Hint: There isn’t a wrong answer to this question — it’s your adaptation!) Describe each character in two sentences: who they are, and how they contribute to the overall story. 3. How will you make the story theatrical? There are scenes in every story that are challenging to bring to life onstage. For example, in the musical James and the Giant Peach, directors must figure out how to create characters who are insects onstage (such as Spider, Grasshopper, and Earthworm), as well as stage the giant peach itself, which floats in water, is attacked by missiles, and squashes James’ aunts! Action** :** Choose a scene from the story and describe in detail how, as a playwright, you might bring it to life onstage. If you wish, brainstorm as a class some scenes from books, movies, or television and how you’d adapt them. For example, if you were adapting Aladdin, how would you make the Genie appear from the magic lamp, or how might you make the magic carpet fly? If you were adapting The Hunger Games, how would you stage Katniss shooting her bow and arrow? For a bigger challenge, describe two ways you could make the action appear onstage — one high-tech version and one low-tech version.

The following exercise is flexible. It can be completed via distance learning or live in class. If students are completing this exercise online, they do not need to turn on their cameras or microphones. It is a short exercise that can be completed in one class period, but also extended if students complete it quickly or teachers wish to delve further. Finally, the only materials needed are a piece of clothing or an accessory and a writing device. Get ready to create a new character, using clothing as a prompt!1. Each student will take 30 seconds and select a piece of clothing or accessory found in their home (or on their person, if you’re doing this exercise live in class). The item can be as large as a snowsuit or as small as a pair of earrings. 2. Have each student take a photo of their selected clothing item or make a quick sketch of the item, and write a brief description of the item (what the item is, size, material, brand/style, quality). The description should only include characteristics of the item without interpretation or judgment (that will come next!). 3. Students will create an original character outline using that item for inspiration. They can’t write about the actual owner of the item (for example, if they’re using their dad’s fishing hat, they can’t write about their own dad). Here are some character questions to get them started: • What is their character’s name? • How old is the character? • How long has the character possessed their chosen clothing item? • Where did they get the item? How did they get it? • Did they buy it at a store? Receive it as a gift? Find it in a lost and found bin? Steal it from their cousin? Win it as a prize? • What other items would the character wear when they’re wearing the item? Describe them. • For example, if the item is a black t-shirt, would the character wear it with jeans, a skirt, overalls? What shoes would they wear? What accessories, if any, would they wear? • Does the item have any flaws or unique characteristics? • For example, a loose thread, a scratch or scuff, a stain, a hole? How did it happen? • Is the item meaningful or valuable to the character? • Does the item hold any memories for the character? Is the memory happy, sad, funny, traumatic, or something else? Students may add any additional details they think are important or interesting. At the end of class, students will submit the photo/sketch, the written description of the item, the original character outline, and their response to the exit slip question found at the end of this article. 4. Extension Activities: • Write a monologue of a character using, wearing, or describing the selected item. • Write a scene where the character has lost, misplaced, or broken the item. What are the stakes? (Meaning, why is the item and situation important to the character?) What are the consequences if the item is not found/restored? If you wish, have students write two separate endings: one where the item is found/returned/fixed, and one where the item is lost forever/irreparably damaged. • If you wish to include a performance aspect, have students wear or use their own chosen item and improvise a brief scene as their character, interacting with the item at some point (“Brrrrr, it’s chilly in here. Better put on my nice, warm sweater.”) 5. Options to keep students on their toes: • Have students photograph and submit their chosen clothing item or accessory to the teacher. The teacher will then choose one student’s item for everyone to write about. • After they have done so, have students compare and contrast their interpretations. • For example, if the item is a pair of sneakers, one student might write about a basketball player describing their greatest game wearing their lucky sneakers, while another writes about a Nike store employee having to sell the sneakers, and a third might write about someone getting gum stuck on the bottom of their new sneakers on their way to a first date. • Or, the teacher may mix up the clothing choices. The items could be distributed randomly to different students in the class, so everyone has a different item — just not the one they originally chose. • Or, have students pair up and write about their partner’s item. * * *

