"We are what we do," said Aristotle.
Thought in Action Equals Character.
I’m late posting because I was asked by Fox5 local NYC news to do an interview about late diagnosis autism which I did in the freezing, windy sunshine yesterday after rehearsal. Then I needed a long hot bath. I prioritize my needs to model for you all that the earth doesn’t explode, the sky doesn’t rain thunderbolts when someone takes the time they need. Then I wanted to fill this with all the things I wish I’d said in the interview, but I’m letting that go too, with kindness and self-compassion.
The Prompt:
To continue with this series on the 6 elements of drama according to Aristotle, and to combine that with some other ideas, THOUGHT is the representation of (ir)rational processes of our characters (and of the values, ideas and themes articulated in the work). A great example of this is a king (in a drama that Aristotle never lived to see): Shakespeare's Henry V.
In the previous Henry histories, Shakespeare showed Prince Hal to be quite a rake and a no-good wastrel, but in Henry V, he shows up as a king trying to do kingly things in the right way. To reload his audience's ideas of this well-known character, Shakespeare shows us the rational processes of his mind through action.
In Act 2, scene 2, Henry learns of 3 traitors, but they don't know that Henry knows what they've done. He asks for their advice on what to do with a drunken man who was arrested for speaking against the King. The traitors tell Henry to punish the drunk without mercy. Henry frees the drunk and shows the traitors proof of their treachery. When they beg his mercy, he says, "The mercy that was quick in us but late by your own counsel is suppressed and killed," which means I would have shown mercy, but you convinced me not to. Then he orders their executions. We see through the actions of the scene, all of Henry's thought processes shown to us.
This kind of dramaturgy creates a kind of trap in the action to catch the thoughts of the characters, like the way Hamlet comes up with the play-within-the-play to “capture the conscience of the king.” Hamlet puts Claudius to the test to prove for himself Claudius is guilty. Hamlet is trying to reassure himself that vengeance is the right action.
How do your characters decide to act? Every decision is an event, so seeing thought in action can be thrilling. Instead of trying to explain things after the fact with what I think of as the Charlie's Angels model of letting the villain monologue upon capture, we could lead the audience through the thought process of any protagonist by creating actions that show thought.
Another way to do this is to create new equivalencies by reloading the meaning of objects through the eyes of the protagonist. If you have a daughter who believes specific things about her mother, and these beliefs are revealed as part of the ammunition of the scenes, then, when she gets her brother to kill mom, we understand her thought process.
If a mother is typically a symbol of comfort, then Clytemnestra needs to be reloaded (like a gun) as a different kind of mother through Elektra's eyes, so that when Elektra convinces Orestes to kill Clytemnestra that loaded gun "goes off" activating the promise of the earlier scenes.
Where can you replace explanation with action to show thought? How can you activate ideas/beliefs in active ways to show your audience what your characters mean?
We are not necessarily what we say. Especially if we’re selling something. Even moreso, if we’re hiding something. That’s fascinating in drama, but it’s hard to watch in real life.
As we are all quite aware, watching the world stages of the moment, character is action. Revealing thought via action reveals character. We are what we do.
This is why it’s so healing to show up for ourselves on a regular basis, to know ourselves as trustworthy and reliable. To stand up for what we believe in, to call on our representatives to do the same. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this in the chat!
Upcoming Classes!
Good News! The Dramatists Guild Institute is teaming up with PlayPenn to offer a roster of Spring Classes with Roland Tec, Pandora Scooter, James Anthony Tyler and me! I’ll be teaching Structure is Not a Dirty Word starting Tuesdays, April 1st through June 3rd, 6pm - 9pm ET via Zoom. We will have so much fun together!
artwork by Scott Sherman from ScottShermanStudio on Instagram
Brave Space Schedule:
3/16 Sunday 6pm ET All Human Brave Space
3/17 Monday 12pm ET Brave Space
3/19 Wednesday 12pm ET Brave Space
3/20 Thursday 7pm ET Brave Group Coaching
3/21 Friday 12pm ET Brave Space w/fast feedback
3/23 Sunday 6pm ET All Human Brave Space
3/24 Monday 12pm ET Brave Space
3/26 Wednesday 12pm ET Brave Space
3/27 Thursday 7pm ET Brave Group Coaching
3/28 Friday 12pm ET Brave Space w/fast feedback
3/30 Sunday 6pm ET All Human Brave Space
3/31 Monday 12pm ET Brave Space
4/2 Wednesday 12pm ET Brave Space
4/3 Thursday 7pm ET Brave Group Coaching
4/4 Friday 12pm ET Brave Space w/fast feedback
4/6 Sunday 6pm ET All Human Brave Space
4/7 Monday 12pm ET Brave Space
4/9 Wednesday 12pm ET Brave Space
4/10 Thursday 7pm ET Brave Group Coaching
4/11 Friday 12pm ET Brave Space w/fast feedback
4/13 Sunday 6pm ET All Human Brave Space
Sunday 730pm ET Brave Sharing Salon
4/14 Monday 12pm ET Brave Space
I will be traveling the rest of this week to the Inge Festival
Each week Fridays include fast feedback for up to 1 page (@300 words) of writing or to discuss a craft issue/get help on your project.
