Theatre Fest Brainstorming
Don’t be Ridiculous! (Just call it theatre and they’ll love it.) Developing your own scripts from what’s inside you. Presenter: Ken Bradbury, named last year as the most-performed author of speech contest material in the United States. This is a workshop in the little-known but highly coveted Bohemian Brainstorming Method. Participants will be lead “gently” through the process of group brainstorming to develop script ideas. Requirements: a long memory and a strange childhood. The dysfunctional are welcome.
Talk about playwrighting… not the actual technique but generating the ideas.
I’ve been writing plays for over 25 years … over 100 plays and musicals published… Haven’t had a play rejected in five years… I bought half of the publishing company. Most one-acts for contest use.
Really… not that big a deal. Chillocothe: “Dead probably”
You are here because you love to do theatre. But performing is only one aspect… To Create theatre… to create the ideas, the scripts…. To feel a play develop inside you…
We need more playwrights with acting experience.
We are not in New York or London or Calcutta. No matter where you live, your life experiences are limited to what you’ve actually seen, heard, and felt.
Today: GROUP BRAINSTORMING.
Let me tell you about one play: … Toad in the Hole came from this idea. My co-author, an author of children’s’ book interviewed kindergarten kids about their fears. Like this: (pass the ball) When you were young, what scared you the most? #1: Fear of the dark. Two books: T. Tyler Toad and the Thunder. and Clyde Monster .. In French: Felix Monster.. (Clyde wasn’t a funny name in French) The Result… Toad in the Hole. animals jump in, find Clyde who’s afraid of the light and of people.
Not an uncommon method for writing …… anytime you see a show written by a team of writers, brainstorming is probably the most common method of script generation. Laughter on the 23rd floor… actually about the process.
Most Famous: A Chorus Line… from interviews with Broadway gypsies…
I used to produce a Christmas play every year for children’s theatre…. Until publishers started wanting only small cast musicals. Used this technique, not to come up with a plot, but to flesh out a scene. Brainstormed ideas about Christmas… (Pass ball) Give it a try: When you were very small… that one gift you wanted the most and you got it. Smells of your grandma’s house. Strange way anyone here found out there was no Santa Claus? I used this method on The Legend of Black Pete (explain) …. asked kids about what they imagined Santa’s house to look like … designed a set made of candy. One of the toughest jobs for the writer of a musical. Interesting characters when they’re a part of a group. Asked: The personalities of elves.
Most theatre: a problem to be solved. Brainstorm problems. If you could change yourself in one way? Angriest you’ve been lately
Nearly all drama can benefit from the brainstorming process. It’s the common, the everyday, which speaks to people. Let’s take even the most far-from-reality type of theatre, The Fantasy.
The Hobbit, King Arthur… it’s the every fears of Bilbo Baggins, and Lancelot which move us. Who in here used to take one, long step before getting into bed? Made sure every part of your body was covered.. especially the feet.. except for a breathing hole? (pass ball) Tell us about the monster you used to think was somewhere in your room? What scared you most when you tried to go to sleep? The thing that speaks to everyone is the fear you had. The specifics are what’s generated by brainstorming.
Most lavish Broadway production in recent years: The Beauty and Beast, still has at its heart, the pain and heartache of someone who thinks he is not attractive. If you could change one physical trait about yourself growing up, what would it have been? Now let’s get a scene…. A time when someone really hurt you because of a remark they made about your appearance.
A Secret Garden is in your head… we’ve all had those dreams and fantasies. The Beauty and the Beast is in your heart. Fiddler on the Roof… as far removed from Illinois as possible… another land in another century… but Russian history and the plight of the Jewish race is not what moves us… it’s the heart of a simple milkman named Tevye to whom a way of life is slipping away.
Comic theatre: the most enduring and popular comics have as their subject matter, the every day fears and aspirations of us all. George Carlin, Seinfeld, … No one plays Jay Leno’s or David Letterman’s monologues two years later. They’re still playing Jack Benny, Lenny Bruce, Bob Newhart, etc. long after some have died… they spoke of things which touch us all.
The worst embarrassment of your grade school years? The worst your dad has ever embarrassed you? ONSTAGE CATASTROPHES: -----Lion in Winter. Me: Henry II. My son came onstage to talk to his mother, Eleanor of Acquitane …. she refuses to give him France, and he threatens to cut his wrist. No knife. Sword. -----Hound of the Baskervilles. Skipped pages. The funniest onstage mistake you’ve ever seen? There’s a play here somewhere!
Reason for group brainstorming. Each of our imaginations are limited by our experiences. My first trip to Europe. I came back a different person. Group brainstorming allows you to expand that. Every time you attend an event like the Theatre Festival, you come back changed. But you’re always limited to your own experiences.
One danger: Sermon Diary.
Often you don’t get a single idea but the experience stimulates your writing. I also use it as a community-building exercise for casts.
I’m going to quit talking about plays and just let you talk. I’ll try not to interrupt and just let you talk…. Just listen to the script ideas you hear.
Let’s do some: Best thing you’ve seen so far at the Festival? Most exhilarating moment on stage? Scariest moment onstage? Biggest thrill you ever had watching a show? Most interesting person you’ve met so far at the Festival?
Defining moment? One talent you wish you had? What causes you to get depressed? If you could get rid of one worry... What you like best about one person in this group (just by what you’ve seen so far) When are you most lonely? One moment you’ll remember forever Describe the perfect friend One thing you wish everyone knew about you but few people do? When you were young, who was your hero? Who’s your hero now?
What scared you most when you were little? Something you’d like to tell someone in this group When you were in Jr High, what high school student did you look up to? Tell us about them. How would you like to be remembered?
Miss most away from home. Describe the perfect day ..like most about mom Like most about dad Best thing about you Most valuable thing..ever lost 1st Love What change to make your life better lst impression of T Fest? If you could change one thing about yourself? If you could get rid of one worry? Something you want to tell someone in here.
What are you jealous of? What do you want more than anything in the world? Other than your parents, who made you what you are? What makes you cry? First kiss.
Of course, these ideas must be changed and molded as your imagination takes holds. Seldom can you use an idea ver batim. Sometimes, however, you can: The script I’m working on now… absolutely true story. Mallory and the Angel.
Thanks for your wonderful attention. I hope you’ll try some of these things. Start on the bus on your way home Saturday. Get something to throw around… maybe a freshman. You’ve have a script idea before you get home… and what’s more, it’ll be yours.
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