How to Write a Play - Letters from top playwrights PDF Download

Author: Various
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1365587290
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description
There is No Better Way Than To Learn From Successes. The problem is that successful playwrights are not always the best teachers. These letters in themselves are not a course of study, but rather consider these missives to serve as muses that sit on your shoulder and opine. There are no workable rules for play-writing to be found hereÑnor, indeed, any particular light of any kind on the subject, so the letters may be approached with a mind arranged for enjoyment. As to the talented authors of these letters, they know excellently wellÑevery one of themÑhow to write a playÑor did while still aliveÑeven tho some of them see fit to deny it; but they cannot tell us how to do it for the very good reason that it cannot be told. Their charming efforts to find a way out when cornered by such an inquiry as appears to have been made to them are surely worth all their trouble and annoyanceÑnot to speak of their highly probable exasperation. Get Your Copy Now.

Author: Constance Congdon
Publisher: Theatre Communications Grou
ISBN: 9781559360845
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Constance Congdon's plays in this collection range from a somber mediation on life in the postnuclear age ("No Mercy") to madcap social satire ("Losing Father's Body"), from an epic historical exploration of love and social identity ("Casanova") to the imaginative aliens' travel guide to Middle America ("Tales of the Lost Formicans").

Author: Jonathan Charles Dorf
Publisher: Young Playwrights 101
ISBN: 1599710692
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS 101 is a complete playwriting course that uses easy-to-follow lessons and practical exercises to guide playwrights from idea through submission. While it was originally written with young playwrights and their teachers in mind, you dont have to be a student or drama teacher to benefit from YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS 101: no matter what your age or experience, if youre looking for detailed, no-nonsense advice about the craft and business of playwriting-and to write plays that will actually be produced-this is the resource for you. Here are just a few examples of topics youll find inside: Creating Characters Conflict Play Structure Choosing the Right Setting The "Question" of the Play How to Use an Outline Handling Exposition Using Punctuation to Write Better Dialogue Opening and Ending Your Play The Writing Process Dealing with Writer's Block Choosing the Best Title Recentering Your Play Rewriting Using the Expanded Writer's Web and Troubleshooter's Checklist How to Have a Useful Play Reading The Playwright's Bill of Rights and much, much more Whether youre writing your first play, want to brush up on your skills or are looking for that missing something in your writing, YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS 101 is the jumpstart you need to write plays that make it to the stage.

Author: Colum McCann
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0399590811
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Book Description
From the bestselling author of the National Book Award winner Let the Great World Spin comes a lesson in how to be a writer—and so much more than that. Intriguing and inspirational, this book is a call to look outward rather than inward. McCann asks his readers to constantly push the boundaries of experience, to see empathy and wonder in the stories we craft and hear. A paean to the power of language, both by argument and by example, Letters to a Young Writer is fierce and honest in its testament to the bruises delivered by writing as both a profession and a calling. It charges aspiring writers to learn the rules and even break them. These fifty-two essays are ultimately a profound challenge to a new generation to bring truth and light to a dark world through their art.

Author: Tira Palmquist
Publisher: Original Works Publishing
ISBN: 1630920703
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 109

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Book Description
Synopsis: The bees have gone, disease and scarcity are rampant, but Mel, a young pollinator, finds refuge on an isolated farm. This place is fertile and safe, and Mel counts herself lucky to have a place where – even if it is not exactly happy – she has a purpose. When that purpose and safety are threatened, Mel faces an awful choice: will she risk leaving this relative safety, or will she hide from greater dangers, even if it means giving up some chance that something good can grow in this ruined world? Cast Size: 1 Male, 3 Females

