Okay playwrights, ready to cast your play? Time to think about characters. Think back to all that you learned on Days 2 and 8 of this workshop.
Day 23 – Briefly describe your characters and define their goals. Include each character’s name, age, a brief physical description, the relationship of the character to other characters in the play, and a one- or two-line history/profile. Adapted from The Playwright’s Handbook, by Frank Pike and Thomas G. Dunn (Revised Edition, 1996).
Now identify your central character. Who is this play about, anyway? Then determine whether each of the other characters is a major, minor, or incidental character in the play. Start thinking about what each character wants (just overall goals at this point–we’ll talk about scene-specific goals for each character later) and the conflicts that will arise between the characters. The goals of each of the secondary characters should either complement or oppose the goal of the central character.
Have fun and see you tomorrow!