Theatricality …
The secret to making your play theatrical…
What makes my play theatre ?
My characters exist in three dimensional space – it is not radio
My characters exist with an audience – people are watching
It is not every day – this is a special/significant moment in my characters lives
What can make my play more theatrical ?
Non-naturalistic story telling (i.e, direct address, jumping backward or forwards in time, stylised dialogue/characterisation)
Challenging or making use of the actors versatility (i.e, actors playing many characters, actors playing inanimate objects – furniture, TV set, soccer ball)
Emotional contact (between the actor and audience)
Tearing down the fourth wall (actor’s acknowledge presence of audience)
Dramatic incidents
Mythic or epic quality
High stakes (i.e. in the scene there is a lot at risk, possibly life or death – usually in TV there is less at risk, in a soapie there is a miniscule amount at risk like making the tea)
Immediacy (contact with the audience)
Risky or unusual setting (i.e, on a sinking ship, in someone’s stomach – not domestic)
REMEMBER: The audience enjoys theatre (actors acting), explore the possibilities of the form.
What can theatre do?
Everything.
Remember Shakespeare had nothing but a bare stage and some costumes and he transported his audience around the world without ever leaving the theatre (i.e, a character comes on to a bare stage and says “Here we are on top of the mountain” and we are on top of the mountain)
What can’t theatre do?
Nothing.
Theatre can do everything that every other medium can do – film, radio, television. Some theatres may have limitations – in a large theatre only the first few rows get close ups, with fixed seating all the audience will not get a 360 degree view.