Setting

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > CONTENT > SETTING

'Getting people on and off stage from that living room set was a challenge. You can't always have the phone ringing.'

-- Wendy Wasserstein

Think of the Setting as the visual content of your play. Another way to look at this: Most playwrights use the Setting as the visual Subtext of their central characters or the Theme of the play.

There are a few playwrights still around who imagine the entire set down to the geranium in the corner before they start writing. If you think in a highly visual way, go to it. But doing this isn't necessary -- or even very helpful -- before you start writing.

What you do need is an idea of the visual feeling of the setting. Sensing that will help drive the Subtext of your characters. And it will give you a visual benchmark for the tone of your play.

The best Rule: Lay out what you feel is absolutely essential for you to begin putting words on paper. Don't do more than that. A growing number of playwrights use the David Mamet approach where you figure you'll deal with all this when you go into production. Here's all he indicated for OLEANA . . .

```
The play takes place in John's office.
```

No matter how you go with this, give us only what's essential to your vision of the Setting. Forget the geranium in the corner unless it tells us something that matters about your characters or your Theme. And remember that the real work of developing the setting for your play will happen in collaboration with a Scene Designer once a theatre takes on your play for production.

RETURN TO: | Content | Seminar Homepage |