The Dramatic Writer's Companion

The Dramatic Writer's Companion
Author: Will Dunne
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2017-10-04
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 022649411X

Spark your creativity, hone your writing, and improve your scripts with the self-contained character, scene, and story exercises found in this classic guide. Having spent decades working with dramatists to refine and expand their existing plays and screenplays, Dunne effortlessly blends condensed dramatic theory with specific action steps—over sixty workshop-tested exercises that can be adapted to virtually any individual writing process and dramatic script. Dunne’s in-depth method is both instinctual and intellectual, allowing writers to discover new actions for their characters and new directions for their stories. The exercises can be used by those just starting the writing process and by those who have scripts already in development. With each exercise rooted in real-life issues from Dunne’s workshops, readers of this companion will find the combined experiences of more than fifteen hundred workshops in a single guide. This second edition is fully aligned with a brand-new companion book, Character, Scene, and Story, which offers forty-two additional activities to help writers more fully develop their scripts. The two books include cross-references between related exercises, though each volume can also stand alone. No ordinary guide to plotting, this handbook centers on the principle that character is key. “The character is not something added to the scene or to the story,” writes Dunne. “Rather, the character is the scene. The character is the story.” With this new edition, Dunne’s remarkable creative method will continue to be the go-to source for anyone hoping to take their story to the stage. “Dunne mixes an artist’s imagination and intuition with a teacher’s knowledge of the craft of dramatic writing.” —May-Brit Akerholt, award-winning dramaturg

The Architecture of Story

The Architecture of Story
Author: Will Dunne
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2016-04-08
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 022618191X

This new book from the author of The Dramatic Writer's Companion approaches some of the same issues as its predecessor but from a slightly different angle. It offers playwrights, screenwriters, and other dramatic writers in-depth analysis of the dramatic architecture of three award-winning contemporary American plays: Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley, Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks, and The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl. Each relatively brief chapter is devoted to a specific story element--from "Characters" and "Main Event" to "Emotional Environment" and "Back Story"--with subsections that break down this element in each of the plays. Readers can choose to read across the chapters to follow the analysis of each play, but the structure gives primary emphasis to the story elements, comparing and contrasting how different writers have successfully handled them. Each chapter ends with a set of questions to help readers analyze and develop that element in their own work.

The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century Irish Drama

The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century Irish Drama
Author: Shaun Richards
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2004-01-29
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780521008730

The essays in this collection cover the entire range of Irish drama, from the late nineteenth-century melodramas (anticipating the rise of the Abbey Theatre) to the contemporary Dublin of theater festivals. In addition to studies of individual playwrights, the collection includes an examination of the relationship between the theater and its political context as reflected through its ideology, staging and programming. Including a complete chronology and bibliography, this collection will be an important introduction to one of the world's most vibrant theater cultures.

Character, Scene, and Story

Character, Scene, and Story
Author: Will Dunne
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2017-10-09
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 022639364X

The author of The Dramatic Writer’s Companion offers forty-two new exercises to help playwrights and screenwriters explore, develop, and strengthen their work. Will Dunne first captured the workshop experience in The Dramatic Writer’s Companion, offering practical exercises to help playwrights and screenwriters work through the problems that arise in developing their scripts. Now writers looking to further enhance their storytelling process can turn to Character, Scene, and Story. Featuring forty-two new workshop-tested exercises, this volume allows writers to dig deeper into their scripts by fleshing out images, exploring characters from an emotional perspective, tapping the power of color and sense memory to trigger ideas, and trying other visceral techniques. The guide also includes a troubleshooting section to help tackle problem scenes, as well as hundreds of examples, many of which have been developed as both plays and films. Character, Scene, and Story is fully aligned with the new edition of The Dramatic Writer’s Companion, with cross-references between related exercises so that writers have the option to explore a given topic in more depth. While both guides can stand alone, together they give writers more than one hundred tools to develop more vivid characters and craft stronger scripts.

The Facts on File Companion to American Drama

The Facts on File Companion to American Drama
Author: Jackson R. Bryer
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
Total Pages: 657
Release: 2010
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1438129661

Features a comprehensive guide to American dramatic literature, from its origins in the early days of the nation to the groundbreaking works of today's best writers.

Deadly Companions

Deadly Companions
Author: Nelson C. Nye
Publisher: Macmillan Reference USA
Total Pages: 253
Release: 1988
Genre: Large print books
ISBN: 9781850574910

The Theatre of David Henry Hwang

The Theatre of David Henry Hwang
Author: Esther Kim Lee
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2015-12-17
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1408185016

Since the premiere of his play FOB in 1979, the Chinese American playwright David Henry Hwang has made a significant impact in the U. S. and beyond. The Theatre of David Henry Hwang provides an in-depth study of his plays and other works in theatre. Beginning with his "Trilogy of Chinese America", Esther Kim Lee traces all major phases of his playwriting career. Utilizing historical and dramaturgical analysis, she argues that Hwang has developed a unique style of meta-theatricality and irony in writing plays that are both politically charged and commercially viable. The book also features three essays written by scholars of Asian American theatre and a comprehensive list of primary and secondary sources on his oeuvre. This comprehensive study of Hwang's work follows his career both chronologically and thematically. The first chapter analyzes Hwang's early plays, "Trilogy of Chinese America," in which he explores issues of identity and cultural assimilation particular to Chinese Americans. Chapter two looks at four plays characterised as "Beyond Chinese America," which examines Hwang's less known plays. Chapter three focuses on M. Butterfly, which received the Tony Award for Best Play in 1988. In chapter four, Lee explores Hwang's development as a playwright during the decade of the 1990s with a focus on identity politics and multiculturalism. Chapter five examines Hwang's playwriting style in depth with a discussion of Hwang's more recent plays such as Yellow Face and Chinglish. The sixth chapter features three essays written by leading scholars in Asian American theatre: Josephine Lee on Flower Drum Song, Dan Bacalzo on Golden Child, and Daphne Lei on Chinglish. The final section provides a comprehensive compilation of sources: a chronology, a bibliography of Hwang's works, reviews and critical sources.