So, there you have it - the first draft of the first act. Over the next few days I'll be working on the rewrites. There are some problems with Scene 1, which doesn't come across as I intended it to. I also have to flesh out character descriptions. If there are any particularly confusing parts, please feel free to let me know. I'm not going to tell people what it all means (at least, not yet), but I do want you to know what's happening.
The standard script format probably won't work for this play. Movement and visuals are inseparable from the story, and formatting such a play in the conventional way would undermine that. I may use a variation of the screenplay format since it allows for a more visual style that allows for simultaneous action.
One thing I am noticing is how elastic the length of this play is. The prologue can easily be a 10-minute play by itself, but if the director chooses to make some things simultaneous, it can probably take 5 minutes. Act 1 is particularly flexible. Played completely in linear sequence, each scene can almost be a 10-minute play, and the Snow White dream a one-act play. So far, it looks something like this:
INTRO: Sleeping Beauty
ACT 1: Snow White
ACT 2: Red Riding Hood
ACT 3: Bluebeard
ACT 4: Sleeping Beauty
If everything plays like Snow White, that's over 2 hours worth of material from the outset.
This doesn't include anything like transition or interlude scenes. Length by itself is not an issue, but I do care about demanding too much of people's bladders. Of course, 2 hours of interesting material plays better than 10 minutes of banal material. It's just something I think about.
A blog by a playwright who wrote a play about a famous actress coming out of a TV, with a few thoughts on diversity, social justice, and indie theatre.
Showing posts with label notes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label notes. Show all posts
May 22, 2008
May 20, 2008
More Notes - Design elements
I know this seems like I'm writing more about the play than the play itself, but this is a working draft. I suspect much of this will find its way into rewrites and updates. As it stands, take it as it is: working ideas about a developing piece.
Last time I touched briefly on style, pretty much allowing any rendition of this play that isn't parody, realism, or Disney. What follows will probably seem fairly obvious, especially to those used to avant-garde theater. However, what is obvious to me won't necessarily be obvious to the people producing this piece. So, in consideration for the people who actually have to do the work, these are some of the things I often imagine that don't necessarily translate well in a script - at least, not in the first draft stage.
I'll address each aspect of the work in turn.
TEXT (incl. notes)
The text is a springboard for performance. That's it. I establish firm boundaries not to limit your input, but to free you from the shackles of convention. What fairy tales and theater both have in common is that many people come to them with preconceived notions about their form, content, and meaning. There is a lot of inertia to overcome at the outset, and much of what I write are tools you can use to do that.
PERFORMANCE
Movement is indispensable to performing this piece. The main challenge for performers is finding and/or creating a language of movement that conveys the sense of events without defaulting to pantomime. This play definitely lends itself to a more stylized performance that draws from many sources: non-Western drama, various forms of dance, and all kinds of rituals and liturgy, to name a few. Regardless of what you do, strive to avoid the mundane, everyday, and any-old-how.
The thing to keep in mind is that you are not portraying ordinary people. The inhabitants in the world of the play are barely human at all. They are more like entities, forces, concepts and essences given humanoid form. These beings are sentient but not necessarily rational. They may not even have free will as we understand it. Perhaps characters are as they are because they are destined to be so. Maybe events happen because they are fated to do so.
COSTUME DESIGN
Next to performance, costume plays the biggest role in defining the characters. How the characters look should reveal a lot about who they are. It doesn't need to be extravagant or expensive, but it must be expressive. Simple but suggestive concepts go further than more elaborate designs that inhibit performance.
For instance, the Mirror can simply be the actor wearing black leotards and carrying a mirror on her torso. The Wolf doesn't need to be covered in fur from head to toe. He could also be the actor wearing regular clothes and a half-mask like a wolf's head.
SET DESIGN (incl. lighting)
A fixed set would make a lot of what happens difficult to pull off because the scenes change very suddenly and drastically. I don't imagine the play needing an actual set, but don't let that stop you from doing what you can to establish mood and atmosphere, as well as to suggest a sense of place. Whatever you decide, it should be easy to quickly and discreetly move various pieces as scenes change.
SOUND DESIGN (incl. music)
I don't believe the play will need sound effects, but music is another matter. Music can enhance the performance by giving the actors a rhythm to work with. It can also time the piece better than the page count. Whether you use the music of other artists or create your own, the general idea is that each scene lasts for the duration of one song.
Later on, I may note the songs I often listen to when imagining certain scenes. Suffice it to say, they veer toward the mysterious, hypnotic, creepy, haunting, disturbing and erotic: goth, metal, trance/acid, new wave (shut up), world music, and classical. Stuff like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Velvet Underground ("Venus in Furs"), Danzig, Type O Negative (esp. "Bloody Kisses" and "October Rust" albums), The Eurhythmics ("Sweet Dreams are Made of These"), Depeche Mode (esp. "Violator" album), Bjork, Danny Elfman, Mussorgsky (esp. "Hut on Fowl's Legs"), Camille Saint-Saens ("Danse Macabre"), Kronos Quartet, Kodo, etc.
CONCLUSION
Although the above seems like I should direct this play, it's frankly impossible for me because I can imagine a thousand different ways to stage it and can't really make a decision because it changes each time I get back to it.
