DramaLit Blog 1.0: BU School of Theatre

This title is a quote my dad always used to tell me when he was editing my writing. It’s been particularly relevant for me in writing program notes for my modern adaptation of Antigone, as well as in preparing to direct my ten minute play for The Director’s Project. In my program notes, I’m quickly finding that it’s not about the amount of information I’m able to cram into the 1000 word limit, it’s the pith, the quality of the information I provide and the manner in which I provide it. It is evermore important within a smaller container to choose my words wisely. In the beginning dramaturgical work for my Director’s Project piece, I’m finding that the challenges of researching a ten minute play are no less than that of a full length epic, they are just of a different nature. In my chosen one-act, Life Without Subtext by Michael Mitnick, one character speaks for almost the entirety of the piece. It does not change scenes, locations, times of day, characters, etc. However, as the director and in my dramaturgical work, I have to take into consideration that every piece of information in the text is in service of creating the particular world of this play. I must assume that this world is complete, and everything I need to understand this piece is within the text, somewhere. It’s easy for me to assume that this world is my own, that my two characters are familiar to me, but the title of the play suggests that this particular moment it portrays is a moment outside of the normal social constraints of our society. I’m increasingly curious and excited to find ways keep my other character active and responsive through ten minutes of text that is not her own, as well as ways to enliven the environment, and keep the stakes high through my protagonist’s never-ending monologue. In conclusion, the challenges of a short piece are no less important, nor less numerous than in a full length play. They just take a little more effort to find.