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Playwriting - 
10 - minute play Remember, "these ideas really are tools, not rules." Stuart Spencer
Rubric Code: HX8XWC2
By tizlar
Ready to use
Public Rubric
Subject: Humanities  
Type: Assessment  
Grade Levels: Undergraduate, Graduate

Powered by iRubric The Playwright's Guidebook
 

0 pts

Poor

1 pts

Fair

2 pts

Good

3 pts

Invisible Three Acts

0
Poor

Play has One Act
Fair

Play has Two Acts
Good

Play has a beginning, middle, and end.

Act One - the need is introduced

Act Two - the need confronts the obstacle

Act Three - the need has either been fulfilled or denied.

pgs. 29-34
Action

0
Poor

The actor's activity is primary (vs. the character's wants).
Fair

Every character does not have a clear objective and/or some characters' activity is more prominent than their want.
Good

The characters' objectives are clear (vs. the actors' activity)
Pgs. 35-47
Motivation

0
Poor

The characters objective is not heightened/urgent; hence, the source of motivation is nonexistent or difficult to uncover.
Fair

The motivation supporting the character's want lacks specificity.
Good

The characters' motivations are a catalyst for their want; the motivation and the action is equally supported and integrated.

"If action is what characters want, motivation is their reason for wanting it."

Pgs. 48-50

See pg. 52 for a paradigm on how to think about motivation and subtext.
Subtext

0
Poor

Lacks subtext; on the surface, the work is a well-constructed work which nevertheless leave you with absolutely no sense of surprise, suspense, or delight.

pg. 51
Fair

The subtext is provided, yet limited. Instead of serving as a springboard for surprise, suspense, or delight, the subtext seems to operate merely as a checklist for incorporating the playwright's tools.
Good

The character seems to have one motivation, but in fact has another (or for that matter, when he seems to have one action, but really has another) we call it subtext. The subtext is either waiting to be discovered, or serving to add other levels of meaning to what's happening on the surface. The subtext is deliberately withheld by the author, buried under other actions that relate to it but don't reveal it directly, It's always present, but never explicitly stated.

pg. 51
Conflict

0
Poor

The characters ability to argue and pursue dramatic activity is present. However, conflict and the ensuing dramatic action is not.
Fair

The conflict (what prevents the character from getting what he/she wants) is present, yet does not clearly inform or support the dramatic action.
Good

The conflict (what prevents the character from getting what he/she wants) is present, hence serves as a springboard for dramatic action.

Conflicts discussed: External, Direct External, Indirect External, Internal Conflicts
High Stakes and High Hopes

0
Poor

The characters' emotions may be high, yet the characters' stakes are low or non-existent. Likewise, the obstacle is so great, so impenetrable, and so unmovable that the audience senses there is no possibility that the character will ever obtain their objective.
Hence, the characters have little to gain or lose.
Fair

Submission supports either the characters high stakes or high hopes, yet lacks both.
Good

* Stakes and hopes are high

High stakes = much to gain or lose

Low stakes = little to gain or lose

We want the characters to matter to each other: Consider relationships: family, friends, lovers, enemies.

High hopes: achieving the characters' objectives is plausible

See pgs. 73-83
Event

0
Poor

The event is not the result of the action and conflict (see pg. 91)
Fair

The event is when a character either gets what she wants or definitely does not get it. But it can also be useful to think of the event not only as what happens but as a change, the moment when things are different. (see pg. 87)

The event must be the result of the action and conflict (see pg. 91)

Hence, the main action of the play, and the conflict, leads to the event.

See pg. 85
Good

The third event is implemented.
-- The event is the result of the action and conflict, but it's not simply a matter of whether the character gets what he wants or doesn't. Instead, there is a change. It's also a way of thinking of high stakes, high consequences. If it really matters that your character gets what he wants, then the event will resonate beyond the simple, literal meaning (see pg. 94).
Beats, Scenes

0
Poor

Contains a series of beats that contains action, event, and conflict.
Fair

Contains a series of beats that contains action, event, and conflict. Marked beats do not contain either an action, event, or conflict.
Good

Contains a series of beats. Beats are marked in the playscript.

- A beat is the smallest unit of dramatic structure that contains action, conflict, and an event (pg. 97).
- A scene is a concatenation of beats. Each beat leads to the final beat, and the final beat has an event that changes the nature of the action (pg. 103).




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