As playwrights, it’s useful to understand the audience-facing aspects of the genre we’re working in, so we can make interesting decisions as we write. In this episode I share how I'm letting genre inform many of the dramaturgical choices I’m making in this draft.

I speak about:

- Leaning into the natural momentum of a genre you’re writing in and letting it draw things out of you.

- Managing and playing with audience expectations and the kind of story they might expect to see.

- How genre can influence: the world of the play, the emotional and stylistic palette, the controlling ideas, the themes and the wants and needs of our characters.

- Knowing which genre conventions you’re aligning with and which you’re choosing to twist and subvert.

- How different genres have slightly different ways they work to evoke emotions, frame central questions, and show specific changes across the arc of a story.

- The fear of predictability when working with well-known story conventions.

References:
Prima Facie by Suzie Miller

To learn more about my work, visit my website or connect with me on Instagram @emilysheehan__. If you’re interested in working with me as your dramaturg then send me an email at [email protected].