Each play is a warzone, and each scene a battlefield. This is often drilled into actors and directors very early, but often lost on playwrights. It is important, however, to understand. Battles occur daily, and this should be reflected in your writing. The higher the stakes, the more furious the battle.
Let's take a typical two-character scene involving two characters, whimsically named A and B. Naturally, the only reason these two should be onstage at the same time is to pitch a battle. The objectives are simple. A wants something from B, and B wants something from A. The stakes are almost always raised when they want different things, but they don't have to.
There are three possible resolutions to every battle: A and B both get what they want (split), A or B wins (victory), or neither A nor B emerges victorious (stalemate). In a split, each combatant achieves their goal, but ends up having to give something up, which sets up a future battle for that something. In a victory, the losing participant may slink away or devise a better battleplan to regain what was lost as well as what he or she wanted originally. In a stalemate, both must retreat, lick their wounds, and prepare for a future battle. All of these scenarios raise the stakes for future, larger, battles.
When a scene contains more than one character, generally teams, or armies, are created. Often, using two or three combatants in the same army against an unopposed individual raises that individual's stakes and creates a great chance to infuse character. Is the character stubborn? Weak? Beaten? Strong? Defensive? Manipulative? These are great opportunities to find out.
A battle over an object is often referred to as negotiation. In Golden Boy, by Clifford Odets, Joe is leaving for a fight. His father gives him a new violin. Joe picks it up, plays it, then sets it down and asks his father to take it back. Joe wins, and he has made his decision between playing violin and boxing.
Almost any time that more than two people are onstage, there is an important battle pitched: a battle for people. This is the most common battle seen onstage, and is usually the strongest and has the highest stakes. These battles can occur over a person offstage, but the battle is often more intense when the character is onstage. In Tennesee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche wins a great deal of early battles for Mitch and Stella, but Stanley keeps plugging away and winning the war. While it's true that the majority of these battles occur with Stella and Mitch offstage, the most dramatic is the scene in which Stanley breaks the radio, with both Stella and Mitch onstage.
Let's take a typical two-character scene involving two characters, whimsically named A and B. Naturally, the only reason these two should be onstage at the same time is to pitch a battle. The objectives are simple. A wants something from B, and B wants something from A. The stakes are almost always raised when they want different things, but they don't have to.
There are three possible resolutions to every battle: A and B both get what they want (split), A or B wins (victory), or neither A nor B emerges victorious (stalemate). In a split, each combatant achieves their goal, but ends up having to give something up, which sets up a future battle for that something. In a victory, the losing participant may slink away or devise a better battleplan to regain what was lost as well as what he or she wanted originally. In a stalemate, both must retreat, lick their wounds, and prepare for a future battle. All of these scenarios raise the stakes for future, larger, battles.
When a scene contains more than one character, generally teams, or armies, are created. Often, using two or three combatants in the same army against an unopposed individual raises that individual's stakes and creates a great chance to infuse character. Is the character stubborn? Weak? Beaten? Strong? Defensive? Manipulative? These are great opportunities to find out.
A battle over an object is often referred to as negotiation. In Golden Boy, by Clifford Odets, Joe is leaving for a fight. His father gives him a new violin. Joe picks it up, plays it, then sets it down and asks his father to take it back. Joe wins, and he has made his decision between playing violin and boxing.
Almost any time that more than two people are onstage, there is an important battle pitched: a battle for people. This is the most common battle seen onstage, and is usually the strongest and has the highest stakes. These battles can occur over a person offstage, but the battle is often more intense when the character is onstage. In Tennesee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche wins a great deal of early battles for Mitch and Stella, but Stanley keeps plugging away and winning the war. While it's true that the majority of these battles occur with Stella and Mitch offstage, the most dramatic is the scene in which Stanley breaks the radio, with both Stella and Mitch onstage.
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