March 8th is International Women’s Day – and what better time to highlight some amazing women within the Theatrefolk community. Join us in celebrating these phenomenal playwrights and authors and their incredible contributions to the world of student theatre. Plus, keep reading to see our Top 10 Plays for Female Casts at the end of the post! Rachel Atkins • Baalzebub (and One Act Version)

Here’s a playwriting prompt exercise that takes advantage of something that’s frequently around us: advertisements! Ads are everywhere, and their main purpose is to sell us stuff. But we’re going to use them as inspiration for some fun writing activities. This exercise can be done in person or via distance learning. Students must find an image from an ad with a person in it. This can be anything – a picture from a magazine, a popup ad from a website, a clip from a television commercial, or an image from the side of a bus or a billboard. Students might choose a well-known advertising figure, such as the handsome man from the Old Spice ads, or the Philadelphia Cream Cheese angel. They might choose a model from a print ad or catalogue. The image can be a person of any gender, race, or age. Try to avoid animated characters or celebrity endorsements for this exercise. Students will capture an image of the advertisement. For example, they can take a screenshot of the website or take a photo of the ad on their smartphone. Once they have an image, they will create a character sketch about the person in the ad. Students must write a minimum of ten different personality traits and personal details about their character (that are unrelated to the character’s visual appearance). Who is the person? What is their name? How old are they? Do they have family or friends? What do they do with their time? Why do they like the product or service they’re selling? Once the character sketch is done, students will select, complete, and submit one of the five follow-up assignments below (along with the image and character sketch): • Write a monologue for your character. Ignore the product or service that they sell and put them in a completely different situation – at school or work, spending time with other people, going on an excursion. What are they doing? What are they thinking about? • Choose a completely different product for the character to sell. Write a 30-second commercial script for that product, using the personality traits created in the character sketch. • Create a voice for the character. Take your character sketch, put the points into first-person perspective (“My name is Sue Jones, I’m 29 years old, and I love Royale Toilet Paper”) and read it aloud, either live or using a voice recording app. Try different voices that might work for the character. Does the character speak quickly, with a high-pitched voice? Or do they speak softly and languidly? Maybe they have an accent? • What adjectives that describe the character’s appearance make them a good choice to sell that particular product or service? How does that relate to the product or service? Why is having an appropriate or interesting advertising character/model important for a product or service? • Think about a different character that might sell the same product or service. Write a description of that person, as well as a physical description of the person. If possible, make a sketch of that character or select a famous performer to portray the character. Why did you choose them?

Are your students feeling overwhelmed with possibilities for writing a new monologue? Do they need help focusing on one idea? Or are you simply looking for a way to get your students writing? For this exercise, all you’ll need is a book! This individual writing exercise can be done in class in person or completed remotely via distance learning. It can either be used as a warm-up exercise or as part of a more formal playwriting lesson. Materials Needed:• Writing tools – pen and paper, or word processing program on computer/chromebook/tablet/smartphone. • Any found book – can be a novel, textbook, nonfiction book, library book, or even a long article from a magazine or blog. You can use the same book for the full class, or have students select their own book from home. • Timer or stopwatch (optional). Directions:1. Have students get their writing tools ready. 2. Select a book that’s close to you, or have students each grab the closest book to them. If there are no books handy, use a magazine with long articles, or have students look through their browser history on their device and find a long article they’ve recently read. Students will write the title and author of the book or article at the top of the page. 3. Turn to page 17, second paragraph, fifth sentence. Students will write that sentence on their page, exactly as it is written in the book. (If they are using a magazine or blog article, they will just use the second paragraph and fifth sentence portion of the prompt.) If one of the qualifiers is missing (for example, if page 17 only has one paragraph), have students use their best judgment to select a sentence as close to as many of the qualifiers as possible. Here are some examples from my bookshelf. None of these books had the exact qualifiers, so I chose the closest sentences. “Do you work hard to achieve