2019

Brief 17 – Due 18/02 at 09:59:59am GMT
Let’s be super duper strict. Below are the rules for your play:

You must have at least 6 characters in the play. 3 in the first act and 3 in the second act. 3 actors must double these 3 parts, and there needs to be a good reason for it. If you are gendering any of the characters – the actor playing that character must play a different gender in the second act.

Feel free to add more characters in either acts if you want.

One character loses their hair throughout the show, two other characters swap clothes at some point.

There must be no less than 3 pauses and no more than 7 pauses throughout the play – each of them at a different length.

One of the scenes revolves around a piece of garbage that was brought inside by the second character to speak in the play.

Every line of dialogue must have one of the following: either 6 words, 17 words, 31 words, 33 words, 66 words or 101 words (you can punctuate as you like).

Each of the two acts has at least 3 scenes in it, and each scene must have a minimum of 12 spoken lines in it. Except for the last scene – that must have a minimum of 24 spoken lines in it.

One of the characters pushes two of the other characters for two different reasons.

One character sings a song; one character dances a dance; one character paints a painting; one character plays the trumpet; two characters play Scrabble.

Every scene should have a minimum of 5 descriptions and 5 stage directions.

All the characters have to have names – all the names have to have a symbolic meaning behind them. And a character can’t speak the first letter in their name!

If you aren’t sure you understand any of the rules – go with what you think they mean.

And again, with this being a weekend task – your only bonus is to be happy with the result.

Brief 16 – Due 17/02 at 09:59:59am GMT
Today’s brief comes to us from the incredible Guerrilla Girls.
A while ago I saw one of their art works and asked them if they would be willing to let me send it to you. They were! So here it is. It’s a video. Your brief for the day is to watch it, and to respond to it! Respond to as many (if not all) of the points they are making. Create a piece that really makes a difference!

WATCH IT HERE

And if you don’t know about The Guerrilla Girls, please check them out! They do amazing work.
Remember, this is a weekend task, so take your time – changing the world requires effort!
And as always with weekend challenges – the only bonus points is for you to write something you’re happy with.

Brief 15 – Due 16/02 at 09:59:59am GMT
There’s so much noise in the world it just makes you want to scream – but then… all you’ll be doing is just adding more noise! So how is that helpful?
If you live in a city – you have all the city noises.
If you live in the country – you have noises from nature.
So the challenge today is to help those suffering from Misophonia… write something without any sound whatsoever. Not just without dialogue – but actually soundless. No foot steps… no breathing… no nothing! Complete and utter silence!
Is that possible?
Hmm… sounds a bit too simple… and we’re already so advanced! So let’s add another layer to it- what’s the loudest form of theatre?
Hmm…
A pantomime!!!
Now, for those of you not from the Commonwealth, who are rightfully confused as to how a pantomime, an art form that is famously silent, can be the loudest form of performance…
“A pantomime (often shortened to Panto) is a musical-comedy family-orientated theatrical production traditionally performed in United Kingdom at Christmas-time. The panto often features slapstick or messy comedy routines, children dancing, recent songs, spectacular sets and colourful costumes, and is often themed around a fairy story or nursery rhymes.”(http://www.theatrecrafts.com/pages/home/topics/forms-of-theatre/)
No bonus points today… I think this is challenging enough…

Brief 14 – Due 15/02 at 09:59:59am GMT
People have shown some genuine concern to my well-being with all these “positive” briefs… I know, perhaps we’ve overdosed, so lets move away from that.
I mean, what’s there to be positive about? The world is quite… uhm… I don’t know how to say this nicely, and mama always said, “if ya don’t have something nice ta say – don’t say nothin’ at all” (that’s because my Mama was a Mark Twain character, apparently).
Anyway… onto the brief – with all this “fake news” claims going on, why don’t we jump on the bandwagon. After all, my mama always said, “if ya can’t fight ’em, join ’em”
So write a “fake news” play or a “fake history” play. I mean, Shakespeare did it to appease his monarchs, but we will do it to appease our own monarchs… those in our heads!
For bonus points, make up 3 words and use them in the play. I mean, who cares what they mean, right? It’s all fake news!

Brief 13 – Due 14/02 at 09:59:59am GMT
Now that we have our perfect bodies… it’s time to find the perfect clothes!
NO! I HATE SHOPPING!
All the measuring the clothes to make sure it fits… then taking it home… then having to wear it… then having to take it out to public… on our bodies! That’s such a palaver!
If only there would be a way to look fabulous without all that faff!
Well, it’s a good thing we live in the 21st Century where we have things like Carling who sell digital clothes…
And obviously, if we have virtual clothes, we need virtual models…
So who needs the pain of actually getting dressed – as long as we can post it on to the instagram, that’s enough, right?
Let’s write about that. What does it mean to get dressed in 2019 when you can just buy digital clothes.
Don’t make it a Black Mirror-esque play, though. Maybe instead of fearing the technology and its consequences, make it into something positive.
For bonus points – use the medium and lets get all modern with our forms as well. Abandon old fashioned things like pens… papers… word files… maybe write the play on the inter web… on the social medias… in a VR tool? I don’t know. That’s for you to figure out.

