Ten Minute Play

Ten Minute Play
1) It takes too long to get going. In a ten-minute play,

audiences should know or at least suspect what the conflict is by
page two. Very often, there is a lot of introductory and lead-up
dialogue before the story actually starts on page four or five.
This means it’s actually a five-minute play with a bunch of filler
up front. Four or five pages in a ten-minute play is too much to
waste.
Inciting Event
2) The characters are mouthpieces. The play has a message it
wants to impart, but rather than putting characters in a dramatic
situation to impart it, the characters (usually two) are plopped in
some neutral locale, where the intended subject randomly comes
up, and they discuss the two sides of the message point by point
(or close enough). It doesn’t matter who wins or loses the
argument, nobody leaves the argument changed, and the result
feels like heavy-handed preaching. It’s conflict without stakes.
3) The play goes nowhere. Writing dialogue can be really fun,

especially when the characters take over and say things we never
expected them to say. But when they’re done having free rein,
it’s important to go back over what they said and make sure
there are sound reasons for keeping it. Does the dialogue move
the story forward and drive toward the ending? Does it
contribute to the theme? Does it reveal their wants? If that
information were not in the play, would it make a difference?
Despite clever dialogue, do the characters end in the same place
they began? Even ten-minute plays should show a journey for
someone. (Facebook commenter Tom Rushen adds that this is
often a problem when the “play” is an excerpt from a larger
piece, and has no impact out of context.)
5) The play is an elaborate set-up for the punchline. Some

ten-minute plays read as though the ending was thought of first,
and the entire play was written to support that punchline. This
isn’t to say the ending is bad, just that it needs a solid structure
to support and make it earned and satisfying. Very often, with
plays like this, the ending is telegraphed because it seems as if
it’s the only point to the play. Alternatively,
6) The play is a one-trick pony. There’s a device, say a

daughter is coming out as straight to her lesbian parents, and
they are disappointed. Instead of focusing on the discourse that
might come out of that, and the acceptance journey or something
else dramatic, the play is focused on all the reversals that come
out of that reveal, at the expense of the characters, the plot, and
the play itself. Even if it’s funny, the joke is usually exhausted
long before the ten minutes is up, which is why sketches tend
toward brevity and often peter out without resolving the conflict
in any meaningful way.
7) The play tries to do too much. One of the beautiful things
about writing ten-minute plays is that there is only room for one
storyline. That doesn’t mean there can’t be subtlety and
beautiful layers to that story, but in trying to incorporate too
many themes, the ten-minute play becomes unfocused and
confusing. With a solid throughline, supporting ideas may
manifest, but there isn’t room for them to be a story unto
themselves.
8) There’s not an original idea in it. Some plays are perfectly
fine as written, but the whole thing just feels too familiar, the
characters too cliche. I’d offer examples but I don’t want to call
out something specific that somebody might take personally. A
short time ago, I posted on Official Playwrights of Facebook
asking if ten-minute plays time out, i.e. do they become less
appealing for some reason? I think this may actually be part of
it. When I wrote a short play about people being obsessed with
technology, it got produced about 15 times in one year; nobody
chooses it now. I’m guessing there are how a ton of those out
there; maybe you’ve written one yourself. So if something
“new” like that can get overdone, imagine how many times
readers see things about ordinary situations. If you’re choosing
to write about something ordinary, ask yourself “What is going
to make this one different from all the others like it?”
ARCO
Personaje cambio
Deso/necesidad
Ser simple

Ten Minute Play

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ten Minute Play

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ten Minute Play

1) It takes too long to get going. In a ten-minute play,

3) The play goes nowhere. Writing dialogue can be really fun,

5) The play is an elaborate set-up for the punchline. Some

6) The play is a one-trick pony. There’s a device, say a

You might also like