The new play I am working on, which is as yet untitled by is being called 'The Frank Lloyd Wright Play' because that's kind of, sort of, not really what it's about, is turning out to be about strengths and weaknesses. I've been using 'The Dramatic Writer's Companion' by Will Dunne and it's been super helpful as far as fleshing out the characters.
With this play so far, I can see in my mind's eye the actors on the stage. There's two women and two men. And I can see what they are wearing, what they look like, but they aren't moving around or doing anything. They just stand there, as if in an archival cast photo. It's kind of insane, actually. I came up with the idea for this play nearly a month or two ago, and all I see is the archival photo.
So, here I am, sketching out the 'herione', Julia. And she's coming more and more into focus. I've been dubious of doing actual sketch work on characters that list their birthday, height, vital stats, etc., which this one does, but it focuses more on things like Julia's childhood and the best thing it asks me is something to the effect of 'what three things happened in the character's life that are the most important and shaping and how and why did they shape who the character is at the beginning of the play'. AWESOME.
As I'm sketching her out, I'm getting ideas for scenes and situations, and how things should go. I have several large blanks to fill in, and this is definitely helping with that. I am hoping that once I get through sketching all four characters, it will come together well. Here's to hoping.
And here's a quote I think I'm going to use for Julia's credo:
"At times, our strengths propel us so far forward we can no longer endure our weakness and perish from them."
Friedrich Neitzche
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