Brief 12 – Due 13/02 at 09:59:59am GMT
We’re too thin!
We’re too fat!
We’re too short!
We’re too tall!
Our eyes are too boring!
Our hair is too bland!
Our eye lashes are too long!
Our feet are too weird!
We look like an onion!
Enough!
We are who we are and it’s time to embrace what that is!
Write a body-positive play and inspire the whole world to love themselves!
Love all shapes! Love all sizes! Love all people no matter what they look like!
Come on, everybody! Let’s make this world a better place with more beauty!
For bonus points, have more character descriptions than text! After all, your gods, goddesses and any non-binary deities deserve as many superlatives as possible!
P.S. Need inspiration? Click here

Brief 11 – Due 12/02 at 09:59:59am GMT
What? How ridiculous! Writing characters without any psychological background? That’s just nonsense! No, thank you! I want my justifications please!
So there we have it…
Pick one of your favourite characters of all time.
Perhaps from a play, a film, a book, a comic… anything.
But pick someone with very little background. Someone we don’t know much about. So probably not a character that is the hero… or one we’ve been following since birth.
Because it’s on you to create this character’s “origin story”.
Who are they? Where did they come from? What made them become who they are? What made them behave the way they did?
Give them the story they deserve! Don’t forget – you love them after all.
For bonus points – write in as many stage directions you can think of…

Brief 10 – Due 11/02 at 09:59:59am GMT
So… you know this whole thing about cause and effect? And psychological interpretation of dialogue?
As in – someone says something and then someone else says something in reaction
Or someone does something and then something happens as a consequence.
Or someone does/says something because of something that happened before…
or because of something they feel or want. You know… The Uta Haggen questions and all that… Who am I? What do I want? What is getting in my way? bla bla bla…
But logic sounds pretty boring to me! And method feels so dated…
So lets do something else.
Lets write a play without logic… without cause and effect and without reactions.
But can it still make some sort of sense (or is all sense attributed to logic)?
Can it still be dramatically interesting (or is all dramatic interest attributed to reactions)?
Is it even possible to make a good play without psychological interpretation?
Well – that’s for you to figure out.
Don’t give yourselves an easy task and just write a monologue or a one scene dialogue. Don’t make it easy and just write nonsense.
It’s the weekend after all…
Make a well-structured play, with meaning behind it. Say something worth saying. Make it work. Write a play that you would actually want to watch.

Brief 9 – Due 10/02 at 09:59:59am GMT
Gods and devils,
Today we shall fight the battle over the souls of the people! Or at least one person!
Today we are writing a morality play.
Normally, you will have God on the right, the Devil on the left, and an everyman character in the centre.
Lots of other representation will try to persuade them to do the right thing.
But… and this is the big question – what is good? And what is evil?
For some inspiration, here is the text of Everyman – the archetypical morality play:
http://www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/everyman.html
This is your opportunity to push your agenda!

Brief 8 – Due 09/02 at 09:59:59am GMT
What’s in your head? Zombies? No… we’ve just done one awesome singer – no need to do another one.
But what is in there? Well, the one thing that makes you special and the one thing that only you have, that internal voice that nobody else but you can hear, and now is the time to let it take over your pen (or more likely, keyboard).
So write stream-of-conciousness, and let the words flow, including all the, uhms… and ooohs… and arghs… and anything else that your brain might… hold on, there’s a arm with the…uhm, who is he pointing at? I mean, can I really even be as a … what’s it called? Uhm… Off! Argh! I forgot what he’s.. uhm… you know, the… oh, never mind. I guess it must be because of the… Sorry. I’m back! I mean, just get busy and let the words flow.
Write a monologue that’s all coming straight from your head without any censorship. Perhaps be brave and write about yourselves, or be less self-indulgent and write about a friend’s story (though keep it all first person).
Maybe even time yourselves! 15 minutes should be long enough. Start the clock, start writing, and don’t stop until the alarm beeps!
Seeing as this task shouldn’t take you long to write, bonus points to anyone who then edits and re-edits and re-re-edits their text to make it perfect. No more ‘sorry, was in a rush, it’s crap!’ emails – send me a piece of writing you’ll be proud of – something you’ll be happy to send to people to read!
Spread the words of inspiration and happy writing,