Academic Lecture (283): How Does a Play Script Work? — What I Learned About Dramatic Writing in the United States

Lecturer

Chih-Ching Chester Tsai

Lecturer: Chih-Ching Chester Tsai

Profile:

Chih-Ching Chester Tsai is a playwright/director from Taipei, Taiwan. He holds an M.A. in Drama and Theatre and a B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literatures from National Taiwan University. He is currently pursuing his MFA in Playwriting at the University of Texas at Austin. From 2019 to 2023, he served as the resident director at Tainaner Ensemble. Recent Works: Director and Playwright of A Tale for Home at the University of Texas at Austin New Theatre Festival (UTNT); Script Adaptation of Hamletmachine for the Department of Drama, National Taiwan University Semester Production.

Abstract:

This talk draws on the speaker’s experience in an MFA Program in Screenwriting in the United States, as well as their teaching experience, to reconsider the nature of screenwriting craft. Rather than being a set of universal, neutral, or objective rules, craft reflects particular expectations shaped by culture, history, society, media experience, and the position of the audience. The talk concludes by proposing that a screenplay is a system of communication: each screenplay must establish its own internal rules and teach its audience how to enter and engage with the world it creates.