Writing Drama
Writing Drama
By: Yves Lavandier
There is a very favourable buzz these days about Yves Lavandier�s magnum opus, WRITING DRAMA. But what is WRITING DRAMA ? Just another book on screenwriting ? No, there is much more to it. People interested in finding easy recipes to write a successful drama will be disappointed; as Lavandier has put it, there is no recipe to write drama, there are rules.reviewed by:Emma Sinclair
Some have said WRITING DRAMA is a modern equivalent of Aristotle's POETICS. Well, yes and no. The spirit is the same as Aristotle's. WRITING DRAMA covers all the aspects of story telling (including fairy tales, comics and short stories) and goes into depth on the nuts and bolts of this universal art form. It is packed with examples from classical, modern and contemporary drama and film, so you are always able to relate the point to what you are familiar with. While it is very thorough in its treatment of the theory behind playwriting, it is also full of practical advice.
The chapters on characterization, preparation and comedy are unique and extremely insightful. The same can be said of numerous developments such as the A-A-A� triad, the famous but often misunderstood notion of MacGuffin or the thorough breakdown of PSYCHO. None will make a genius out of the reader but they will undoubtedly make anyone who has a work in progress think hard and efficiently on how to improve it.
Another highlight of the book is the chapter on dramatic irony. We all have an idea of what dramatic irony is. As a reminder, it is the powerful device of giving the spectator an item of information that at least one of the characters in the narrative is unaware of. Little did we know it has so many connections with tragedy, suspense, comedy, surprise, mystery and, above all, with the way drama is perceived by audiences. What Lavandier calls diffuse dramatic irony derives from the distance that all spectators have relative to the characters in a work of drama. Thus, there is some sort of dramatic irony in every work of drama.
There are two elements which make WRITING DRAMA a unique experience. The first one is the fact that the author is a writer and director himself. Contrary to many script gurus, he knows the trade from inside and you can feel it on every page. The second one is the author's tendency not to stop at his examples. Once Lavandier has illustrated a piece of theory, he seems to take mischievous pleasure in citing one or two counterexamples. As if telling his reader not to take it in too dogmatic a way. Drama has rules, and rules should be known and understood in practice (not only in theory), but rules are also made to be bent once they are fully known. Hence the exceptions. Exceptions are there to enrich the rules. They bring subtlety to the dogmas.
Indeed, WRITING DRAMA is the least dogmatic of all treatises. It is so little dogmatic that it can help anyone write a Hollywood adventure movie, a delicate European bitter-sweet comedy as well as a fairy tale or a Chekhov play. In other words, it is meant to help anyone write something of his own.
Now for the few weaknesses. For one, the book is thick and dense. Even if it is a very easy read, and quite often a fun one, it's obviously not targeted at lazy readers. Secondly, there is nothing on how to format a play or a screenplay. Anyone interested in these practical considerations will have to check out another book (or the internet). There are also too many footnotes. Lavandier is a generous writer and he has an opinion on so many things (such as space travel or transactional analysis) he can't help enlightening us. My suggestion is to start reading the footnote and skip it as soon as you feel it goes off the topic. Lastly, the book is expensive (€38). But it's not the kind of book you read once and leave on a shelf. It's definitely a reference book. There is a wealth of information to be gained from WRITING DRAMA, in the short as well as the long term.
WRITING DRAMA may be ordered on http://www.clown-enfant.com/leclown/shop/index