things – but find no lasting satisfaction from your accomplishments?” (from Always Change a Losing Game by David Posen) “Suddenly his high spirits were doused when his car was forced to a halt by a team of New Jersey State troopers.” (from Jon Bon Jovi: The Biography by Laura Jackson) “As a Frenchwoman born and raised, she liked to point out that you could never know with the Belgians.” (from The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George) “I only hope you are right, John.” (from Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs) 4. Students will write a new monologue starting with that sentence. Encourage students to take the monologue wherever they feel inspired to go. They don’t need to stick to the plot, setting or character names from the original book. For example, the sentence from Always Change a Losing Game could be a therapist talking to a client, or the beginning of an infomercial, or someone reading from a pamphlet, followed by their reaction to it. 5. If you are using this exercise as a warm-up, give students a time limit (for example, five minutes). Students must continue writing for the entirety of the time, and stop writing when the timer goes off. Ask your students: Was it easy or difficult to keep writing for the full five minutes? Was your book sentence prompt a good starting point for a monologue? Why or why not? 6. If you are using this exercise as a portion of a more formal playwriting lesson, you may wish to follow up with one or more of the following suggestions: • Read your monologue aloud for the rest of the class. • Trade monologues with a partner. Read them and give feedback. Revise and edit your monologue. Submit it for evaluation. • Write a different character’s response or reaction to the original monologue. • Count the number of words in the monologue. Then, edit and rewrite the monologue to be half the length of the original. • Give your monologue to a partner to perform. Help your partner with analyzing the monologue, figure out blocking, and work on diction and enunciation. Your partner will perform the monologue for the rest of the class. Note: If you wish, you may allow students to use the prompt sentence in any part of the monologue – beginning, middle, or end. Allow for flexibility in sentence prompt choice as well. If a student has a hard time figuring out what to write with the sentence they found, or the sentence is inappropriate (one of the books I looked at for examples was 1984 by George Orwell – nope, not using that sentence!), let them select a different prompt. The point is to give students an inspiration point, not to stress them out.

The exercises listed below can be adapted to distance and online learning opportunities. Students work individually (rather than with partners or in groups). Group work and discussions can be completed using video conferencing programs (such as Google Hangouts, Skype, or Zoom). Written work can be submitted electronically via email or uploading to Google Drive or similar. Performances can be done live via video conferencing programs, or filmed on a smartphone or digital camera and uploaded to a service such as YouTube or Vimeo (privacy settings can be adjusted to accommodate your school’s internet safety policies). Check out our round-ups of exercises for Vocal and Physical Performance and Monologue and Individual Performance as well. Playwriting ExercisesPlaywriting exercises are great because they can be completed anywhere a student has access to a computer or tablet. They can also dictate their writing using speech-to-text software. Playwriting assignments can be submitted electronically, and feedback can be added and sent back, or given verbally/in person using video conferencing programs. 1. A Character is Not a Whole Person 2. A Picture Tells A Thousand Words: Cross-Curricular Drama Classroom Project 3. Brainstorming in the Drama Classroom: Coming Up With More Ideas Than You Need 4. Exploring the Greek Chorus Students will write their own Greek chorus, narrating an everyday activity. Students can also perform their piece if you wish. 5. Same Character, Different Choice 6. Shakespeare’s Words: Iambic Pentameter 7. The 5 W’s and Playwriting 8. Tips for Giving Feedback to Student Playwrights Focus on Feedback Form exercise 9. Top 3 Ways to Write a Character Specific Voice 10. Using Statistics as Scene Starters Focus on Serious Statistics – A PSA Project exercise Written Drama and Analysis ExercisesLike playwriting exercises, students can complete written drama exercises anywhere they have access to a computer or tablet, and submit their work electronically. 1. Brainstorming as a Group: Add Three 2. Dealing With Difficult Characters: 3 Tips for Success Focus on Tip #3: Your character is not “you” list 3. Do You Know Your Character? 4. Ensembles Are Characters Too! Focus on Tip #1: Character profile 5. Making Assumptions About Characters 6. Nine Questions Actors Need to Ask Themselves 7. Prompting Creativity in the Drama Classroom 8. Question of the Day 9. Questioning Your Character (Without Judgment) 10. Same Lines, Different Meanings Note – partners aren’t necessary to complete these exercises 11. To Research or To Not Research? 12. What Does My Character Want? 13. What’s the Difference Between What Characters Want and Need? 14. What’s Your Character’s Signature Gesture?

