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THEA299
The Dramatic Moment: A Playwright's Workshop
THEA299 FA
Not Currently Offered
Playwriting is often considered the most difficult branch of
writing, yet its immediacy and heightened sense of reality
make it one of the most exciting forms of creative
expression. This seminar will seek to guide students
through the pitfalls of playwriting to discover and develop
the kernel of a play--the dramatic moment--lurking within
their own experience.
The various elements that combine to form dramatic material
will be considered and their importance weighed. The major
focus will be on character development, transformation of
ideas into dramatic situations, and the all-important issue
of what will and will not work on stage.
MAJOR READINGS
We will read a few contemporary scripts to
observe the way other playwrights have directed their own
experiences, memories, fantasies, and worldviews toward the
dramatic moments which support every play.
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Open-ended playwriting
exercises--designed to facilitate the discovery of dramatic
material--will form the bulk of the work.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Essential aspects
of dramatic writing--plot exposition, pacing, one act vs.
full length, the importance of stage action--will be
discussed and technical problems inherent in the dramatic
form will be considered. A workshop atmosphere will prevail
so that students can engage in the kind of collaborative
approach to problem solving which all dramatic writing
requires. Two individual conferences with the instructor
will be scheduled as part of the workshop.
Students will be asked to concentrate on one project for
most of the semester--a project they are already at work on
or one they discover for themselves in the workshop.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar Studio
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Prerequisites:
None
Last Updated on MAR-22-1999
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459