✍️Playwriting Workshop Unit 4 – Conflict and tension

What's the Deal with Conflict?

• Conflict serves as the driving force behind engaging and compelling stories in playwriting
• Creates tension, challenges, and obstacles for characters to overcome, keeping the audience invested
• Arises from the clash of opposing goals, desires, or beliefs between characters or within a single character
• Introduces a sense of urgency and stakes, making the outcome of the story matter to the characters and the audience
• Can manifest in various forms, such as character vs. character, character vs. self, character vs. society, or character vs. nature
• Propels the plot forward by forcing characters to make difficult choices and take action
• Reveals the true nature and motivations of characters as they navigate through the conflict
• Adds depth and complexity to the story, making it more than just a series of events

Types of Tension That'll Spice Up Your Play

• Interpersonal tension: Conflicts between characters due to differing personalities, goals, or values
  • Can involve power struggles, misunderstandings, or competing desires
• Internal tension: A character's inner struggle or dilemma, often stemming from conflicting emotions, beliefs, or moral choices
  • Explores the character's psychological and emotional state
• Situational tension: Tension arising from the circumstances or environment in which the characters find themselves
  • Can include time pressures, limited resources, or high-stakes situations
• Romantic tension: The push and pull of attraction, love, and obstacles in relationships between characters
  • Involves the challenges and complications of pursuing or maintaining a romantic connection
• Social tension: Conflicts based on differences in social status, cultural background, or societal norms
  • Highlights issues of inequality, prejudice, or societal expectations
• Mysterious tension: The unease and anticipation created by unknown or partially revealed elements in the story
  • Keeps the audience guessing and engaged as they try to unravel the mystery
• Comic tension: Humorous conflicts or misunderstandings that lighten the mood while still advancing the plot
  • Provides a balance to more serious tensions and keeps the audience entertained

Building Characters That Clash

• Develop characters with opposing goals, values, or personalities to create natural sources of conflict
• Give each character a strong motivation and a unique perspective on the central issue or theme of the play
• Establish clear stakes for each character, making their success or failure in the conflict matter deeply to them
• Create complex relationships between characters, with a mix of positive and negative aspects that can fuel tension
  • Consider power dynamics, history, and emotional connections
• Avoid one-dimensional characters by giving them both strengths and flaws that contribute to the conflict
• Use character backstories to inform their actions and reactions in the present conflict
• Allow characters to evolve and change throughout the play as they face challenges and make difficult choices
• Ensure that the characters' conflicts and tensions are integral to the overall story and theme of the play

Dialogue That Sparks Drama

• Use subtext to convey underlying emotions, motives, or tensions beneath the surface of the characters' words
  • What characters don't say can be just as important as what they do say
• Employ interruptions, overlapping dialogue, and rapid-fire exchanges to heighten tension and show characters' eagerness to be heard
• Vary the rhythm and pacing of dialogue to reflect the emotional state of the characters and the intensity of the conflict
• Utilize silence and pauses strategically to build tension or allow characters to process information
• Create verbal power struggles by having characters use language to assert dominance, manipulate, or deflect
• Infuse dialogue with sarcasm, irony, or double meanings to add depth and complexity to character interactions
• Reveal key information or secrets through dialogue to create turning points or shifts in the conflict
• Ensure that each character has a distinct voice and communication style that reflects their personality and background

Plot Twists and Turning Points

• Introduce unexpected revelations or events that shift the direction of the story and intensify the conflict
• Use reversals of fortune to raise the stakes and force characters to adapt to new circumstances
• Create moments of irony, where characters' actions or beliefs lead to unintended consequences
• Employ foreshadowing to hint at future conflicts or twists, building anticipation and engagement
• Use flashbacks or non-linear storytelling to reveal key information that recontextualizes the present conflict
• Introduce new characters or obstacles that complicate the existing conflict and force characters to reassess their goals
• Create a ticking clock or deadline that puts pressure on characters to resolve the conflict before time runs out
• Ensure that each twist and turning point is well-motivated and arises organically from the characters and their actions

Staging the Showdown

• Build towards a climactic confrontation where the central conflict comes to a head and characters face their ultimate test
• Choose a setting that heightens the tension and reflects the emotional state of the characters
  • Consider symbolic or metaphorical locations that resonate with the themes of the play
• Use blocking and stage directions to visually convey the power dynamics and emotional distance between characters
• Employ lighting and sound design to create an atmosphere that enhances the tension and drama of the scene
• Utilize props or set pieces as tools for characters to assert dominance or vulnerability in the conflict
• Create a sense of escalation by having the stakes and emotions intensify throughout the showdown
• Allow characters to fully express their motivations, fears, and desires in this pivotal moment
• Ensure that the showdown is a culmination of the conflicts and tensions that have been building throughout the play

Resolving (or Not?) the Big Mess

• Determine whether the central conflict will be fully resolved, partially resolved, or left open-ended
• Consider the thematic implications of the resolution and how it ties into the overall message of the play
• Allow the resolution to arise from the characters' actions and choices throughout the play, rather than feeling imposed by the playwright
• Provide a sense of catharsis or emotional release for the audience, even if the conflict is not fully resolved
• Use the resolution to show how the characters have changed or grown as a result of facing the conflict
• Consider the potential for unresolved conflicts to linger and have long-term effects on the characters' lives
• Leave room for interpretation and discussion by avoiding overly tidy or simplistic resolutions
• Ensure that the resolution, whether complete or open-ended, feels earned and satisfying based on the journey of the characters and the central conflict

Pro Tips for Amping Up the Drama

• Start the play with a strong inciting incident that sets the conflict in motion and grabs the audience's attention
• Continuously raise the stakes for the characters as the play progresses, making the consequences of their actions more significant
• Use misdirection and red herrings to keep the audience guessing and engaged in the unfolding conflict
• Create moments of respite or levity to provide contrast and make the dramatic moments more impactful
• Utilize dramatic irony, where the audience knows more than the characters, to create tension and anticipation
• Employ foreshadowing and symbolism to add depth and resonance to the conflict and its resolution
• Ensure that the conflict is not only external but also reflects the internal struggles and growth of the characters
• Continuously ask "what if?" and explore the most dramatic possibilities for each scene and character interaction