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The
Playwright's FAQ
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The Playwright's FAQBy Lynne Harvey, writer-in-residence at the Drayton Court TheatreQ. How do I know that the the idea for a play I have hasn't already been written? A. This answer is strictly for theatre writers, as all the weak plots and story lines have already been used and are being used, over and over again by television series. Interchanging soaps, cops, docs, vets and detectives they use the same plots and storylines and even the same actors each time, creating a 'new innovative cutting edge drama' - I think not! Imagine if theatre writers did this. Sadly I see a certain elements of this creeping in. Can you stop the rot and come up with something different? Have you got something new to say or have a different take on something? Do you want to explore something in a different way and get right into the heart of it? Okay! let's go. True drama is not plot driven: it is character driven. Fact. It is a journey for your characters. People/characters are complex, not three dimensional but multi dimensional. The drama must and should, come from the characters you have drawn. If you have well drawn characters the story will come naturally from them, and fall in and around the plot you initially came up with. If all you have is a plot that the characters must adhere to no matter what, it will be very stilted and probably more suited to film where plot is king now. Just about gone are the days when some fantastic characters were created on film from good solid actors, writing and direction all working together. So. If your characters are multi dimensional, the story you originally thought of will be changing shape as you write it, and no one else will have thought of those characters, they are unique to you. So. Even if the plot is similar in some respects to something else, it will never be the same as your characters have taken you in a different direction. Issue based, tub thumping, on message plays, stand a very good chance of having been done before, as the writer has one point of view, one message to get across, one issue to discuss. This isn't theatre - it's Theatre in Education for Grown Ups. It patronises and insults an audience and audiences don't want to be preached to and quickly realise when they are. Your characters will have to make choices in your play, if an audience knows exactly what all the character's choices will be and in which direction they will next go, if when asked "What is your play about?" you can only reel off a plot line and not say what it's really about, it is a plot based play and not character driven. If this is what you want to do then don't try and inflict it on theatre, we've had enough of it already and it's turning audiences away in droves. Theatre has always explored many themes and conflicts, and sometimes pinpointed a certain time in history through a landmark play that told more of the world we live in than a truck load of documentaries, but when an issue is pushed in your face ad infinitum, people turn off. Let your characters live, breathe, and come into their own and what you want to say will come through naturally and be your particular take and insight, and will have never been done before. So to summarise, an initial idea for a plot is fine and you'll probably stay with the heart of that plot, but let your characters lead the way not the plot - you may just end up with an entirely different play.
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