A guide to the hidden workings of plays and the trade secrets that govern their writing – by an acclaimed playwright who
runs the prestigious Playwriting MPhil at Birmingham University.
Nick Hern Books publishes an insider’s guide to plays
Drawing on a wide range of drama, both historical and modern, Steve Waters takes the reader through the key elements of dramatic writing – scenes, acts, space, time, characters, language and images – to show how a play is more than the sum of its parts, with as much inner vitality as a living organism.
Almost uniquely amongst accounts of playwriting, Waters’ book looks at the ways in which good plays move their audiences, generating powerful emotional responses that often defy conventional analysis.
The Secret Life of Plays is for playwrights at any stage of their career, and will inspire and inform drama students as well as working actors and directors. Most of all it is for anyone who has ever laughed or cried in the theatre – and wants to know why.
Steve Waters runs the MPhil in Playwriting at Birmingham University. He is also an
acclaimed playwright whose plays have been staged at the Donmar Warehouse (World
Music), the Sheffield Crucible (The Unthinkable), Hampstead Theatre (Fast Labour), and the Bush Theatre (The Contingency Plan). His latest play, Little Platoons, will be premiered at the Bush Theatre in January 2011.
For further information and review copies, contact Robin Booth, Marketing Manager,
robin@nickhernbooks.demon.co.uk or 020 8749 4953
N I C K H E R N B O O K S • The Glasshouse, 49a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP
tel. 020 8749 4953 • fax. 020 8735 0250 •
www.nickhernbooks.co.uk
Steve Waters’ book is essential reading both for playwrights and for theatregoers alike. The title, The Secret Life of Plays, is clearly intriguing and provocative. It suggests that there is a mystery around plays and the writing of plays that can be unlocked. Waters’ approach is to analyze structure and form, which is an approach that brings interesting observations. This is a very practical and fascinating book which attempts to take a fresh approach to thinking about how plays work. As he introduces the book, Waters uses Samuel Beckett’s image of the ‘worm in the apple’; it is the idea of ‘excavating’ plays from the inside. Waters wants to take the reader into the core of the plays themselves. In exploring the nuts and bolts of how plays are constructed, The Secret Life of Plays also offers ways to read and write plays in diverse ways.
What is great about The Secret Life of Plays is that it is very easy to navigate around. It is in three sections. The first is about the structure, the second is about the form and the third is called ‘professional secrets’ and looks at the relationship to audience and the role of the playwright.
Waters is both a writer and a teacher and his prose clearly takes the reader through the main issues in a clear and concise way. He explains key concepts and technical considerations very clearly, whilst being able to apply a range of theories, bringing to his discussion a wide knowledge of drama.
A strength of this book is that it takes its examples from a range of genres and periods. An example of Water’s approach is that he usefully analyzes the structure of William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra in terms of each act being presented in a different genre and this works well in addressing the structure of the play and illustrates how action builds on what has happened before. I liked the examination of the use of space and how it could be configured in different ways. A really good example is how Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage is specifically set in an exterior space. In terms of closure, a really important aspect of plays, Waters uses Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls as an example of how to do this well.
It is towards the end of the book that some of the most interesting discussion comes. The bulk of the book is about the process of writing as if a play is just a printed text, but the final section deals more with the collaborative process, audience reactions and the different roles of the playwright giving a sense of the play in the theatre space.
There are a few clichés and of course spoilers as you would expect, but this is an entertaining and informative read, as well as a very practical guide for writers.
Julie Raby
in Writing in Education No. 57, Summer 2012