This month we’re focusing on helping different types of students in your drama class succeed. In Part 2 of this series, we’re focusing on the writer/composers. Going back to the High School Musical comparison, these are your quietly brilliant Kelsi Nielsens. Like your drama enthusiasts, these students love drama class and are usually involved in school productions, as well as up to date on all the Broadway news. They might be musically inclined and play at least one instrument. They’re often well spoken and quite witty once you get to know them, and they do well in other classes such as creative writing, English, and music. They may or may not be eager performers in class, but they participate and contribute effectively. These lovely students are creative, smart, and talented, but sometimes they can be introverted and quiet. This can lead to them being overshadowed or spoken over by their more extroverted classmates. Their creative ideas and writing skills are definitely assets, but they can be relegated to the workhorse role in group work and they don’t always get the credit they deserve for their contributions. They also may feel like they don’t fit in with their peers in drama class; as writers and composers, they don’t easily fall into the performer or crew categories. Your writer/composers may need reassurance that their contributions are valuable and, indeed, necessary for your drama class. They are the ones who will come up with material that is relevant, fresh, and interesting to your drama students. Who knows, your students might be the creators of the next big hit someday! Encourage your writer/composers to write/compose daily, and to share their work as much as possible to grow and get feedback. Challenge them to take the lead on group playwriting activities. There are many articles and exercises here at Theatrefolk about playwriting that you can use to inspire your students. At the same time, participating in a variety of onstage and technical production roles will benefit your writer/composers and allow them to gain practical theatrical experiences that will inform their future written creations. If possible, look into creating special focus projects and opportunities for your writer/composers, such as: • Workshopping scenes they’ve written by having their classmates read or perform them in class • Editing or acting as dramaturgs for other students’ written work • Writing the script or composing music for a class performance project • Composing a new school song • Challenging them to try different styles of writing, such as sketch comedy or spoken word poetry • Creating original underscores to accompany mime, tableau, mask, or otherwise silent scene work • Composing pre-show, scene change, intermission, or post-show music for your school production • Creating a series of improv scene or playwriting prompts for you to use in your classroom Try this playwriting exercise to get your writer/composers’ brains going quickly and creatively (as well as the brains of the rest of your class!). Students will complete this exercise in groups of 2-4. 3 Items Playwriting Exercise• Select three items visible in the drama classroom. For example: • A hoodie, a pencil sharpener, and a chair • A backpack, a poster, and a piece of chalk • A day planner, a granola bar, and a dustpan • Students have 10-15 minutes to write a one-page scene that has the same number of characters as group members and uses, mentions, or involves the three items in some way. The rest of the scene elements (characters, location, topic, style) are up to the group. The scene must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. • When time is up, each group will read the scene out loud for the rest of the class, with each group member reading one of the roles. • If time permits, have a class discussion about the various creative ways the same three items were used differently in each scene. • Alternate option: Students may compose a short song or rap, set to the tune of an existing song or an original melody, using the three items. As with the scene, students will perform the song or rap out loud for the rest of the class.

Radio plays are theatrical performances that are purely auditory; they’re meant to be performed on the radio, hence the name! There is no visual aspect, so performers must rely on their vocal performances as well as sound effects and music to convey the story to the audience. Radio plays are fantastic for students to practice and develop many performance skills like projection, diction, and using emotion, without the pressure of actually getting up and performing in front of others. It also gives students the opportunity to creatively work with playwriting, selecting appropriate music, and creating sound effects. The following exercise gives students the chance to create their own radio play using a children’s story as the source material. They will then have the opportunity to perform their play for the rest of the class (either a live or pre-recorded performance). Click below for a four class Lesson Plan version of the exercise! Pre-Assignment: Play examples of radio plays for students. This will reinforce for students that all storytelling aspects have to be oral – there are no visuals! You should also look for some examples of radio play script formatting. It’s a different medium than a regular stage play. 1. Selecting the Source Material Students will form groups of 4-6. In their groups, students will select a children’s story to adapt into a radio play. 2. Writing the Play Students will adapt the children’s story into a script. Remind students to follow the radio play script formatting. Many radio plays use a narrator to set the tone of the story, switch between scenes (“Meanwhile, back at the ranch…”), and to keep the action going between character’s lines. Focus on creating really clear, strong, descriptive lines by using adjectives and “sense” words (sight, smell, taste, touch, sound) to set the mood. For example: • “Jessica sauntered into the room in a shimmering green evening gown.” • “The scent of freshly-baked cinnamon cookies made Mike’s mouth water.” • “A frightened Kyle peeked out the window to see a tall, sinister-looking man skulking around the garbage cans.” • “The wolf grinned menacingly, revealing a huge set of glistening-white, razor-sharp teeth.” 