Real-Life Communication
Can you imagine a play that didn't communicate a message of some
sort? A playwright's job is to communicate! But before a play can communicate
a message, a playwright must carefully research his main idea and then figure
out what to do with all the information.
A few years ago, California
playwright Chris DiGiovanni had an idea for a satirical play about a fictional
U.S. president, to be set at the White House in 1985. "I began my research
with the office of the president," says DiGiovanni. "I discovered that there
would be a vice-president, a chief of staff, a first lady and sundry assistants."
Then
DiGiovanni began to research the relationship between the U.S and the former
Soviet Union. "I learned that 1985 was a period of high anxiety in the U.S.-Soviet
nuclear relationship. So, I realized I would need a character to be the Soviet
counterpart to the U.S. president," he recalls.
This was the period
of nuclear missile treaties and MAD -- a doctrine of mutually assured destruction.
Because of the strategic nature of the times, DiGiovanni knew he would also
need a U.S. military general to place in opposition to his president. "So
then I had my fifth major character -- a U.S. general who would also be the
vice-president. He would need military assistants, and so I gave him four:
three lesser generals and a colonel."
After this initial round of research,
his idea finally had its initial shape: the period, the place, the tone and
the major and minor characters.
In this communications exercise, write
down an outline of how you would go about doing the research about the MAD
doctrine. Start with a statement about your research objective. Then list
where you would start your research and whom you think you might talk to.
Then briefly explain why your research would likely make your play better.