Last time I touched briefly on style, pretty much allowing any rendition of this play that isn't parody, realism, or Disney. What follows will probably seem fairly obvious, especially to those used to avant-garde theater. However, what is obvious to me won't necessarily be obvious to the people producing this piece. So, in consideration for the people who actually have to do the work, these are some of the things I often imagine that don't necessarily translate well in a script - at least, not in the first draft stage.
I'll address each aspect of the work in turn.
TEXT (incl. notes)
The text is a springboard for performance. That's it. I establish firm boundaries not to limit your input, but to free you from the shackles of convention. What fairy tales and theater both have in common is that many people come to them with preconceived notions about their form, content, and meaning. There is a lot of inertia to overcome at the outset, and much of what I write are tools you can use to do that.
PERFORMANCE
Movement is indispensable to performing this piece. The main challenge for performers is finding and/or creating a language of movement that conveys the sense of events without defaulting to pantomime. This play definitely lends itself to a more stylized performance that draws from many sources: non-Western drama, various forms of dance, and all kinds of rituals and liturgy, to name a few. Regardless of what you do, strive to avoid the mundane, everyday, and any-old-how.
The thing to keep in mind is that you are not portraying ordinary people. The inhabitants in the world of the play are barely human at all. They are more like entities, forces, concepts and essences given humanoid form. These beings are sentient but not necessarily rational. They may not even have free will as we understand it. Perhaps characters are as they are because they are destined to be so. Maybe events happen because they are fated to do so.
COSTUME DESIGN
Next to performance, costume plays the biggest role in defining the characters. How the characters look should reveal a lot about who they are. It doesn't need to be extravagant or expensive, but it must be expressive. Simple but suggestive concepts go further than more elaborate designs that inhibit performance.
For instance, the Mirror can simply be the actor wearing black leotards and carrying a mirror on her torso. The Wolf doesn't need to be covered in fur from head to toe. He could also be the actor wearing regular clothes and a half-mask like a wolf's head.
SET DESIGN (incl. lighting)
A fixed set would make a lot of what happens difficult to pull off because the scenes change very suddenly and drastically. I don't imagine the play needing an actual set, but don't let that stop you from doing what you can to establish mood and atmosphere, as well as to suggest a sense of place. Whatever you decide, it should be easy to quickly and discreetly move various pieces as scenes change.
SOUND DESIGN (incl. music)
I don't believe the play will need sound effects, but music is another matter. Music can enhance the performance by giving the actors a rhythm to work with. It can also time the piece better than the page count. Whether you use the music of other artists or create your own, the general idea is that each scene lasts for the duration of one song.
Later on, I may note the songs I often listen to when imagining certain scenes. Suffice it to say, they veer toward the mysterious, hypnotic, creepy, haunting, disturbing and erotic: goth, metal, trance/acid, new wave (shut up), world music, and classical. Stuff like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Velvet Underground ("Venus in Furs"), Danzig, Type O Negative (esp. "Bloody Kisses" and "October Rust" albums), The Eurhythmics ("Sweet Dreams are Made of These"), Depeche Mode (esp. "Violator" album), Bjork, Danny Elfman, Mussorgsky (esp. "Hut on Fowl's Legs"), Camille Saint-Saens ("Danse Macabre"), Kronos Quartet, Kodo, etc.
CONCLUSION
Although the above seems like I should direct this play, it's frankly impossible for me because I can imagine a thousand different ways to stage it and can't really make a decision because it changes each time I get back to it.
Notes for play - boundaries
There are many ways to stage this play successfully, but only three to surely do it wrong:
Parody. I like "Into the Woods" a great deal, but my work is not a comedy. To play it for laughs is to betray the spirit in which I conceived and wrote this piece. In fact, it's more like a combination of fantasy, horror, and erotica.
Taking it literally. When characters "fly" or "transform" or "disappear," it's more a suggestion about the quality of movement than anything else. This is merely the most efficient means to do so. Not to mention, it captures the tone and mood of the piece more effectively.
Disneyfication. This piece is emphatically not entertainment for the whole family. Bleaching out the sex, violence, and witchcraft would also undermine much of its power.
With those three hurdles out of the way, pretty much any interpretation is valid. This work deliberately gives a lot of room for the particular aesthetic elements. They are not tied to a particular time and place (in other words, not pseudo-medieval Europe by default). Each time I read it, I can imagine the same events staged in different ways. I hope you can too.
Parody. I like "Into the Woods" a great deal, but my work is not a comedy. To play it for laughs is to betray the spirit in which I conceived and wrote this piece. In fact, it's more like a combination of fantasy, horror, and erotica.
Taking it literally. When characters "fly" or "transform" or "disappear," it's more a suggestion about the quality of movement than anything else. This is merely the most efficient means to do so. Not to mention, it captures the tone and mood of the piece more effectively.
Disneyfication. This piece is emphatically not entertainment for the whole family. Bleaching out the sex, violence, and witchcraft would also undermine much of its power.
With those three hurdles out of the way, pretty much any interpretation is valid. This work deliberately gives a lot of room for the particular aesthetic elements. They are not tied to a particular time and place (in other words, not pseudo-medieval Europe by default). Each time I read it, I can imagine the same events staged in different ways. I hope you can too.
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