You want to make money, don’t you? Then write plays!
What you need to know:
The playwright arranges relevant events and actions of various characters that dramatically capture the main issues that are discussed.
The events in a play are arranged logically in a sequence that shows what has caused them to be the way they are and their effect on various characters.
The logical arrangement of events in a play is referred to as the artistic unity. The arrangement of events from the beginning to the end of the play is what is referred to as the plot.
You have to arrange events and incidents in a play to show their impact on the various characters.
Anyone who wants to make lots of money in the media industry should go into production of media content,” Dr Bitange Ndemo, the former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication told me six years ago.
I vividly remember that evening at the Ethiopian restaurant hidden and tucked behind skyscrapers in one of the leafy corners of Westlands suburb of Nairobi. This opened my eyes to new opportunities for writers.
Turn on your television and count the number of soap operas on the menus. They are many and mostly foreign. Tune to a variety of radio stations and count the number of radio plays on offer. They must be very few.
Remember what the law says about the percentage of local content that should be aired on our television stations? This should validate Prof Ndemo’s statement. The market is thirsty for good plays presented on a variety of platforms including mobile television.
You can only succeed in this enterprise if you learn and master the basic principles of writing and production of plays.
Remember that a play is written specifically to be dramatised. It therefore presents characters who act in imitation of human being in actual life.
The playwright arranges relevant events and actions of various characters that dramatically capture the main issues that are discussed.
The events in a play are arranged logically in a sequence that shows what has caused them to be the way they are and their effect on various characters.
The logical arrangement of events in a play is referred to as the artistic unity. The arrangement of events from the beginning to the end of the play is what is referred to as the plot. You have to arrange events and incidents in a play to show their impact on the various characters.
In writing plays you have to remember that events do not just occur arbitrarily. The action has to be made to flow logically. You should be able to explain why various characters react the way they do.
In patterning the events, you have to utilise various techniques to create a sense of suspense. You have to make some events to shatter our expectations and maintain our interest in the play.
KEY ELEMENT IN DRAMA
Characters dramatise the story of the play. It is therefore necessary to see characters as the basic materials for the plot of a play. Character development is the key element in drama.
The main character is referred to as the protagonist. This is the central mediator of meaning in the play. Characters in plays are either round or flat characters. A round character is a complex and fully developed character. We may relate to this kind of character as a human being since we come to know so much about him or her. The protagonists develop with the story and we are able to account for the changes that occur in their lives.
A flat character is a one-dimensional character. The play may not reveal so much about a flat character.
In order to create distinguishable characters in a play you have to describe them distinctively and give each one of them unique qualities in terms of body size, general appearance, actions, thoughts, dreams, speech and aspirations. You also have to aim at evoking a specific mood at every stage of the play.
You therefore have to assign, to various characters, the language that will, not only describe their character traits, but also evoke the right mood and tone. More importantly, you may opt to use images and symbols to create meaning. Some of your characters may carry symbolic significance.
As you embark on this journey as a playwright, it is important to choose the kind of play you want to write. There are many types of plays. However, let us single out three most common types: tragedy, comedy and a tragicomedy. Aristotle, the great Greek thinker argued that a tragedy is a serious play that discusses a weighty matter that affects human beings. A tragedy has certain characteristic. It has a sad ending, but raises and discusses serious matters about human relations.
Some tragedies may end in the death of the main character. However, some may end with the frustration of the main character. In some tragedies, the main protagonists fall from a high position to a low position in society. These characters mainly fall because of a number of reasons. It may, for instance, be because of flaws within their own personalities. Sometimes it may be because of fate. They are destined to fall. Sometimes it may be a combination of both factors.
You may choose to write a comedy. A comedy elicits laughter. It is based on the absurd events and actions of human beings. These events and actions tend to deviate from the acceptable way of doing things. Comedies normally have a happy ending. It is notable that most good comedies use clowns and tramps as characters. The actions of these characters are, in most cases, humorous.
Finally, a tragicomedy has both the elements of a tragedy and a comedy. You may use humour while discussing a weighty matter about human relations. You have to make your audience or reader of such a play swing within two polarities of laughter and sadness. Step into big money. Many media houses are looking for such scripts.
Egara Kabaji is a Professor of Literary Communication and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Planning, Research and Innovation) at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) [email protected]
