10- minute plays: Dramaaaa

I really enjoyed reading all of these short plays. They were each very different from one another regarding characters, setting, situation, etc., but the one thing that remained constant and effective throughout most of them was the revealing of pivotal information, or the main source of tension throughout the play, towards the end of the play. All four of these 10- minute plays started in the middle of things, revealing details as they went along, and almost all four of them used the element of surprise or revelation to sort of wrap up and give the play meaning and an adequate explanation at the end.

A Bowl of Soup and Midnight Rodeo used this tactic most clearly. We began each in the middle of things and learned the shocking information towards the end, explaining much of the rest of the dialogue and short play. Although I do think this tactic is effective in giving plays drama, meaning, and a satisfying ending, I don’t think it always works. For example, I felt a little blind sided in A Bowl of Soup by the ending. I don’t think it would have detracted from the story to let us in on it earlier. Also, although I thought it was a very interesting tactic to have only one character speak for the majority of the play, I’m not sure it added as much as it detracted. However, despite my reservations about this, I would love to see this play performed. Watching actual actors would probably resolve a lot of my issues with the play. All of the plays had strong characters though. I particularly loved the adorable, bumbling voice of Eddie. His affection for his brother and simple nature really came through. Great characterization with him.

The Roads that Lead Here also uses the element of surprise at the end but in a much different way, by having their father, or the Eminent as they call him, blow up each of their cars. This play has an absurdist quality to it; I probably actually would have classified it as a comedy. The characters, for their age especially, seemed so strange and out of touch with reality with their bubbly lack of cynicism and excited nature. It was quite enjoyable to read actually. It is nice to see that even in short plays stylized characters and situations can work.

The Man Who Couldn’t Dance was the only one where I felt the audience or readers had a general sense of what was going on right from the beginning. Although the plot was a little contrived and clichéd I would have been upset if it ended any other way. This is because the characters were interesting and well- developed and I wanted to see it played out. However, I wanted even a bit more. This play almost felt like a scene rather than a finished play. I wanted to know what happened later, either when they went downstairs or years down the road. It didn’t necessarily seem finished, but it was one of my favorites. I don’t quite know what to make of that.

As hard as I know it will be, I’m looking forward to writing our complete plays. We can finally have that gratification and closure we’ve been seeking. Whenever I plan out a long play it’s always hard to decide which scene to write because I’m so excited about a lot of them. I know it’s difficult to develop well- rounded, full, and believable characters in such a small amount of space, but it obviously can be done!