Acting for your Writing

[writerscut]

A question, are any of playwrights out there actors also? I write lots of plays, and act in equally as many...I often feel that the better you get on the stage, the better you become writing, because you get an understanding of what works and what doesn't in terms of dialogue, action, and stage directions...your thoughts...

[MacAl Stone]

I haven't acted since college, writerscut--but love reading scripts, and find myself more and more interested in writing them. largely because dialogue seems to come pretty naturally to me.

[writerscut]

I know what you're saying, when I read script, I sit there and do different voices, and so on...

[MacAl Stone]

yeah, exactly! I remember when I first started reading Shakespeare, (about 6th grade) the town librarian told me I would find it more interesting and understandable if I read it aloud...that the plays were really meant to be heard, not read.

I still love to read plays like that. :-)

[Writing Again]

I started acting as a little kid, a bunch of us wrote, directed, and acted in plays and put them on in the park.

Of course the adult authorities found out about it and put a stop to such goings on. Said they could not be allowed under any circumstances.

Then they got a teacher or two, and a park official or two, and announced they were going to have children do plays in the park.

Of course we were the first kids they approached, and most the kids in the troupe jumped at the idea. I, being a little brat of the first water told them, "You wouldn't help us when we asked for help. You wouldn't let us do what we were doing, and now you want us to jump around you like a bunch of trained dogs. Go jump off a tree limb."

They told my mother I had a problem with authority. They were right. I still do. In any case that was the end of my budding childhood stardom.

I have found that acting out the parts of different characters has benifited all of my writing. Novels and short stories as well. Even the writing of poetry.

[writerscut]

I couldn't agree more!

[MacAl Stone]

The interesting thing to me about scripts is that the words are meant to be transformed by the performance--that is, a script is intended to be the means of interaction between actors and audience--in a way that even a screenplay is not.

And with live theater, every performance is slightly different, which lends a remarkable, dynamic quality to the words on the page that other kinds of writing don't get to enjoy.

[absolutewrite]

One of my favorite parts of playwriting is seeing what a director and actors will do with my work. When I'm writing it, I see only what I have in my head-- sometimes it surprises me how other people will interpret my words.

For example, in one script, I had a couple who were once foster brother and sister. Not blood relatives, obviously, but still a somewhat taboo relationship. Brother (now an adult) goes to foster father to ask for approval; father has a fit. Director cast an Irish woman and a black man in the couple's roles. I had never imagined that, but it just added one more layer of tension that was fantastic.

Oh, and yes, I was an actress and don't know how I could ever write plays if I wasn't.

[writerscut]

Being an actor helped me so much...even with the little things, such as stage directions...as much as I love what I write, I agree...I love to see the director and actors change it all around and come up with their own interpretations...then again, none of plays have been published...so, I guess I should say that I would like to see that...

[MelindaNicole]

I agree, I don't believe that someone could write a workable script without at least getting involved in a play first. How would they know what to expect?

You learn so much about plays - dialogue, direction, even the lingo of the theatre - through performing and learning from other scriptwriters. More than that, you learn about how things come to life from the page, and you learn something about how other people might interpret your words.

[Writing Again]

How could you become a playwright if you did not enjoy the theater?

How do you enjoy the theater?

Jump in with both feet, just like the pool.

[MacAl Stone]

One of the things I'm really excited about, moving back to the Seattle area, is that I can hunt out some little rep groups and community stuff, and perhaps learn a bit about crafting a play.

Haven't really done any theater since college, and finding I'm really missing it.

[AndersonK]

You pose an interesting question. I have a degree in theatre. It taught me acting. I acted, a little bit, but I wasn't that good at it. I really enjoyed the directing and the writing!! I believe I am a better writer and director BECAUSE I understand the training of an actor. I am able to better communicate with an actor as a director and as a playwright. I speak the actor's language. I understand a character's motivation, etc. As a playwright, I can hear, see, and react as an actor as I write the words. But the magic STILL comes with the blend of the actor, the writer and the director collaborating together to form a piece of performance art. Having a similar sounding board or training makes communication better!