Term 2 Brief

The Idea Lab’s second term resumes after a month long break during which participants conducted research for their projects and began drafting their scripts. Over our first term, the lab focused on the interconnected processes of research and ideation, and pushed participants to think deeply about their plays. In our second term, we will shift gears to a different aspect of creating for the stage: composition. Composition can, perhaps, be broadly defined as the craft of arranging theatrical moments in a compelling manner, and requires participants to think carefully as they begin working their drafts into final scripts. We will develop an understanding of what drives a play forward, and explore the different structures a play can inhabit, the art of creating convincing characters and building plausible worlds, and the practice of writing dialogue. To this end, we will read plays and deconstruct them together to study the different techniques available to a playwright, and the impact that these choices have on a finished play.