Exercises with Plays

FOUND DIALOGUE: Have students write a “scene” using “found language.” Found language is anything they pick up from somewhere else. For example, they can quietly listen to (or tape – all cell phones can now record making this a very accessible exercise) a conversation between two people. Then they should transcribe (word for word) about thirty seconds to one minute of that conversation and bring it to class. Share it with class –maybe even perform it. Finally, select a dialogue and write it on the board. Then, as a class, “standardize” that dialogue by correcting the grammar, syntax, spelling, etc. Discuss the difference between the two. What is gained and lost when you move from organic speech to formalized speech? You can also assign students to work on the same standardizing of their own found language scenes.

LARAMIE THEME - BREAKING SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS: Have students write about their own experiences of be the “other.” Or have they ever antagonized someone because they were different from themselves?They can start with a short, but detailed, first person account. Share the account and brainstorm ways to “dramatize” it. Maybe it is delivered as a monologue while classmates create physical “stage pictures” to set the scene. Maybe it is broken down into a dialogue amongst the “other” vs the antagonist(s). Another option is that the scene becomes a dialogue between who the student was in the past, and who the student is now. This last choice has a science fiction element to it and (as anyone who has ever taught creative writing knows) students go crazy over that.

SIMPLY GET UP AND ACT: Have them present a scene. Give them time to rehearse it first. Ask them to think about diction and projection so they can be heard. Ask them to think about their body language. Ask them to think about particular word choices and dialect. Tell them to have fun. After they present the scene, let the class comment on what they saw. Did it highlight any new aspects of the play?

MOMENT WORK: Select a “Moment” from Laramie. Read it out loud and discuss the Moment in class. For example, HOMECOMING is a great one. Notice that there is an interjection – a juxtaposition, from MATT GALLOWAY. What is it saying? Why is it important? Ask students to write a short monologue (fiction or non-fiction) from a moment in which someone notices something important, a shift in society that reflects them directly. Have another “voice” come into this moment. Share what they wrote.Are there any parallels to Laramie? Are there any parallels to other student Moments? What images does the class imagine when they hear these stories?

FILL IN THE LOCATION: Select a scene (in Laramie or another play) and in detail, write about the “setting” as you see it. Draw conclusions form the text and be as vivid as possible. You can include drawings, photos and even sound, as well.

What role does the Tectonic Theatre Company play as “bearing witness” to this tragedy and “listening” to a community? Take a few scenes and analyze the role of the company member who is doing the interviewing. Do people seemed relieved to talk to someone, or are they hostile to it? How does this play out in other situations of trauma?

Often what people don’t say (rather than what they say) gives us more insight into their character. What can you tell us about some of the dialogues in Laramie in terms of what this person really thinks based on what they are NOT saying?

CHEMICAL DEPENDANCY EXERCISES: There are several scenes in Laramie that either allude to, or directly speak about drug and alcohol use and abuse.

Read the scenes and look at them from the larger narrative of the story and from a character analysis perspective. How did drugs or alcohol affect the behavior and decision making of the people in Laramie? Can you speculate how a moment or event would have turned out differently had these not been a factor? Ethically, can behavior ever be forgiven because someone was “under the influence?”

Take a moment in Laramie when drugs or alcohol are being discussed. Does the language ring true? How does the fact that the dialogue was taken from actual interviews affect the sound of the language? Is it authentic? Conversely, how are conversations about drugs and alcohol that are more “scripted” seem in terms of authenticity? What makes a dialogue about these topics seem more or less authentic? Can you compare two? (The students can either find their own examples, or the instructor may want to provide one to watch and then compare it to Laramie.)

Examine Laramie through a Mass Communication lens. Which scenes deal with the media? How do the people of Laramie deal with this new presence? Watch footage from how Laramie was covered in the media. Does this correspond to more recent footage of how a “town” can become interlaced with an event? Other examples: Columbine, New Haven, CT, Ferguson.