This course is intended to continue the process of familiarizing students with the basic components of dramatic writing, paying particular attention to the most basic building block of all effective plays -- dramatic action. We will also focus on the development of an effective structure for a full-length play, and on finding theatrical conventions which both suit the story and make it live on stage. In order to work with these concepts, students write a play featuring an historical character -- someone who has done something noteworthy. Therefore, the elements of the story will already be on the record; it will be the student's job to select which aspects of this person's life should be depicted on stage, and to structure these scenes so that, taken together, they create a coherent narrative. A complete first draft of a full-length play based on this historical character is due on the last day of class.
