Assortment of Dialouge Clippings

The tricky part about playwriting is the huge reliance on dialouge. In novels, short stories, and general pieces of prose the author/writer has the liberty to place dialouge within descriptions and narratives. In plays, however, nearly all that information must be relayed to the audience via dialouge without just outright telling, as if reading a prose manuscript or sounding as if the dialouge is unnatural.

In the excerpt from "Death of a Salesman," the dialouge between Willy and Howard provides a strong sense of the dynamics between the characters as well as their age, ranks, and even Willy's relationship with his sons. We understand that Willy is an older man nearing retirement who has, in the past, "crack[ed] up" and is reliant on this younger man who holds higher authority than Willy in this business. Willy's relentless and shameless attempts to bargain with Howard over his position at the company, and then to keep his position at all, reflect a dire situation of his soul. Howard's stubborness portrays a lack of symapthy. Thus this dialouge provides the audience with a strong sense of the character dynamics along with basic information about these characters' situations.

The excerpt from "Arcadia" starts with an update between Hannah and Bernard, thus providing the audience with some practical information. The manner in which this information is exchanged is tense. Their lines are short, some are just one word, and this terseness adds to the tension. The two also try to one-up each other with information and theories within their shared field of expertise- providing the audience with knowledge of their career/business/research as well as adding a sense of competing pride within the character dynamics. Thus the audience learns about their practical interests as well as their interest in one another through this excerpt.

The excerpt from "Angels in America" is a very intense scene that forces the audience to pick up on refrences to dynamics of this marriage that have existed before this scene. With mentions of snippets of previous episodes between Joe and Harper, the audience learns of their marriage dynamics. Through responses to accusations, the audience learns of Joe and Harper's feelings towards Mormons in Utah- about their infiltrations in regards to homosexuality. The audience also learns what Joe and Harper don't like about each other, Harpers suspicions and some of Harper and Joe's behavior that is not played out on stage during this scene.

These scenes not only provide information for the audience, but are active enough to further the plot. A playwright cannot rely on descriptions of a streetfight, of quiet and internal thoughts inspiring a character to act in a certain way, or on anything else to further the plot. Instead the playwright needs to show it on stage, the characters need to further the plot on their own without reliance on any sort of narrative to fill in the gaps between talking.

In the scene from "Henry IV, Part 1" Hotspur utters "for the hour is come/ To end the one of us" and then Hotspur and Prince Henry fight. Thus the dialouge alerts the audience, in addition to feelings the characters have of one another and their pride and desire to kill the other, that a fight is coming and only one of the Harry and Henry shall survive.

In the excerpt from "Closer" the dueling scenes between Larry and Anna and Larry and Alice, as Larry turns from one woman to the other, provides the audience with a potrayal of the two relationships Larry had. Thus the audience is able to compare and contrast, and further to judge Larry, on their own. The audience is also able to see trends and recurrences in Larry's behavior instead of having one of the ladies yell at him for repeating his mistakes. This dialouge feels more like commentary on relationships- acting out a message on stage more than furthering plot itself. Or at least the plot it does further seems to exist to make a specific point. This is more effective than it might be on a page, buried in or preached through prose .

In the excerpt from "Orphans," the audience learns what what Harold wants when he aksas "When are you gonna send me out on a real assignment" signfying a desire for more challenge, excitement, and a chance to prove himself. We also learn about the relationship from Treat's perspective. Thus this dialouge serves to provide information about motives for at least Harold as well as Treat's manipulation and desire for revenge. Through recounting instances not played out in this scene, we learn about their personal biases evident through the manner and voice through which they retell these small instances to each other.

Monolouges: The Vagina Monolouges

This collection of monolouges is a powerful body of work that spans a variety of issues relating to gender, sexism, and male domination. Unlike the The Laramie Project, where most of the monolouges felt solicited and provoked by an interviewer, only "The Flood" interview alludeded to any other character than the one speaking. In both "Hair" and "Because He Like to Look at It" the character seems to be telling her story voluntary. The honest graphic descriptions are very effective in relaying the pain and struggle of each story, especially the images in "Hair." In "The Flood" the absent but alluded-to interviewer helps emphasize the generational gaps between elder and younger women, as well as emphasizing why the Vagina Monolouges are significant and important- that telling these stories are liberating. The use of the absent interviewer keeps the focus on the woman delivering the monolouge while at the same time emphasizing her growth.

Monolouges: The Laramie Project

The choice Moises Kaufman and the Members of Tectonic Theater Project to tell the story of Matthew Shepard through monolouges presents both gains and losses. Because the interviews conducted by the members of the Tectonic Theater occurred over a period of a year and a half, a great amount of development occurs for some of the characters over this time. For example, Jedadiah Schultz reflects on his changing perspective of homosexuality during this period through self-anaylsis. Each character telling their own story in their own voice helps to create a sense of place, painting a multi-dimenstional image of Laramie, Wyoming. We undertand how Laramie exists for the Mormon priest, for homosexual citizens, college students, and the workingclass. By allowing each character to present their specific story and response to life in Laramie, the multiple perspectives both defend and condem Laramie. These monolouges feel raw and honest, probably because of the varying voices.
Although these personal monolouges make the playwright feel more removed from the play at times, the inclusion of the members of the Tectonic Theater Project remind the reader (or viewer) of the relationships between members and Laramie citizens which inevitably influence what the citizens feel comfortable saying. Including the members as characters also adds to the convincing honesty of the monolouges because it reminds the audience that citizens were expecting their words to be repeated and this must be taken into account when hearing their stories. As the reader, I did not feel like the playwright was putting words into any of the characters mouths or forcing any of the characters to be someone who they were not in real life. I especially appreciated the way the playwright used the characters request to not condem Laramie, or relay the story of Matthew Shephard in any incorrect way- for example when Father Roger Schmit says "And I will speak with you, I will trust that if you write a play of this, that you say it right. You need to do your best to say it correct."
This play seemed less action driven and I am curious as to how it would translate on the stage. The director seems to have a great deal of liberties in how to include action on stage in order to not solely have actors speaking to the audience. Also there is minimal interaction between characters, other than in interview situations. I am also curious as to how this would translate to the stage in a cohesive manner. Although the subject matter of the play is incredibly thought provoking, engaging, and captivating, I'm not sure how the form and extensive use of monolouges and narrations would aid in engaging the audience to the fullest.