3. Choosing Appropriate Music and Sound Effects Students will choose at least 3 clips of music (one for the beginning of the piece, one for a significant part of the middle of the piece, and one for the end) to use in the play, as well as at least 5 sound effects. These sound effects can be found online or in a sound effects library, or they can be created live. Students must ensure that the music and sound effects are appropriate for the scene while not overpowering the vocal performances. 4. Casting and Rehearsing the Play Students will each take a role in the play and develop an appropriate character voice for their part, focusing on clear diction and enunciation, and showing emotion. Remember that there’s no visuals, they have only their voice to work with. Students should rehearse their roles so they are comfortable and familiar with their words. Performances do not have to be off-book, but will be MUCH easier if students are well-rehearsed. NOTE: If there are not enough roles to go around, one student can be solely in charge of performing the sound effects, or the narrator role should be split up. Alternatively, students can adapt their play to include more characters. 5. Performing the Piece Students have two options to perform the piece: LIVE: Students will perform the piece live, in front of the rest of the class. The rest of the class will face away from the performers while they are presenting, so the group cannot use visual clues to tell the story. Music and sound effects will be performed as part of the presentation, either performed live or by utilizing prepared music and sound effects (on a computer, CD player, or MP3 player). PRE-RECORDED: Most cell phones come with an audio recorder, or students can create their performance using a microphone and audio recording software on their computers (like Audacity or Adobe Audition). Music and sound effects will be performed during the recording, either performed live or by utilizing prepared music and sound effects. The recorded performance will be brought to the class and played for the rest of the class to listen to.

One thing that often comes up in student writing is that characters only seem to exist from the first page to the last page. Students don’t think of their characters as having lives outside the world of the play, or before/after the action of the play. This can result in flat, surfacey characters who only act to move the story forward, rather than being dropped into a situation and reacting as a human being. If we want students to write three-dimensional characters, then they have to do some character development work that might not make it into the actual play. The more they know about a character, the more they can determine how that character is going to react in a situation. Read this quote to students and discuss its meaning. “A character is never a whole person, but just those parts of him that fit the story or the piece of writing. So, the act of selection is the writer’s first step in delineating character. From what does he select? From a whole mass of what Bernard DeVoto used to call, somewhat clinically, “placental material.” He must know an enormous amount more about each of his characters than he will ever use directly—childhood, family background, religion, schooling, health, wealth, sexuality, reading, tastes, hobbies—an endless questionnaire for the writer to fill out. For example, the writer knows that people speak, and therefore his characters will describe themselves indirectly when they talk. Clothing is a means of characterization. In short, each character has a style of his own in everything he does. These need not all be listed, but the writer should have a sure grasp of them. If he has, his characters will, within the book, read like people.” WILLIAM SLOANE Discussion Questions1. What does the phrase “A Character Is Not a Whole Person” mean? 2. Do you keep parts of yourself separate? Is there a way you act at school that you don’t act at home? 3. How is it useful to create details that don’t occur in the play? 4. How can learning about the whole person help you as a playwright? Exercise1. Character Unknowns: • Choose a character in a play that you have studied or are familiar with. • Give that character a character detail that doesn’t currently exist in the play. (Eg: In Hamlet, write down Hamlet’s favourite band, his favourite food, a food that he hates but his mom used to make him eat, his biggest pet peeve, the fact that he’s afraid of snakes, etc.) • Write a monologue for this character that identifies this unknown character detail. You still have to keep the character in the world of the play (Hamlet hates his stepdad, is friends with Horatio, etc.) but ask what can you learn about the character by writing about these new details. • Read the monologues out in small groups. What details did other students come up with? 2. Complete the same exercise with the play you’re writing. Create a character detail that is currently unknown in the world of the play. Write a monologue for your character that focuses on that detail.