Description
Book SynopsisBased on the author''s teaching methods and experience, the book presents an examination and analysis of the creative process of playwriting through the insight of the very foundations of drama and theatrethe ritual process. Using the playwright as a ritual quester, it attempts to concretize the playwright''s creative experience from the gestation of a dramatic idea, through the development of that idea, to its expression as a scripted and theatrical expression. To give the concept a wider scope, parallels and/or contrasts are often made with similar creative experiences, especially performative. The first part of the book visually crystallizes the ritual-creative concept in the psychical emanations of the questing playwright; the second part locates the concept in the dramatic structure, a result of the physical engagement, struggle and expression of the playwright. Various established dramatic works, classical and contemporary, are used to illustrate this creative concept.
Trade ReviewThe three appendixes—exercises, a one-act monologue, and a text analysis—will interest young playwrights in particular, but this is not a set of directions for beginnning dramatists. Rather, it is a meditation on craft.Summing Up: RECOMMENDED. Lower-/upper-division undergraduates and graduate students. -- G.W. Clift * CHOICE *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Drama and the Playwright: From Concept to Structure Chapter 2 The Creative Potential: The Tragic and Comedic Quest to the Illud Tempus Chapter 3 Mythic Expressions of the Creative Process: The Fateful/Fatal Paradox Chapter 4 Ritual Impulses and the Playwright: The Dramatic Structure Chapter 5 Visible Dramatic Vehicle and Its Ritual Implications: The Central Character Chapter 6 Ritual Scope: The Monologue and the Creative Challenge Chapter 7 Ritual Scope and Developments: The One-Act and Full-Length Chapter 8 Conclusion: Ritual Efficacies: The Illud Tempus Script Chapter 9 Appendix I: Organic Practicum: Development Exercises Chapter 10 Appendix II: A One-Act Monologue Chapter 11 Appendix III: Ritual Registers: Analysis of Text Chapter 12 Bibliography
