the reading in Theater: the lively art was realy interesting this week because it essentially told the reader how to start writing a script or at least the basic steps. I soaked it in because one, we have to write a 40 page play by the end of the semester, which scares me half to death, but I want to try anyway; and two, it also helps a bit with the monodramas we're working on for the theater lab, which again, I don't fully understand how to do. I've never written a script before, and have barely even written creatively (not essays with points to make), so writing dialogue is a new concept to me. Professor Tanglao-Aguas starts his play with an introduction by the stage manager and the characters. Although it works for his Brechtian-style play, I don't see my self doing that for either my monodrama or my big play. A note on When the Purple Settles: I really didn't like it for about the first half of the play. It had too many stage directions, too many confusing character changes, who the characters were addressing- audience or eachother. I finally had to accept it for what it was- a play trying to make a point-and then I started to like it and care about what the characters were doing. It was unlike Brechtian in the fact that it didn't start out like a normal play, with a plot and characters and then suddenly shock the verfremsdungeffeckt on the audience. I think that the more Brechtian style allows the audience to really care about the characters, find out the point and then remember the point because they internalize the characters, so therefore the point relates directly to their life through substitution. Tanglao-Aguas' play let the audience know going into the play, that it would be making some points- the audience can be riveted when they try and find out how and through what character is the playwright trying to make his numerous points. I looked in Fences to find a more traditional start to a play. Fences started out first with a description of the stage and the relationship between the characters, and finally what they're doing when they enter. When August Wilson starts the dialogue, Bono starts off with, "Troy, you ought to stop that lying!" I could copy Wilson's model, but starting out with just the dialogue part for my monodrama wouldn't give the audience any context and I don't think it will end up long enough for me to allow them not to understnad what's going on for any small amount of time. However, I could read the stage directions aloud. That would give it a distictly Brechtian feel, since that was one of the ways he said directors could alienate the audience. And however much I'm not really trying to do the Brechtian feel, I might just have to do it for the practical reason of educating the audience.