Play Packet Proposal

A. Catalyst: Mark makes a careless remark about immigrants taking American jobs, which escalates into a full-blown argument about racism in America.
B. Concept: Discussing the complexities of racism in America.
C. Conflict: The present racial situation in America (Jena 6, people who don’t want to acknowledge that it exists, backlash against own culture)
D. Character Sketches:
1. Mark Callahan: handsome, charismatic man in his late 20s/early 30s who works for a consulting firm. He is a proud Irish-American who comes from a family that has worked its way up in the American social ladder since the Potato Famine in the 1850s. He’s having some troubles with his girlfriend, Brenda aka Bebe, and wonders if free love isn’t the solution to his particular social problem. The furthest that he has traveled outside the U.S. has been to Cancun with Bebe.
2. Chris Rohrbach: Idealistic romantic in mid/late 20s who has never had a girlfriend. He is a little insecure about his looks (is a sturdy-set, but not heavyset). Though he works for a non-profit microfinance organization, he secretly wants to be a famous screenwriter and make films. He feels that he ought to be less materialistic, but cannot let go of his “superficial” comforts (movies, books). He comes from a State Department background, and so has lived in different places in Africa, Asia, and Europe, but admits that the only language that he can speak is English.
3. Evelyn Chen: Taiwanese-American woman in her mid-twenties who works for a publishing company. She is not a great dresser, but secretly harbors a love for fashion; though she wants to be a reputable writer, she also loves the glitz of glamour magazines. She owns a small grey cat named Hypotenuse (Nunu, for short) that she is hiding from her landlord. She has a disdain for people who think highly of the U.S. despite never really experiencing other countries; by the same token, she is proud to hold a U.S. passport and to say that she is an American.
E. Philosophical World: Ignoring racial differences does not make racial equality; racial equality is made through acknowledging and accepting racial differences.
F. Physical World: Mark, Chris, and Evelyn are three young Americans trapped together in an elevator as they head home from work.
G. Point of Attack: Evelyn retaliates to Mark’s racially-charged comments with choice remarks of her own, and the all three find themselves in unfamiliar territory that they must resolve in order to keep peace in the elevator.
H. Story Synopsis: Racism is an issue that America still struggles with today. It is no longer as black and white as it was in the days of slavery and segregation, but grows increasingly complex as we become a more global society.
I. Plot Synopsis: Three Americans confront the issues of racism in modern America when they find themselves trapped together in an elevator.
J. Plot Outline: The three characters are trapped in an elevator, and to pass the time while they wait to be rescued, they make casual conversation. Mark inadvertently brings up the touchy subject of racism, and tension soon escalates between all three characters. Each of the characters’ personal opinions on race in America is challenged and changed to accommodate perspectives that are different from their own. When they are finally rescued, all three have become a little more open-minded.

Getting Started

One thing that I've noticed from reading Fugard and Sartre is that a lot of action can happen within a closed space. Neither Fugard nor Sartre's plays require scene changes, and yet a whole story can be told. Also, neither Fugard nor Sartre use a large cast; at most, there are 4 people on the stage at a time. In fact, Fugard's plays have been with a 2-person cast.

This is something that I would like to experiment with, mostly because I have really had much experience in building up characters before. Before I try to tackle something with a lot of characters, I think I would like to focus on just 2 or 3, perhaps in an enclosed space. I also really liked the style of "Colored Girls" that IPAX did last fall, with the monologues and the poetry. So I've been thinking a lot about the three plays that we've read thus far, but I'm still not quite sure where to go with it. Part of me wants to continue on the Asian American/identity theme of last semester (something like Hwang's "Bondage" would be super cool), but part of me also wants to move in a different direction. Like write something funny, or something.

For the writing exercise that we did on Tuesday, I set my story in an elevator that breaks down. Three people are stuck in it, and are forced to converse until they are rescued. I guess there's really no reason for them to be stuck in the elevator together except for the sake of the story (they would otherwise never talk to each other). I'm still developing their characteristics, but I am pretty sure that two of them will be male (a racist and an idealist?), and one of them will be female (perhaps an Asian American?). I haven't started actually writing it, but am just trying to get to know them a little better before I put words in their mouths.