Author: Marina Carr
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571389198
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description
Winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 1997. 'Carr's harrowing play has the scale and anguish of myth, and the immediacy of a contemporary anecdote.' Independent on Sunday There's a wolf tooth growin in me heart and it's turnin me from everywan and everthin I am. Portia Coughlan lives life in monstrous limbo, haunted by a yearning for her spectral twin brother lying at the bottom of the Belmont river, unable to find any love for her wealthy husband and children, seeking solace in soulless affairs, deeply afraid of what she might do. Portia Coughlan premiered on the Abbey Theatre's Peacock Stage, Dublin, in April 1996 and transferred to the Royal Court Theatre, London, in May that year. It was revived at the Almeida Theatre, London, in October 2023. 'Taut and haunting, funny and sad . . . Carr plays with time and place to resonant, ultimately devastating effect.' The Stage 'One of the most important Irish plays of the twentieth century.' Arts Review 'Marina Carr goes to a deep place that has not just to do with society now but that touches an inner tragedy of existence. The female quality of her writing comes through not only in the way she writes about women, it's in the physicality in her writing. She is right in there with the cycles of life, with the blood and the dirt.' Joyce McMillan, New York Times

Author: Paula Vogel
Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
ISBN: 1559367148
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description
“Brilliant . . . even more ambitious than Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive . . . it covers more ground and is bolder in its storytelling. Vogel’s language is at its most poetic, eloquent and elegiac. In fact, its vivid imagery rivals the prose style of any great American short story writer. The play sounds like it might have been adapted from a beautiful, undiscovered novella.”—New Haven Register “One of the most absorbing evenings of theatre to come along in some time.”—Variety Past and present collide on a snowy Christmas Eve for a troubled family of five. Humorous and heart-wrenching, this beautifully written play proves that magic can be found in the simplest breaths of life. Combining the elements of No theatre and Bunraku with contemporary Western sensibilities, Vogel’s Ride is a mesmerizing homage to the works of Thornton Wilder, including Our Town. A moving and memorable study of the American family careening near the edge of oblivion. Paula Vogel’s plays include The Baltimore Waltz, Mineola Twins, Hot ‘n’ Throbbing, Desdemona, And Baby Makes Seven, among others. Ms. Vogel will be the resident playwright during the Signature Theatre’s 2004–05 season dedicated to her works. She has taught at Brown University in the MFA playwriting program since 1985.

Author: Jacqueline Goldfinger
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000425061
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 118

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Book Description
Playwriting with Purpose: A Guide and Workbook for New Playwrights provides a holistic approach to playwriting from an award-winning playwright and instructor. This book incorporates craft lessons by contemporary playwrights and provides concrete guidance for new and emerging playwrights. The author takes readers through the entire creative process, from creating characters and writing dialogue and silent moments to analyzing elements of well-made plays and creating an atmospheric environment. Each chapter is followed by writing prompts and pro tips that address unique facets of the conversation about the art and craft of playwriting. The book also includes information on the business of playwriting and a recommended reading list of published classic and contemporary plays, providing all the tools to successfully transform an idea into a script, and a script into a performance. Playwriting with Purpose gives writers and students of playwriting hands-on lessons, artistic concepts, and business savvy to succeed in today’s theater industry.

Author: Richard Nathan
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1465321683
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Playhouse of the Damned is an anthology of short horror plays, hosted by Gus the Ghoul. As Gus says, Welcome to the Playhouse of the Damned. This is the playhouse. Guess what part you play. Heres a hint. In just a few minutes, youll find yourself agreeing with hundreds of theatergoers who have attended our playhouse and said, I'll be damned if I'm going to sit through any more of this!

Author: Sarah Ruhl
Publisher: Samuel French, Inc.
ISBN: 9780573633980
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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Book Description
"The play takes place in a "metaphysical Connecticut" where married doctors employ a Brazilian housekeeper who is more interested in coming up with the perfect joke than in cleaning. Trouble erupts when the husband falls in love with one of his cancer patients. The theatrical and wildly funny, whimsical look at class, comedy, and the nature of love gives new meaning to 'I almost died laughing.' "--Publisher's description on back cover.