21st Century Playwriting, A Manual of Contemporary Techniques

480 Pages·2019·4.016 MB·English

by  Timothy Daly

21 C P
ST ENTURY LAYWRITING
A M C T
ANUAL OF ONTEMPORARY ECHNIQUES
Timothy Daly

21 C P
ST ENTURY LAYWRITING
A M C T
ANUAL OF ONTEMPORARY ECHNIQUES
Timothy Daly
A S K B 2019
MITH AND RAUS OOK
A Smith and Kraus Book
177 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755
editorial 603.643.6431 To Order 1.877.668.8680
www.smithandkraus.com
21st Century Playwriting
A Manual of Contemporary Techniques
Copyright © 2019 by Timothy Daly
All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the United States of America
CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that the
material represented in this book is subject to a royalty. It is fully pro-
tected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, and of
all countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including
the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth),
and of all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Conven-
tion and the Universal Copyright Convention, and of all countries with
which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights,
including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing,
public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all
other forms of mechanical or electronic reproductions such as informa-
tion storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and the rights of
translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved.
ISBN: 9781575259222
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017959939
Typesetting, layout and cover by Elizabeth E. Monteleone
Cover art by: Peter Sheehan
For information about custom editions, special sales, education and
corporate purchases, please contact Smith and Kraus
at [email protected]
For orders: number 877.668.8680
Printed in the United States of America
For Charlie Little.
Advisor and friend.

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I’ve learned my craft from hundreds of actors, writers and directors.
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during my early years. They include Ros Horin, Frank McNamara, John
Clark, Peter Cook, John Krummel, Kevin Jackson, James Waites, Isabelle
Starkier, Michel Lederer, Rodney Fisher, Charlie Little, Carol Woodrow,
Jim Searle, May-Brit Akerholt, Keith Gallasch, Louise O’Halloran, Wayne
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Dick Reichman, Dawson Moore, David Chandler, Ron Blair and Terry
Clark. A huge Thanks to Gayle Mortimer and Mark Grolman for their
work on the manuscript (or whatever I’ve currently got), as well as to Peter
Sheehan for his superb assistance with many of the tables and illustrations.
Finally, to my priceless friend and manager, Victoria Wisdom, a
special thanks. And to the wonderful women in my life, Angela, Ursula,
Maryanne, Kathie, Cathy and Madeleine, who helped to teach me things
only the heart can learn.

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Foreword 9
Introduction: A Portrait of the Young Man as an Artist 11
Gateway 1: Becoming a Modern Playwright
1. Writing for the 21st Century 15
Gateway 2: Getting Started
2. Quick Start: Shaping the action 29
3. Slow Start: Building your skills 35
4. Becoming a story teller 45
Gateway 3: The Basics of Theatre Space—and its Audience
5. Understanding the Audience (I): Hitting the F Buttons and other
basic techniques 51
6. Writing for Theatre Space (I): First Principles 69
7. Writing for Theatre Space (II): The Spatial Axis 75
Gateway 4: Understanding Stories and their Patterns
8. Classical Story Shape 87
9. Narrative Types; or, Knowing what story you’re writing 111
Gateway 5: Getting Familiar with Theatrical
Language and Dialouge
10. Dramatic Language (I): The basic concepts and the
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11. Dramatic Language (II): Syntax, punctuation, rhetoric
and other tools of dramatic language 133
12. Dramatic Language (III): Modernism and its techniques 167
13. Dramatic Language (IV): Using texture to create
theatre space 187
Gateway 6: Writing Characters for Actors
14. Acting and the Art of Writing Great Roles For Actors 199
15. Character (I): Character as Symbol 221
16. Character (II): Creating a powerful character journey 237
17. Character (III): More Character Techniques 249
18. Character (IV): The Relationship Journey 255
19. The Art of Titles 261
Gateway 7: All about Dramatic Structure
20. Dramatic Structure (I): Structure and the
unleashing of energy 267
21. Dramatic Structure (II): The techniques of scene
& phase writing 285
22. Dramatic Structure (III):The 2-Act Play More
theories of narrative and dramatic form 299
23. Dramatic Structure (IV): Universalisms, dramatic tone,
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24. Dramatic Structure (V): New formal possibilities
for the 21st century 339
25. Dramatic Structure (VI): A Theory of Everything 347
Gateway 8: Becoming a Modern Playwright 2
26. Understanding the Audience (II):The two largest
audiences for theatre 353
27. Understanding the Audience (III): Liberal Anxieties, or
How to win a Pulitzer Prize and other mysteries
of modern theatre culture 373
Gateway 9: Contemporary Theatre Writing as an Art,
Craft & Business
28. Working Methods: How to start work on your play 385
29. The Marketplace (I): Getting your play produced,
networking and writing for the world theatre market 393
30. The Marketplace (II): What to do when your play is
scheduled for production 423
31. Life in the rehearsal room: Working with actors, directors,
dramaturgs 429
32. Twenty-one years... twenty-one lessons 441
33. Becoming a successful artist 449
Index 455