Playwrighting Week 3

This week we all wrote down 5 banal comments each and put them into a bowl. Hilary divided us into groups and we took out 15 comments each to make into a short scene worth of dialogue. We had to use action and motive to give the words meaning. This was hilarious to watch. But it did teach us that acting gives a play's words more resonance than the words themselves. Think of Pinter's great silences and the way actors fill these out. Next week we present our synopsis of the short play we will write over the final five weeks. Once again Daryl the stand up comic and Anna the professional actress gave the performance that was memorable. Playing a designer and his assistant they zeitgeisted their way through the words at a hysterical pace coming to a close on "The Utamaro exhibition was unbearable without you." Japanese wood blocks have a lot to answer for.