In the new play development process it is important to keep
working on the script, even as it goes into production. This handout is a guide to help playwrights,
directors, and actors navigate that process.
Each play, playwright, director combination is different—so with each
step you should get to know each other—and just like the dating process—learn
as much as you can about each other!
A. Basic Rights &
Responsibilities
1) You own your Play.
i) No one, according to Dramatists Guild
Production Contract Guidelines, can change a word of your play without your
permission. Use the magic words, “I’ll
think about those changes,” before you actually change your play. On the other hand, don’t
ignore your director or dramaturg – don’t assume that they’re wrong; take notes now and agree or disagree later.
ii) Any idea, suggestion, line, or bit of business that
becomes a part of your play is owned by you, unless there is a pre-existing
collaboration agreement with your director, actors, or dramaturg.
iii) You never have to change
your play to other people’s demands. You
retain the right to withdraw your script at any time with no legal penalties if
you are unhappy with a production.
2) Keep the premise of your play in your mind, taped to your typewriter, or on
your bathroom mirror while you are within the development process.
i) As you get ideas about your script, keep
asking, “Does this work with the premise of the play I have written?” Always keep in mind what your central
character wants and what is keeping the character from getting it.
ii) Keep asking yourself whether the ideas or
comments you have received will forward the action of the play, keep the
audiences’ interest, and stimulate your own thoughts about the play.
iii) A really soul-killing remark should be
ignored; even so, write all comments down. Never
defend your script (you don’t have to), always try to get respondents to your
play to talk about their experience of the play as written and not as they
would rewrite it.
B. Working With A Director
1) Trust a director who asks you a
million questions, but who doesn’t tell you how to write your play. The
exception to this rule is a director who gives you wonderful ideas to explore,
or asks you to dig deeper into your characters without telling you how to do
that. If the director isn’t asking you
questions, beware.
2) Trust a director who suggests cuts rather
than one who tells you what to write. A
good director doesn’t want to dictate ideas to a playwright. They want to be surprised by your changes to
your script in response to their questions.
A great development director will edit the play for the thousand
incremental redundancies that occur in an early draft of a script, but who
doesn’t hack off huge chunks of your play.
3)
Ask
the director at least these basic questions:
i) Who do you think is the central character
of the play, and what do you think s/he wants?
What or who is keeping this character from this goal?
ii) What do you think is the premise behind my
play? What do you think this play is
about?
iii) Why did you choose my play to direct? What draws you to my play?
If
you don’t like the responses or you think they are contrary to your own, get a
new director.
4)
Break
down the script with the director, or at least ask to see how the director has
broken down your play. This will give
you a lot of insight into the director’s process. You want to know where the director thinks
the beats are occurring, what the main action for each character is per beat,
and what kind of backstory the director is inventing for your play.
II. For the Director:
1.
Analysis
of the script is exploratory rather than prescriptive. This is a time for the playwright and
director to develop a common understanding and agreement on what the play is
about.
2.
This
requires that the director look closely at the script thinking about the play’s
intention (what it’s trying to
communicate); its elements (the world
of the play, and its story, issues, chain of events, characters, and patterns);
the play’s emphasis, that is, what
weight or priority is given to particular elements; and finally, what kind of experience the play will create for its
audience (in other words the fulfillment of the script’s intention).
1.
Work
simply at first, reducing scenes,
actions, and characters to their essential values. You are trying to discover the essential
structure of the play and its elements.
2.
The
whole point to a developmental process is to remain flexible as a director; you may give your playwright ideas about
their play, and s/he may throw out a huge chunk of the play or revise it all
the next day. It can be very difficult
to work this way, but you should be willing to work with these kinds of
changes. You have to decide, however,
when you need to set the bulk of the play, and focus on more minimal changes as
production approaches.
3.
Stay
open-minded about the script; let it
become what it needs to become without forcing it to be another, better-known
play. Part of the way to do this is to
be aware of your own biases and to make sure that you are facilitating the playwright’s play and not another play
you want to write.
4.
Developmental
directing is different from other directing in that your work as a director
must aim at transparency; you want the play
to be visible, not what you have overlaid directorially. You can do this by 1) refraining from
applying a heavy-handed concept to the script that is not organically inherent
from the playwright’s words, and 2) resisting the temptation to use all of your
director’s tricks and techniques to make the play work. The play will either
work or it will not; dazzling the audience with directorial fireworks will not
help the play or the playwright.
5.
This
does not mean that you have NO concept.
No director should approach any script without a serious matrix of ideas
on how the acting, directing and design grow out of the dramatic action of the
script. It’s important to note that the director is the central contributor to
the production process regardless of whether a play is new or a revival. However, it’s also vital to remember that in
the developmental process for a new play, it’s the script that should be the
center of the experiment, and not some elaborate production concept.
III. Areas of responsibility
A)
The playwright is responsible for:
1)
Providing
the script and necessary copies.
2)
Participating
in the development process and attending all readings, workshops, and
rehearsals of the script.
3)
Working
with the director to determine rules of behavior during rehearsal; with the
following suggestions:
i)
The
playwright should take notes during rehearsals and approach the director after
rehearsal, rather than deal directly with the actors. This is usually the case for the first two
weeks of rehearsal. The director may opt
to allow the playwright to talk to the actors but should mediate this
experience and keep a firm hand on the rehearsal process itself.
ii)
It
is often a good idea for the playwright to step out of the process for a week
or more and give the director some time to work on his/her own before the play
is fully staged. This is up to both of
you and should be mutually agreed upon before rehearsals begin.
iii)
It
is important for the playwright to attend rehearsals once regular run-throughs
begin.
4)
Do
all the rewriting, cutting, and writing necessary as the need grows out of the
readings and rehearsals for the play.
5)
Making
sure that the work of the company is acknowledged in publications of the play.
B)
The
director is responsible for:
1)
Choosing
the script.
2)
Analyzing
the script dramaturgically.
3)
Specifying
the development process with the playwright.
4)
Scheduling
rehearsals and public presentations.
5)
Casting
actors in consultation with the playwright (playwright can’t insist that a
particular actor plays a role, but s/he can veto an actor).
6)
Keeping
participants working within their appropriate areas.
7)
Working
with the designers.
8)
Meeting
with the playwright afterwards, and after most rehearsals to summarize,
reflect, and decide on next steps.
C) The actor is responsible for:
1) Discovering the character’s
journey through the play.
2) Determining whether the character’s actions and responses
make sense.
3)
Establishing the character’s relationships with others in the play.
4) Seeing if the playwright provides
enough clues to develop a character.
5) Testing the character for performability, plausibility,
interest, and theatricality.
6) Being
open and available for changes in the text.
The ideas in this outline are based upon Scriptwork: A
Director’s Approach To New Play Development written by David Kahn and Donna
Breed (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1995). They were assembled by David Crespy and the
team from KCACTF Region V.
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an MS Word *.doc version here