tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7699430161928404296.post855282468794682631..comments2023-10-31T09:57:55.323-05:00Comments on NTFD: TransitionsAaron Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101984507893099926noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7699430161928404296.post-87444317749556872722007-07-31T16:02:00.000-05:002007-07-31T16:02:00.000-05:00With one clear exception, virtually all of my play...With one clear exception, virtually all of my plays do not feature scene breaks. Are there transitions in time, place, moments, beats? Spaces where an audience can catch its collective breath? Of course.<BR/><BR/>But I tend to think of scene breaks as being too often the (non)theatrical corollary to the television commercial. I don't write television. I write plays for live theater.<BR/><BR/>What happens during a transition is as important as what happens before and after it. It is information. It sets a mood. It uses sound and image and action as much as any other -- because audiences will ascribe meaning what they see and hear in front of them, whether that's silence or noise or music, darkness or light or flames.<BR/><BR/>And sometimes one "scene" starts before the previous "scene" ends. Done well, and at the right time, that's pretty cool!<BR/><BR/>(And with the exception of the overlap mentioned above, I pay just as much attention to the act break(s). They are elements to be used, as well.)<BR/><BR/>So, I explore all sorts of things, use all sorts of imagery and action to move the story forward, even during the in-between times. It's a blast!<BR/><BR/>Now, do I prescribe every single element of a transition? No... but I don't do that for the rest of a play, either. I write what I want to see and hear and experience onstage, and know that a director and actor and designer will add even more to it than I've imagined. That can be one of the joys of collaboration: the lack of hard and fast lines between artistic roles.<BR/><BR/>And don't worry: audiences can keep up with you. They don't need a "lights rise" and "lights fade" to tell them that we've moved to a new place, physically, mentally, emotionally, temporally. As long as they get enough clues, they're good to go.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com