![]() One of the beautiful things about writing ten-minute plays is that there is only room for one storyline. Even if it’s funny, the joke is usually exhausted long before the ten minutes is up, which is why sketches tend toward brevity and often peter out without resolving the conflict in any meaningful way.ħ) The play tries to do too much. Instead of focusing on the discourse that might come out of that, and the acceptance journey or something else dramatic, the play is focused on all the reversals that come out of that reveal, at the expense of the characters, the plot, and the play itself. There’s a device, say a daughter is coming out as straight to her lesbian parents, and they are disappointed. Alternatively,Ħ) The play is a one-trick pony. Very often, with plays like this, the ending is telegraphed because it seems as if it’s the only point to the play. This isn’t to say the ending is bad, just that it needs a solid structure to support and make it earned and satisfying. Some ten-minute plays read as though the ending was thought of first, and the entire play was written to support that punchline. Not all festivals are super strict about length, but if they’re asking for ten minutes, better safe than sorry.ĥ) The play is an elaborate set-up for the punchline. Dense dialogue means the play is going to be more than a minute a page. (Facebook commenter Tom Rushen adds that this is often a problem when the “play” is an excerpt from a larger piece, and has no impact out of context.)Ĥ) The play is much longer than ten minutes. Does the dialogue move the story forward and drive toward the ending? Does it contribute to the theme? Does it reveal their wants? If that information were not in the play, would it make a difference? Despite clever dialogue, do the characters end in the same place they began? Even ten-minute plays should show a journey for someone. But when they’re done having free rein, it’s important to go back over what they said and make sure there are sound reasons for keeping it. Writing dialogue can be really fun, especially when the characters take over and say things we never expected them to say. It’s conflict without stakes.ģ) The play goes nowhere. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses the argument, nobody leaves the argument changed, and the result feels like heavy-handed preaching. ![]() The play has a message it wants to impart, but rather than putting characters in a dramatic situation to impart it, the characters (usually two) are plopped in some neutral locale, where the intended subject randomly comes up, and they discuss the two sides of the message point by point (or close enough). Four or five pages in a ten-minute play is too much to waste.Ģ) The characters are mouthpieces. This means it’s actually a five-minute play with a bunch of filler up front. Very often, there is a lot of introductory and lead-up dialogue before the story actually starts on page four or five. In a ten-minute play, audiences should know or at least suspect what the conflict is by page two. ( And as a thorough disclaimer, these are clearly MY opinions only I have seen any and all of these types of plays chosen and presented in festivals, but, I have to admit, I’m never sure why.)ġ) It takes too long to get going. As such, and even though there are great books out there on the ten-minute play ( Gary Garrison’s A More Perfect Ten, for starters), I’m going to list what I feel (and as always, your mileage may vary) are the most common problems, the ones that generally preclude a play getting chosen for our festival or me recommending a play for another, and the things I find myself commenting on most often when others ask me for feedback. I’ve also written nearly three dozen that have had productions around the world. ![]() It’s fair to say I read and/or see hundreds of ten-minute plays a year. ![]() Not only do I co-curate BUA Takes 10: GLBT Short Stories, but I run TRADE A PLAY TUESDAY and often participate myself (contrary to some beliefs, I do NOT read every play that comes in, only if I’m trading myself), as well as read for several other festivals and contests.
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