by Alex Taylor
(This lesson may take longer than one class period due to the length of the musical clip)
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVE:
Students will demonstrate their ability to take random ideas and turn them into a play idea by creating different loglines for a play idea.
STANDARDS:
Standard L1.T.CR.3: Use correct form and structure to create a scene or play with a beginning, middle, and end that includes full character development, believable dialogue, and logical plot outcomes.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Whiteboard, Act Three of the musical Contact (or the play Puffs if musical is unavailable)
TEACHING PRESENTATION:
WARM UP/HOOK:
Have the students sit in a circle. Tell the group about yourself: a favorite memory of childhood, a dream, or a special place that you enjoy being in. Have other students share their own memories, etc.
STEP 1: Transition
Discuss with the class how a memory, story, news item, reading, dream, past experience, place, etc. can be a springboard for a play idea. Introduce this concept as a “seed of a play.” Explore how you could take your memory (or whatever you shared) and put it on stage. Share the quote: “You have ideas and images in your mind – write on them!”
STEP 2: Modeling
Pull out a copy of the musical Contact. Explain to the students that Susan Stroman created the third act of this musical based on an experience she had sitting in a bar and watching a woman enter and refuse to dance with certain men. Show the class the entire third act of the show.
STEP 3: Discussion
After viewing the third act, talk with the class about how this “seed of a play” turned into a viable theatre piece. How exactly did this seed come to life on stage? Prompt the class to talk specifically about the things that they have learned so far about playwriting: dialogue, characterization, conflict, etc.
STEP 4: Guided Practice
Have the students take out a piece of paper and write down at least ten different “seeds of a play”.
STEP 5: Instruction/Modeling
Demonstrate on the board how to take a seed of a play and, using a specific formula, turn it into a logline (play synopsis in one sentence). Model this with the memory you shared in the hook:
This is the story of ________________________ (exposition) who ___________________ (inciting incident and a few moments of rising action) and eventually _____________________ (climax).
A logline example of Cinderella could be: This is a story of a young girl who was treated as a slave by her evil stepmother and stepsisters who received a wish from her fairy godmother to go to the ball and danced with a prince and tried on the glass slipper and eventually became the princess of the land.
STEP 6: Individual Practice
In class, or perhaps as homework, have the students take their list of seeds of plays and choose three to create loglines for. Make sure they follow the logline formula you demonstrated.
STEP 7: Checking for Understanding
If the loglines were created in-class, have students share their loglines with the class. Respond to the various loglines and point out strengths and weaknesses within each one. Encourage the strongest examples to be chosen for future playwriting.
ASSESSMENT:
Students can be assessed on their participation in the discussion and their written loglines.