Playwright Discovery Award Teacher's Guide - The John F. Kennedy ...

FOR THE ARTIST’S NOTEBOOK:
Understanding the Rules of the
Play’s World
The rules of the world is a phrase that
explores how the story, characters, and
environment of the play function. The
characters inhabit the world and are affected
by things like time, space, or environmental
cause and effect. The world’s consistencies
and variations add another layer to the storytelling
or production. A dramaturg works with a
writer to first explore how the world works and
when the play’s action, environment, or characters
ignore the established rules. The second
exploration is to decide whether to highlight
the variations or rewrite the moment so that it
follows the established rules.
Tips on Understanding the Rules
of the World:
Every world has patterns and rules the characters
must follow or consciously rebel against.
The Play’s Environment
The play’s environment may also be defined as
truths that are followed and enhanced.
For example:
For a play that slowly reveals a character is
a ghost, a stage direction might read, Lights
flicker whenever Suzie enters.
Rules for Time
The actor and director must now explore an
active way to illustrate how a character resigns
herself or himself to wait.
For example, a stage direction might read:
A character who must wait for public transportation
is shown waiting. The character avoids
filling the time by reading a book or texting. The
character simply waits.
The play’s form or storytelling pattern—how we
move from scene to scene or what events or
actions cause certain action or repeated actions/events
to occur—also has rules.
For example:
Whenever a character remembers something
and begins to tell another character about it,
the scene shifts to show the event.
Climactic Shifts
During or right before the Climactic Moment,
or the point of no return, the rules of the world
may also be in flux.
For example:
After Dorothy meets the Wizard of Oz, she discovers
a new way to return home. •
50 ACT III: DRAMATURGY