For the final Play Assignment, you will write an original ten-minute play on any topic. While this may initially seem like a daunting task, it is an opportunity to really use your creativity and express yourself.
It must follow these parameters:
Be 6 -10 pages long, double spaced, in 12 pt font, in standard playwriting format (noted below)
Have 2 – 4 characters
Be one continuous scene (no breaks in time or place)
Make sure that anything the audience sees can easily be represented on a stage — remember that you are writing for theater, not for movies or some other kind of screen. (no car chases)
Follow the basic structure outlined below.
Structure:
In Gary Garrison’s book, Perfect 10: Writing and Producing the 10-Minute Play, he provides the following rules for structuring a ten-minute play:
Page 1-2: set up world, introduce central characters and make sure we understand what they want/need/desire through the journey of the play.
Page 2-3: illuminate central conflict – a dramatic question that must be answered by the play’s end.
Pages 3-8: complicate the story’s conflict two or three times.
Pages 9-10: resolve conflict even if it creates an unhappy ending.
Playwriting Format
There are a lot of different schools of thought when it comes to play formatting. You may download NYC Playwrights’ Microsoft Word template, which has already taken care of the formatting for you, so you can get down to writing. You can also format it yourself, following these guidelines:
Act and Scene headings are centered.
Character’s names are centered and capitalized.
Stage directions are indented one tab and italicized.
Character’s names in stage directions are capitalized.
Parenthetical stage directions are used for small actions.
You should feel free to search the internet for playwriting advice. A couple of websites you might find helpful are these:
https://www.emwelsh.com/blog/10-minute-play
https://www.10-minute-plays.com/how_to_write_a_10_minute_play.html
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