Building Your Play: Theory and Practice for the Beginning Playwright

2. The Four Keys

 2 The Four Keys You’re pretty sure what you have is a play: It’s an event that starts someplace and ends someplace different, and there is definitely a change involved.Good start:you’ve created a box;you have a situation you can work with.Now we need to understand how to fill it;how to make this event interesting,compelling,and meaningful. After all, when Red Riding Hood goes outside to pick a handful of roses, she’s theoretically completed an action, and that could be a play. However, it’s easy to see that just this alone is boring and meaningless.We need to add elements to this basic event to make it what we shall call dramatic.We need to examine the four keys. What Are the Four Keys? Let’s revisit our definition of a play and examine the nature of the event itself. Let’s now add this: An event becomes dramatic when it involves somebody who urgently wants something that is hard to get and does whatever is necessary to get it. Note that this definition carefully contains four key elements.Let’s take them up one at a time. . Somebody This,of course,implies a character who engages our interest,makes us care about him or her, and leads us through the journey of the 5XVK3W&KLQGG $0  THE FUNDAMENTALS play. Maybe it’s a little girl, or a beleaguered king, or a sad young man. Dramaturgically speaking, this person becomes the play’s central character, or protagonist. You will often hear that we have to like, or at least understand, this person well enough to care about the character’s destiny. In our situation, it seems to be Red Riding Hood. . Wants Something This implies a specific goal the character wants to achieve,whether it’s to get back home, solve the mystery, or find freedom. This element becomes the character’s primary goal. (Often when a play isn’t “going anywhere,” the problem lies here.) In our situation, it seems clear that Red wants to get a handful of roses. But is there more to it? Why does she want them? Is there something else going on? Why roses and not morning glories? Why today and not next week? What’s really going on; what does she really want? We’ll come back to this question a bit later. . Hard to Get Drama, as you’ve often been taught, involves conflict or struggle. If it were easy for Dorothy to get back to Kansas, there would be no Wizard of Oz movie. If the chorus told Oedipus who he was right off the bat, we’d have no Oedipus Rex play. If Tom could just pick up and leave his sister destitute, we wouldn’t be interested in The Glass Menagerie. This element—and often there’s more than one—becomes a major obstacle. (Often when a play isn’t interesting or compelling, the problem lies here.) What makes it hard for Red to get those roses? Is she paraplegic? Is she afraid of thorns? Is it raining? . And Does Whatever Is Necessary If a character wants something bad enough, that character will go through whatever it takes to win. He may have to try several different things before any of them works. Dorothy has to find friends, get to the Wizard, kill the witch, and figure out the riddle of the shoes. Oedipus has to threaten, debate, send for people, and probe. Tom has to get a gentleman caller to fall in love with Laura 5XVK3W&KLQGG $0  THE FOUR KEYS and ensure her future so he can split. These plans are described as strategies. (Often when a play is predictable, thin, or dull, the problem lies here.) How is Red going to get those roses if she’s afraid of them? How will she get around the fact that it’s raining —in fact, the worst storm in twenty-five years? How will she get outside in her wheelchair if there’s no ramp? Thus, a situation becomes dramatic when it contains: 1. A central character: Who? 2. A primary goal (discussed in chapter 3): Wants what? 3. A series of obstacles (discussed in chapter 4): Why is it difficult? 4. A chain of strategies (discussed in chapter 5): How to get it? These are the four...