This past week we've started thinking about next years play. We separated the tasks amongst the group and Esteban and I were assigned to think of the outline and write the play.

The task seemed, and still seems very challenging, since it is no longer writing for a short sketch, like before, but a full play. Which means that we have to think of a whole story, elaborate a plot in which to work on. Usually when writing or thinking about sketches, I only think of a "slice of life" like an instant in which the transcendence of the story itself is not important. But now, we have to work a lot more in terms of details and basically creating a story. What makes this job different than any other ive done before is that, when writing short stories, or thinking of plots, there is a certain openness of variables in the story, people may interpret them in different ways, or imagine different things, but with this play we have to be specific about the one proposal we are trying to put on stage, so we have to think about everything.

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.  ~Anton Chekhov


Even if the set design team is supposed to imagine how the story will be represented in the stage, when writing we also have to take it into account, because we have to think about actions and settings which are suitable for representing, and thinking about the details in the scenes can also give us ideas on how the scenes develop, so I will start reading more plays in order to get a hint of how playwrights approach their writing.

One of the first challenges that came to mind when we realized that this was going to be a play about a Queen in England was that a lot of the works ive seen or read which have British humour involve a lot of word-play. (Not that the play will be a comedy, but it will certainly include some humour at some stage) Language aids a lot in this process as words lead to another, and discussion can be created. But in this case, we have to go easy on the words and difficult phrases because the play will be in english, for actors who are non-native english speakers. So that is one influence ive picked up over some time which im afraid i wont be able to use when im writing.

The fact that I have Esteban to write the play with really takes a lot of pressure off, because he is usually very creative and comes up with ideas very easily, whilst i seem to take a lot longer to do so, but like developing them. So I think that with our joint efforts we will be able to come up with something interesting by the end of these holidays.

Theres a lot of work ahead, and im rather excited.

So far most of our ideas for the play come from other stories, it almost seems like a collage of elements. And i cant help feeling like were doing something un-original. But then again, isnt every piece of work or art influenced by previous works?