THIS IS THE STORY OF 1._______________ WHO 2._______________ AND AFTER 3._______________ 4._________________.
Think about Hamlet. It's a dense, wonderful play, but it boils down to Omar's formula this way:
THIS IS THE STORY OF Hamlet, WHO is charged by his father's ghost to kill king Claudius, AND AFTER Hamlet deliberates back and forth about what he should do, he kills Claudius.
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French kiss. Not a part of something anymore. Husband either has affairs or has lost interest in some ways. Woman begins to fill her home with nature, beginning with a beehive. “Of the same mind.”
“Nnnnnnnneeuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu… aaaaaaaaaannnncccccccccccccccce.” (serenely resumes eating)
“If people didn’t care about your character, it’s because you didn’t illuminate the need.”
Don’t use theatrical convention as a crutch.
Secret closet. It’s a garden? It’s a “room of requirement”? Anyway, it’s a trio of partners and only one doesn’t know about the secret closet. Other people come and go who know about it. The one partner: “HE knows about the secret closet?” (“Well sure; I’m mean it’s not like an actual secret or anything.”) “I don’t understand why everybody knows about this but me. Do people think I’m not relevant to the company? I BUILT this company! Why shouldn’t I know what’s going on in my OWN company?! You’re fired.”
The old “British”? guy in the current Secret Closet. He should be either in his own play or be the main protagonist in Secret Closet. The scene I wrote is his nephew, he’s pushing people away at the beginning. Has this experience and then tries to connect to nephew.
Could I combine “Cowboys and Indians” with “Secret Closet”? Is it Brit Guy as a boy?
Maybe it should be about the janitor, with the Brit guy being also very prominent, and the fact that he’s on the same level of the janitor adding to the frustration.
“Raise the stakes.” Don’t think in film or television fashion.
The attempt to create is always good.
Don’t get too obsessed with one piece; if it’s not working, move on and work on something else; come back later.
MOMENTS TO REMEMBER AND REACH FOR
HP5; the three laughing together.
Pride and Prejudice; Darcy comes and awkwardly stands. More.
Ed and Dolores post-salesman in "The Man Who Wasn't There".
“Mama” in 1776. Learn it play it. The delivery boy’s story is told late in first act; knowing his story helps what happens later. So; could I combine “Cowboys and Indians” with “Secret Closet”? Is it Brit Guy as a boy?
African beat to a song about selling slaves; human or commodity. The scene makes you wonder: would you allow slavery to create a union? In three minutes, he creates a picture of both sides. Simple is always better; if you lose the thought of the complexity of it, it becomes empty.
My yearning came up with the sun, and my energies have been reaching to it all day.
“The Dumb Waiter,” by Pinter
Well Play, daughter leaves before both get to well, when she returns she has to choose which her father is.
My wife, my grandfather, my dog, my horse, what is going on, Lindsay! How do you know my daughter’s name?
Wife comes out. “What are you doing here?” Boy comes out. “Where’s your mother?” Daughter comes back.
Make theatrical choices.
Make your story something people need to hear.
“You can’t make a living in the theatre, but you can make a killing.”
Never underestimate the use of a minor character in the use of emphasizing a thematic idea.
Omar disagrees with The Playwriter’s Guidebook, that narrators are not useful.
A man comes to a well, meets himself, and kills himself.
I might need to do an entirely different play.
two characters, two extremes: 1 rarely keeps an opinion, changes based on the person; Another never changes opinion and alienates people because of it.
I think the play as it is DOES make way for understanding after some thought. Even if it's unclear now, I think the themes make something bigger later on.
Did he know what/who he was going to meet at the well? Did he come here to do this?
"You take Lindsey." Welcome chooses to die. Why? What will the Man provide for her that Welcome believes he himself cannot.
Action needs to fit the need: "my need is to kill you I am so angry with you" or "I am not angry with you but you are this and I need this out of my life."
Replace Lindsey's name. Sonya?
An outhouse. Two characters come to dig for gold at the outhouse. People come out to use it? The two hide. Yadda.
How do I get the play from here to here without it looking clumsy?
Find a structure you like and imitate it. In getting to the end, what do they lose? What are the complications?
If you want to be a writer, YOU CAN GET PUBLISHED.
If it's important, it's worth waiting. Something will happen to make it worthwhile.
What is the overarching thing you want people wondering when they leave the play? The theme is question, not an answer.
How should we respond to bigotry?
What is the sum total of a man?
This is a play about… faith?
How do we keep or make a covenant? What does it mean.
There should be some kind of discussion about why WELCOME feels MAN is who he needs to be. DOWNPLAY the killing---it is the death, the sacrifice, that matters. The daughter matters because she's all WELCOME has to perpetuate the covenant. Do I become a father by passing fatherhood on???!!!
I was an honorable murderer. THERE'S NO SUCH THING.
You can't have superfluous characters.
“Mama” in 1776. Learn it play it. The delivery boy’s story is told late in first act; knowing his story helps what happens later. So; could I combine “Cowboys and Indians” with “Secret Closet”? Is it Brit Guy as a boy?
African beat to a song about selling slaves; human or commodity. The scene makes you wonder: would you allow slavery to create a union? In three minutes, he creates a picture of both sides. Simple is always better; if you lose the thought of the complexity of it, it becomes empty.
My yearning came up with the sun, and my energies have been reaching to it all day.
“The Dumb Waiter,” by Pinter
Well Play, daughter leaves before both get to well, when she returns she has to choose which her father is.
My wife, my grandfather, my dog, my horse, what is going on, Lindsay! How do you know my daughter’s name?
Wife comes out. “What are you doing here?” Boy comes out. “Where’s your mother?” Daughter comes back.
Make theatrical choices.
Make your story something people need to hear.
“You can’t make a living in the theatre, but you can make a killing.”
Never underestimate the use of a minor character in the use of emphasizing a thematic idea.
Omar disagrees with The Playwriter’s Guidebook, that narrators are not useful.
A man comes to a well, meets himself, and kills himself.
I might need to do an entirely different play.
two characters, two extremes: 1 rarely keeps an opinion, changes based on the person; Another never changes opinion and alienates people because of it.
I think the play as it is DOES make way for understanding after some thought. Even if it's unclear now, I think the themes make something bigger later on.
Did he know what/who he was going to meet at the well? Did he come here to do this?
"You take Lindsey." Welcome chooses to die. Why? What will the Man provide for her that Welcome believes he himself cannot.
Action needs to fit the need: "my need is to kill you I am so angry with you" or "I am not angry with you but you are this and I need this out of my life."
Replace Lindsey's name. Sonya?
An outhouse. Two characters come to dig for gold at the outhouse. People come out to use it? The two hide. Yadda.
How do I get the play from here to here without it looking clumsy?
Find a structure you like and imitate it. In getting to the end, what do they lose? What are the complications?
If you want to be a writer, YOU CAN GET PUBLISHED.
If it's important, it's worth waiting. Something will happen to make it worthwhile.
What is the overarching thing you want people wondering when they leave the play? The theme is question, not an answer.
How should we respond to bigotry?
What is the sum total of a man?
This is a play about… faith?
How do we keep or make a covenant? What does it mean.
There should be some kind of discussion about why WELCOME feels MAN is who he needs to be. DOWNPLAY the killing---it is the death, the sacrifice, that matters. The daughter matters because she's all WELCOME has to perpetuate the covenant. Do I become a father by passing fatherhood on???!!!
I was an honorable murderer. THERE'S NO SUCH THING.
You can't have superfluous characters.
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