If you were mourning Steve, fear not. He has returned!
Having listened to Jane Rogers talking about film adaption – and thinking back to the minimal dialogue approach discussed by Mark Ravenhill – I completely redrafted the beginning of my play, getting rid of a whole clunky bundle of exposition by dramatising a small scene in the main character’s past. It really helps with the set-up and feels far better.
I must be turning into Russell T Davies, because until I was fairly happy with the start, I couldn’t concentrate on the rest.
Hopefully now I can get on and write the Steve scene – his dialogue can now be succint and important. Although I should warn you, I may go back to calling him Pete, as he was in the original story!
I’m part way through Linda Seger’s excellent Making A Good Script Great, and just got her The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film. Which means I have no excuse to turn in a bad assignment. Oh no!