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.