Before writing a vignette, perform in a few. Playing with spects strengthens your ability to write for them. You can get started with 50 Interactive Vignettes, a collection of open-source scenarios available for download at interactiveplaylab.com/101-extras.
When you’re ready to write, you'll need something to write about. If you’ve already got an idea, that’s great! If not, try these prompts to find a topic.
- What do you care about?
- What pisses you off?
- What do you wish were true?
- What’s a special interest of yours?
- What would be scary and exciting for a spect to do?
- What challenging circumstance might a person encounter?
Here are some of my ideas, in no particular order.
- Mentalism
- Locksmithing
- Rush hour traffic
- People behaving badly on social media
- Going skydiving
- Being wrongfully incarcerated
- Singing without caring what others might think
- Following one’s own heart
The next step is to come up with a situation that puts your idea in action. Make it about two characters. A supporting character may show up, but focus on two primary characters. Identify who they are and what’s going on in the simplest of terms. Drawing inspiration from the previous list, here’s what I came up with.
Two suitors vie for the same person’s affection by taking turns serenading her.
That’s a premise. To grow it into a full scenario, develop a progression of events. Note which character is the spect and which is the inter-actor. Write with interactive techniques in mind. Many spects aren’t comfortable with singing, so, in this example, the scene ramps up to the point where the spect sings. Include thoughts about the scenario in the notes at the end. Top it off with a title.
Two woo
Characters: Mario (spect), Giovanni
Rival suitors, Mario and Giovanni, discover each other outside Lucia’s home. They discuss her many wonderful traits. They call to Lucia, asking her to come out onto her balcony, but they get no response. The two suitors take turns demonstrating how each one plans to woo her, with the other assuming the role of Lucia. They take turns one-upping each other, escalating from flowers, to poetry, to music. When they reach the point of serenading, they discover they have fallen in love with each other.
- Giovanni plays guitar, but if Mario can play, he plays too.
- Taking turns serenading may turn into singing a duet.
- The poetry and songs are improvised.
- The words in the poems and songs don’t need to rhyme.
When the first draft of the scenario is done, review it to make sure the following things are true.
The spect is active – Make sure that the spect has plenty of opportunities to initiate action.
There’s breathing room – Don’t overwrite the idea. Leave room for the inter-actor and spect to make discoveries through the process of play.
It’s between them – Focus on what’s happening between the inter-actor and the spect, not some offstage character. Even though Mario and Giovanni are there to woo Lucia, the action centers on what they’re doing with each other.
There’s change – Scenarios feel more like stories when something or someone changes. Look for something that can be revealed that impacts the characters.
Preconceptions are intentional – When writing, consider whether perceived identity is important to the scenario. In this example, gender and sexual orientation matter because the scenario plays with preconceptions of love and gender stereotypes.
Vignettes are often open-ended to give latitude for how things wrap up. If you write an ending (as in Two woo), recognize that it won’t always end that way in performance. The inter-actor’s first commitment is to the spect, not the author.
This is a core difference between interactive and traditional theatre. In traditional scripts, words on the page are sacrosanct. In interactive theatre, they’re a springboard for the spect’s journey. What’s written is an open structure, so there’s no guarantee that it’s how the story will play out.
The interactive writer conceives a journey, the inter-actors serve as guides. but the spect determines how the journey is traveled and where it ends up.
The measure of a great vignette is its ability to inspire others to play. The writing may be yours, but the story always belongs to the spect.
Updated: July 23, 2024
