Theater Appreciation


 

For this assignment, you will be writing a 3-minute play.  Make sure you read all of the instructions and parameters below!!!

Your play must be 3 minutes in length. (How do you know it is 3 minutes? Time it. Read only the lines of dialogue–not including the stage directions–and time your reading.) 

Your play must include 2 (ONLY 2) characters. The characters you use may be of either gender–so you can use: 2 male characters, 2 female characters, or 1 male/1 female character. You must NAME your characters as well. (Be sure that they are meaningful and make sense.)

Your play must be set in 1 (ONLY 1) location from the environments listed here. The locations you can use include: 

  • a classroom
  • a hospital
  • the front porch of a house
  • a highway underpass
  • a library
  • a prison
  • the lobby of a restaurant

Your play must also include at least 1 of the following items. (You can use as many as you wish and you may include items not listed here, but at least one listed must be included.)

  • an umbrella
  • matches
  • a bouquet of flowers
  • mismatched socks
  • a broom
  • a pencil
  • a coffee cup
  • a pair of tennis shoes

Your play must use 1 (ONLY 1) scene. This means that the action of the play is continuous from start to finish. (Therefore, there will be no …twenty minutes later… or …meanwhile back at the ranch… or …they go to the mall…. Keep the action going.)

Your play must have a title. Be sure to pick a title that is meaningful to the plot.

Your play should be typewritten using the following format:

Character A: This is my first line.

Character B: (sighing) You always get the first line.

Character A: (puffing out chest) That’s because I am the most important character!

Character B: That’s what you say!

(Obviously, your play will use the character names you choose and not Character A/B.)

Make sure that you save your play as a .pdf and then upload the file as appropriate.