Each month there is a Sharing Salon on the Second Sunday (730pm ET) for sharing up to 10 minutes of work (up to 1500 words).Opportunities!
Breath of Fire is offering free evenings online to write your play with the amazing Diana Burbano on Wednesdays 630 - 830pm PST. Diana is the Artistic Literary Leader of Breath of Fire, an award-winning playwright, Equity Actor and Teaching Artist for South Coast Rep. From 2/26 - 10/22/25.
Play the game of Telephone for all kinds of writers and artists, a global community of responses. (I’m loving it!)
Women in the Arts & Media have a list of opps you can sign up to get monthly.
For poets looking for UK opps, sign up for Angela T. Carr’s Wordbox with monthly opps & more!
Clubbed Thumb's New Play Commission due March 20th!
Due April 1st, T. Schreiber Studios wants short plays on the theme “It Happened to Me.” There is a $5 submission fee, but if selected, they pay a small stipend and your work is produced in NYC in June. (I did this a few years ago with them, and they produced the plays at Theatre Row. This year I think it’s at ART/NY.)
Pittsburgh New Works seeks one-act plays for their 2025 season of world premieres. 15 to 20 plays will be selected as full productions or readings. Read their guidelines (they have changed somewhat) and if your play qualifies, submit it no later than Sunday, April 6!
For 10-30 min plays for The ReOrient Festival (about the Middle East Or by Middle Eastern writers) til April 30th more info / submit
April 1: The Democracy Cycle 2025 Open Call
The Barn’s residencies take place in Lee, Massachusetts -- we offer one residency in the spring (roughly the first full week of June) and one in the fall (roughly the second full week of October). Residents are provided with room, board, working space, and a stipend of $600 for the duration of their stay. These residencies support emerging artists in the performing arts. Reach out to info@thebarnatlee.org with any questions or for more information.
Amazing People Doing Amazing Things:
If you want to be listed here, please let me know what you’re up to and include your links!
For, example, I had a poem published in Ghost Furniture Catalogue. You can read it here! And I’m doing a little one-act in a festival at New Circle Theatre Company in the theatre district (NYC) 3/26 - 4/6. My work will be in Program B but you can also check out Program A.
Gina Femia is offering her Novel Writing 101 class! April 12th - May 24th, Saturdays from 4-630pm ET via Zoom.
Nikaury Rodriguez is in the cast of Bread of Life by Frank Pagliaro, directed by Leslie Kincaid Burby, produced by Up Theatre uptown running March 26 - April 12th. Tickets here. Sit with me 4/10!
If you’re looking for the best NYC self-defense class, PREPARE changed my life! I highly recommend them. If you ask, for groups/schools, they might travel.
SUR: The Trojan Women Project Sat. 3/29 to 4/6 in New York @ LA MAMA'S ELLEN STEWART THEATRE. https://www.lamama.org/sur/ or more info here
JOIN 100 Days of Creative Resistance! free email of encouragement, opposition, and commiseration — a reminder of why we write and create — from 100 iconoclastic contemporary voices on each of the first 100 days of the 47th president’s regime.
Audrey Cephaly has written a great Substack on How to Write the 10 Minute Play - I highly recommend her Substack every day, but especially this one.
TOUCH a new play by Lori Goodman directed by Janice L. Goldberg will run at The Tank, 2/20 - 3/16. With the inimitable Carole Foreman in the lead role!
Take a Poetry Workshop with Only Poems.
If you’re not already subscribed to Mark Ravenhill’s free newsletter for his 101 exercises for playwrights, you might want to click here to do that. If you’ve missed them til now, reach out and I’ll send you a pdf of the 1st 53, and a pdf of 54 - now. That way you don’t have to search through the endless Twitter-verse (where they are out of order).