Tues 1/12 – Writing Workshop #1 – Gathering Ideas.  Alone or with a partner, reread focused freewrites #1-5.  Look for ideas, characters, places, or structural elements that you would like to pursue further.  Mark these “hot spots” by underlining or bracketing important words or phrases and annotating in the margins.  Remember that these are just ideas and can be adapted, expanded, or ignored later on.

HW: Using the ideas gathered in the workshop, begin to write the first draft of your ten-minute play.  This play must contain characters, setting, conflict, and negotiation, but the resolution must occur within ten minutes (approximately 5-7 pages of dialogue and stage directions).

Wednes 1/13 – Writing Workshop #2 – Quiet writing.  Continue to work on your ten-minute play draft.  Work quietly and independently.

HW: Continue to work on your ten-minute play draft. Bring in at least 5 pages on Thursday, a completed draft if possible.

Thurs 1/14 – Writing Workshop #3 – Getting feedback. In your journal, write about the process thus far.  What are the parts of the ten-minute play that are coming together?  What parts are surprising you or taking new shape? What parts still need work?  Identify one moment in your script that would benefit from peer/teacher feedback and share with the class.

HW: Continue to work on your ten-minute play draft. Focus on the moment you workshopped in class today.

Fri 1/15 – Writing Workshop #4 – Revision and Resolution.  Work on your ten-minute play draft, aiming to resolve any remaining “problem sections” by the end of class.  You may work independently or with a partner.  [Julia out at conference]

HW: Finish ten-minute play, due Tuesday 1/19, typed in correct format.  We will workshop these drafts next week.  Please bring multiple copies to class.

Mon 1/18 – NO SCHOOL – MLK Jr. Holiday

Tues 1/19 – Ten-minute play due.  Sharing and Responding to drafts: Learning and applying language of feedback: say back, pointing, stage picture/balance, raising the stakes.

HW: If your play was workshopped today, write a 1-2 page process piece about the experiences of hearing your play read aloud and listening to peer feedback.  You will submit this process piece with your final draft.

Tuesday 1/5: Welcome back!  Review key components of dramatic form – stage directions, dialogue, setting, character, etc.  Introduce concept of theatrical conventions.  Read  Chekov’s “The Sneeze” in class.

• HW: Read and annotate Aristotle’s “Poetics” and “What is Screenplay?” (handout).  Write focused freewrite #1: What is your response to the classical and modern conventions of dramatic writing outlined in the reading assignment?  To what extent can these “”rules”” help us?  To what extent should we feel free to break from these conventions?

Wednesday 1/6: Go over components of structure from the reading.  Which are essential?  How can you use structure as a tool not an unbroken rule?  Mark the moments in “The Sneeze” that constitute conflict, reversal, recognition, climax, catharsis/resolution.  Perform selected moments.

• HW: Read and annotate the Martin scene from Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano.  Identify the moments in the scene that constitute conflict, reversal, recognition, climax, catharsis/resolution and mark these in your text. Write focused freewrite #2 in response to the following questions:  How is the Martin scene structured?  Does it follow the rules set out in Aristotle’s “”Poetics””?  What is the conflict? the climax? the resolution?  How does Ionesco play with the idea of the “”””recognition”””” scene?  Refer to specific lines/moments in your response.

Thursday 1/7: Perform and discuss Martin scene from Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano.”

• HW: Read and annotate David Ives “Sure Thing.”  Identify the moments in the scene that constitute conflict, reversal, recognition, climax, catharsis/resolution and mark these in your text.  Write focused freewrite #3 in response to the following questions: Which moments in ‘Sure Thing”” interest you or surprise you?  How is the play constructed and paced?  Does it follow the rules set out in Aristotle’s “”Poetics””?  How does Ives play with theatrical and social conventions about character, time, timing, and dialogue?  Refer to specific examples from the play in your freewrite.

Friday, 1/8: Perform and discuss “Sure Thing.”   Review elements of structure from readings and freewrites.   Which elements of structure are useful or essential?  How can you use structure as a tool, not an unbroken rule?  Explain ten-minute play assignment.

• HW: Read and annotate excerpt from The Elements of Playwriting by Louis E. Catron (handout).  Begin brainstorming ideas for a short scene or one-act play you will write for this course.  Write two focused free writes (FF #4 and FF #5) based on the prompts provided on pages 62-63. Minimum 2 pages each.  Due Tuesday 1/12.

Monday    12/14  — Introduction to course–hand out syllabus, course overview, and Writer’s Notebooks.  What makes writing for the theater different from other types of writing?  In other words, what makes a play a play?
HW: Write Etude #1: Six-Line Play, due Wednesday.  A “six-line” consists of six lines of dialogue (three per character) and must include some sort of negotiation and/or resolution. (See handout for more detail and a sample six-line).

Tuesday    12/15 NO CLASS

Wednesday    12/16 —  Etude #1 due.  Warm ups: written (freewrite), physical (stretch), and mental (ball toss).  Staging and critique of Six-Lines.
HW: Etude #2 Film Reversal, due Thursday.

Thursday    12/17 — Etude #2 due.  Discussion: What is the difference between writing for film and writing for the stage?  What are the advantages and limitations of each medium?   Staging and critique of “”film reversal”” scenes, time permitting.
HW: There is no required homework over the break.  But if you are looking for things to do, consider the following optional activities: see a play, read a play, observe human interactions in public spaces, or transcribe real dialogue in preparation for writing your first short script in January.

Have a safe and restful winter vacation!  See you in 2010!