Ten tweets about playwriting for #WorldTheatreDay
Conducted playwriting workshops in 2021. Many young people said they have stopped relating to Indian theatre of the 20th century
Plus the impossibility of writing a 21st century playtext
Some thoughts (tips and tricks) ...
Conducted playwriting workshops in 2021. Many young people said they have stopped relating to Indian theatre of the 20th century
Plus the impossibility of writing a 21st century playtext
Some thoughts (tips and tricks) ...
THE OPENING
I've maintained that Bleak House is the best of Dickens. Some say, over-rated; some say, anti woman!
Guess what is the first word of Charles Dickens's novel Bleak House (1853)? Also it’s first sentence?
London
PS: Yes, sometimes, the opening is as simple as that
I've maintained that Bleak House is the best of Dickens. Some say, over-rated; some say, anti woman!
Guess what is the first word of Charles Dickens's novel Bleak House (1853)? Also it’s first sentence?
London
PS: Yes, sometimes, the opening is as simple as that
THE END
Beginnings are important; but then, so are endings
At the end of the Balzac novel, the hero looks at Paris from the top of the hill and threatens the city: "Now we settle accounts"
PS: Read Sijie Dai's novella Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Will surprise you
Beginnings are important; but then, so are endings
At the end of the Balzac novel, the hero looks at Paris from the top of the hill and threatens the city: "Now we settle accounts"
PS: Read Sijie Dai's novella Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Will surprise you
DIALOGUE
Theatre is dialogue; and dialogue is NOT easy
I read and re-read The Brothers Karamazov again and again
The last time I read it, I realised it's actually a play; that is pretending to be a blockbuster novel
What splendid dialogue writing, O' Sant Dostoevsky
Theatre is dialogue; and dialogue is NOT easy
I read and re-read The Brothers Karamazov again and again
The last time I read it, I realised it's actually a play; that is pretending to be a blockbuster novel
What splendid dialogue writing, O' Sant Dostoevsky
THEATRE IS TIME
Playwriting is time
And Time's Arrow by Martin Amis is all about time
It's a book about Nazi Germany but in rewind mode: Absolutely super-duper technique
If the playwright in you wants to conquer time; then this is a must-read (one useful trick up your sleeve)
Playwriting is time
And Time's Arrow by Martin Amis is all about time
It's a book about Nazi Germany but in rewind mode: Absolutely super-duper technique
If the playwright in you wants to conquer time; then this is a must-read (one useful trick up your sleeve)
DEADLINES
If you have run out of ideas; and there is a deadline hovering, do read these two tiny gems
1). Coetzee’s novella which can be adapted + staged
2). Wonderful short stories in this Isaac Bashevis Singer set. So exquisitely crafted that anyone can adapt for the stage
If you have run out of ideas; and there is a deadline hovering, do read these two tiny gems
1). Coetzee’s novella which can be adapted + staged
2). Wonderful short stories in this Isaac Bashevis Singer set. So exquisitely crafted that anyone can adapt for the stage
Plays are about STIRRING CHARACTERS
Everything this man has written is a masterpiece. Mantel + Alexevich
Every single character is a grotesque charade plus a tough survivor of absolutism
Kapuściński makes Shakespeare's Othello + King Lear look jaded
Genius!
Everything this man has written is a masterpiece. Mantel + Alexevich
Every single character is a grotesque charade plus a tough survivor of absolutism
Kapuściński makes Shakespeare's Othello + King Lear look jaded
Genius!
SUB TEXT
Bulgakov wrote this story in the 1920s
It is Gogol + Kafka + Neo Realism
Since it is the Stalin Era, he says something but implies the opposite
The main character (Korotkov) is like Jawdekar + Bawdekar in Begum Barve (one of the best Indian plays of the 20th century)
Bulgakov wrote this story in the 1920s
It is Gogol + Kafka + Neo Realism
Since it is the Stalin Era, he says something but implies the opposite
The main character (Korotkov) is like Jawdekar + Bawdekar in Begum Barve (one of the best Indian plays of the 20th century)
THE OFFSTAGE
Saul Bellow's book is about a murder trial in Chicago; it is about his wife (an astronomer); it is about his mother in law on her deathbed; it's about state politics in Romania
What is remarkable is: all these events are kept offstage
This is a Chekov masterclass
Saul Bellow's book is about a murder trial in Chicago; it is about his wife (an astronomer); it is about his mother in law on her deathbed; it's about state politics in Romania
What is remarkable is: all these events are kept offstage
This is a Chekov masterclass
THE SET UP
The Bridge provides 13 permutations for one situation involving a student named FD (the initials are Dürrenmatt’s) who staggers drunk across Kirchenfeld Bridge on 15 Oct 1943, even as a meteor falls
Most of the story is a setup for the last two pages
Viva structure!
The Bridge provides 13 permutations for one situation involving a student named FD (the initials are Dürrenmatt’s) who staggers drunk across Kirchenfeld Bridge on 15 Oct 1943, even as a meteor falls
Most of the story is a setup for the last two pages
Viva structure!
AND FINALLY
Two authors every playwright must read
Juan Rulfo: The best in the story-telling biz; a book admired by Borges + memorised by Marquez
Then there is Celine even though he was accused of being a Nazi collaborator. How to tell a wicked tale about anti-heroes + dregs
Two authors every playwright must read
Juan Rulfo: The best in the story-telling biz; a book admired by Borges + memorised by Marquez
Then there is Celine even though he was accused of being a Nazi collaborator. How to tell a wicked tale about anti-heroes + dregs
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