The Crafty Art of Playmaking [Paperback]

Alan Ayckbourn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2009

In this seminal guide to playmaking, renowned playwright Alan Ayckbourn shares his tricks of the trade. From helpful hints on writing to tips on directing, this book provides a complete primer for the newcomer and a refresher for those with more experience. Written in Ayckbourn's signature style that combines humor, seriousness, and a heady air of sophistication, The Crafty Art of Playwmaking is a must-have for aspiring playwrights, students of drama, and anyone who has ever laughed their way through one of Ayckbourn's plays.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author of 64 plays, Ayckbourn has garnered international acclaim as a writer-director and remains one of the most widely performed living playwrights. Now he throws a spotlight on his stagecraft secrets and insights in this slim but valuable handbook on how to write and direct plays. It's designed to chronologically carry readers from a play's inspiration and creation to auditions, read-throughs, rehearsals, previews and press night. Ayckbourn covers "obvious rules" such as "Never start a play without an idea" and "The best comedy springs from the utterly serious" and explicates his dicta with brief, occasionally humorous essays. For instance, his rule that "People in general are reluctant to reveal themselves" cues a three-page explanation: "We are most of us by nature secretive creatures... In making characters reveal themselves they must be given a cause, a motive. The classic, slight corny one is to get them drunk. Otherwise, they probably open up through desperation, or anger, or deliberately to hurt each other." The pages on directors and directing cover such areas as casting, lighting, costume and sound design, choreographers, tech rehearsals and dealing with producers and stars. In addition to inserting amusing anecdotes, Ayckbourn also shares relevant passages from his own plays, including Relatively Speaking, Just Between Ourselves, Taking Steps and Season's Greetings. Rather than taking an academic approach, Ayckbourn's stylish writing conveys a feeling that readers have been invited into a near-empty auditorium to witness a private rehearsal. This book, a polished gem of theater lore, concludes with an appendix listing Ayckbourn's plays.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"...a practical and disciplined look...After 44 years at his profession, Ayckbourn knows what he's talking about."--Lloyd Rose, Washington Post Book World
"...amusing, thought-provoking, and helpful in turn...his experiences are well worth the price of the book."--Susan L. Peters, Library Journal
"...an entrancing read-no matter what part you play in playmaking."--Dany Margolies, Back Stage
"...a polished gem of theater lore..."--Publishers Weekly Annex
"The New York Times on Alan Ayckbourn's recent House and Garden: As ingeniously constructed a work as the contemporary theater has to offer... House and Garden does justice not only to Mr. Ayckbourn's miraculous engineering but to his lightly astringent, not quite farcical humor as well. "-- The New York Times

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; First Edition edition (April 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0230614884
• ISBN-13: 978-0230614888
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the best book ever about playwriting and directing, May 28, 2005

By 

krebsman (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: The Crafty Art of Playmaking (Paperback)

There are dozens of books out there on playwriting and about half that number on directing. Unfortunately for us, neither Shakespeare, Chekhov nor Ibsen wrote books on how to write a play. As a result, virtually all the authors of books about playwriting are academics who have never written a commercially produced play. One has to question the value of such people's advice when dealing with the practical realities of the professional theatre. Sir Alan Ayckbourn has changed all that. He is the author/director of (at this writing) a whopping 69 plays, a substantial portion of which have been critical and/or commercial successes on London's West End and New York's Broadway as well as being translated into numerous languages and produced throughout the world. The first part of the book is about the craft of playwriting. Ayckbourn gives his advice in a straightforward series of "obvious rules." First he states the "obvious rule" and then illustrates it with an example, usually drawn from his own work. Some of my favorites were, "Obvious Rule No. 2: Never start a play without an idea." "Obvious Rule of No. 16: Never include a character with no real function." "Obvious Rule Number 14: At least 50 percent of your play is going to be visual." "Obvious Rule No. 22: You can never know too much about your characters before you start." Ayckbourn says that he takes about a year of thinking and planning before he actually writes a word of dialogue. I found this section of the book extremely valuable. Any playwright or would-be playwright would profit from reading it.

To my surprise, I found the second part of the book, which deals with direction, even more valuable than the first part. Aside from Harold Clurman's ON DIRECTING, I cannot think of another book about directing that has been written by a successful director. Clurman's book is very good about reading a script and analyzing it and giving an overall view of how rehearsals are conducted. Most books on directing provide this information. But what sets Ayckbourn's book apart is that he talks mostly about dealing with actors. To the best of my knowledge, no one has written about this aspect. He tells how to handle fragile egos, how to deal with rivalries, how to state your criticism and the appropriate times to deal with certain issues. He also gives good advice on conducting auditions and what personality traits to look for when casting. Advice like this has long been needed.

The book provides valuable information, but what makes it truly brilliant is the charming way it is written. I found it delightful from start to finish, not to mention inspirational. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to any theatre professional, not just writers and directors, but actors, designers and technicians as well. Five stars plus.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Than Just Playmaking, June 17, 2004

By 

DodgyUSA (Jamaica Plain, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crafty Art of Playmaking (Paperback)

Alan Ayckbourn's book on the art of the theater covers far more than just "playmaking" His years of experience as both author and director are evident as he gives "obvious rules" for writing, directing, establishing characters, and everthing in between.
Not only does he devote a substantial amount of space to the play writing process, but he also talks about casting, lighting, chosing a costume designer, working with your tech staff, and dealing with your actors during the various stages of the production.

All this is given, not as a dissertation, but with a genuine sense of love for his craft.

I found the examples of dialogue-taken from his own plays to illustrate the various points of writing-extremely helpful.

I will refer to this book again in my own writing endeavors.

Highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent primer, May 28, 2010

By 

M. S. Blomgren ""Stella"" (White Bear Lake, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Crafty Art of Playmaking (Paperback)

Ayckebourne is a master craftsman in the art of playwriting and he gives the reader some of his best techniques in the first half of the book. Being an entertaining writer the book is also a good read for anyone who just loves attending theatre and wants to learn more about the process of theatre. The second half of the book is on directing. It was a little less interesting for me but it is still a good insight into what a director does and a fun read. Many people don't understand the role of a director in the production of drama. Highly recommend.