Action!

Alan Alda, the actor, discussed dramatic action with an auditorium filled with writing students at Southampton College in New York.  He walked on stage and immediately asked for a volunteer.

When a young man came up, Alda poured him a glass of water from a pitcher. He asked him to walk to the other side of the stage with the glass. Then Alda crossed over to him and filled his glass to the brim. No millimeter of space remained between the water and the rim of the glass. He instructed the man to walk to the table on the other side of the stage and put the glass down but not to spill a drop.

Then Alda upped the imaginary ante: “If you spill anything your entire village will die.” The man and the audience chuckled at the melodrama but he moved forward to accomplish his task. The auditorium sat silent as everyone focused on the rim. A small bead of water started down the side of the glass met by gasps from the audience. The tension increased in the house. Finally the volunteer made it to the table and put down the glass of water. Thunderous applause erupted.

Alda asked the audience to decide which trip across the stage had involved them the most. He explained if a play does not root itself in dramatic action, no one will watch it. One also must do this on the page.

Then he ended, “Before you bring your characters into a scene, ask what you will do with them. How will you have them strive for what they want?”

Consider what David Mamet says about plays. He feels they should start late and finish early. Get in after the exposition and leave before the neat wrapping up. Alan Alda suggested letting the opening scene in “Othello” guide you. Roderigo and Iago fight about money. Roderigo has tired of paying him to plead his case with Othello. In the course of their fight to prove his point and keep the money, Iago reveals the difficulties working on and manipulating Othello. We know all we need to know about Othello and Iago revealed in action.

Creative Write:   \Take time to consider how action moves your poem or story and characters. Where do you tell the audience too much?