Letter of Reflection

The biggest difficulty when writing this short play was creating complex characters with clear motives for why they were doing what they were doing. Instead of just creating shallow characters without strong motives driving them, I aimed at creating complex people who experienced inner conflict and show a growth of some kind. I am most proud of finishing a play and not giving up on it. I never thought I would be able to have a finished play and be happy with the result. I would like to do some sort of reading of the play, even if it is not staged, to hear my words on actors, so I can see what works and what does not work as much.

Reflection

I have really enjoyed working on longer works this quarter. It has allowed me to dive deeply into each character and explore their complexities. I find it more useful to work on a longer piece rather than many smaller ones because I can perfect and refine my play. I have achieved my goal of finishing the play by the end of third quarter, and I am happy with the result. The most difficult part of this quarter was making the language sound natural rather than scripted. I want the characters to seem realistic to the audience. If I were to make a performance out of this short play, I would stage it in a small theatre so that the audience members felt immersed in the action. After first speaking to Dr. Totland, my characters have become much more rounded out and I have explored the different sides of them. I am happy with my polished draft and look forward to others reading it.