Play on words

When we found out the Royal Court was asking people to write 100 word plays as part of the Young Writers Festival, we were intrigued. The idea is to write a play using 100 words or fewer, including stage directions. And by giving a word limit, you really have to think about every word.

It reminded us of an exercise we use in our training sessions. We're always telling our clients to say their main point first. And to get them doing this, we ask them to write six word stories.

This week, all week, we'll be posting our attempts at 100 word plays. We can't promise they'll be exactly 100 words long. Nor can we promise they'll be as good as Philip Hensher's The Passive Mood*, but we'll try.

An Abrupt Ending

Nick: She’s asked me to write a play.

He looks scared, deer in the headlights.

Steve: It’s easy. Get your characters, locations and plot, then stitch it all together.

Nick nods, but he’s frowning.

Steve: What’s the issue?

Nick: I have this... problem.

Steve: Is it endings? You don’t know how to wrap things up?

Nick: No, I’m okay with endings.

Steve: Stage directions then. You don’t know who enters stage left and who enters stage right?

Nick: No, there are only two characters.

Steve: Then what is it? You can tell me.

Nick: Well... after 100 words, I just

*Read what we thought about this in our eWhosit, our take on a monthly newsletter. And if you like what you read, sign up so you get it every month.