Tech Theater Final Project - "Twitch" by Stephen Gregg

-He's also married to a man.

Not even joking. His name is

Todd.

DONE.

"Twitch" by Stephen Gregg

There is no reason for this besides it's late and I'm tired.

Tech Theater Final Project

Author Research:

Career History:

Inspiration for "Twitch":

Basic Biographical Information:

-There's not a lot about Stephen Gregg's life that I could find, however, he is a playwright by trade and that has been his job since he was out of school.

However, there is a lot about his career, such as:

-He is a well known screenwriter whose worked for companies such as Dreamworks, Amblin Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Sony Pictures, and Henson Productions.

-His work has been performed in all fifty states and even translated into Russian, Spanish, German, and Dutch.

-He has received numerous awards for his work, some of which are the Jerome Fellowship from the Playwright’s Center in Minneapolis, and a Heideman Award from the Actor’s Theater of Louisville, and an International Thespian Festival Founder’s Award for his service to the youth and the theater.

-He’s taught playwriting on numerous occasions at multiple venues, the more prestigious one being the International Thespian Conference every year from 1988 to this year.

-6)He currently writes the playwright now blog for the National Educational Theater Association.

Gregg's inspiration for writing the one act "Twitch" is actually the result of having Drury High School tell him that they wanted to use one of his plays for the National Thespian Festival. Although they were intending to perform one of his already existing plays he specifically wrote "Twitch" for the school to use. Past that there isn't much inspiration except for Gregg's own imagination.

Other than that all I was able to find was that he lives in Venice, California.

Mood:

-The overall mood of the play is very comedic and light. There is no hint of a heavy or serious mood throughout the entirety of the play itself. It simply remains a comedy written for the sake of a good laugh and light entertainment.

That's Jacobs Face, by the way.

Play Summary!

Okay, so check it, the play opens with a couple

named Don and Nancy arguing about their new

neigbors whom Nancy believes are watching them. Don insists that

they aren't and the two begin to argue about each others motives for

inviting the other couple over for dinner. However, just as they begin to

banter back and forth the new neighbors walk right into Don and Nancy's living room. The rest of the evening is spent with Don and Nancy talking to their strange new neighbors Aiden and Emma. The conversations are

awkward and uncomfortable as Aiden and Emma seem to grow more and more eccentric. The visit seems as though it's about to come to an end as

Don and Nancy attempt to push Aiden and Emma out, but just when

things seem to be closing Aiden and Emma reveal that they are

actually aliens stranded on Earth. The play ends with Don and

Nancy standing in astonisment only moments after Aiden

vomits up a gross alien baby thing onto their carpet.

4

4) Climax/Turning Point

-Don and Nancy’s hospitality finally is expired and they openly tell Aiden and Emma that they need to leave. The control of the situation appears as though it is Aiden and Emma’s up to this point as they seem to dictate the conversation and events of the play, however, here Don and Nancy take over control exerting their feelings and thoughts over those of their guests. Emma and Aiden confess that they are aliens.

3) Rising Action:

3

-The conversations that the two couple have as tensions increase and Don and Nancy become more agitated and disturbed. Emma and Aiden become increasingly alarming and suspicious. The new neighbors wear on Don and Nancy’s hospitality and push the limits of the new “friendship.” This lasts for the majority of the play and it shows that Don and Nancy are very hospitable people, although the new neighbors are quickly expiring all the patience that Don and Nancy may have.

5) Falling Action:

-Aiden vomits his gross alien baby thing onto the floor of Don and Nancy’s living room. It rather disturbing. This also acts to resolve a few details the audience is shown earlier, such as the new neighbors remarks about their coming baby.

5

6

6) Conclusion:

-The last few lines of the play. Don feeds the new alien baby tentacle thing a steak, the idea of Don and Nancy’s hospitality is again shown as the play returns to a state of stasis.

1

1) Preliminary Situation:

-Nancy and Don prepare their house for the new neighbors who are supposedly coming over. “Introduction” for the neighbors is offered here where Don and Nancy talk about how they seem strange and odd, their initial feelings for the new neighbors are also presented. Nancy suggests that they are evil.

2

I am the Plot Diagram.

2) Initial Incident:

-Emma and Aiden appear in Don and Nancy’s living by letting themselves in. This is the action that pushes the rest of the play forwards. Without this one action the rest of the play would not have started because there would be no driving incident to incite the rest.

Boom. Jerks.

-Emma and Aiden are the antagonists of this particular play. They don’t necessarily serve as direct opposition to Don and Nancy, however the audience is left with the impression that they are the aggressors in the play. The audience in not given near as much information on Emma and Aiden, and the audience isn’t very informed into the true feelings of these two either. They provide the conflict with Don and Nancy and serve as the aggressors who initiate the conflict that the couple faces.

-Emma and Aiden are the new neighbors who move into the house next to Don and Nancy. They are a seemingly eccentric young couple who are particularly excited to meet their neighbors, Don and Nancy. Throughout the play it is revealed that they are actually aliens.

ANTAGONISTS:

Aiden and Emma:

There's really only four characters in the whole one act, and they are evenly divided between antagonist and protagonists.

-Don, an elementary school teacher, is a cordial host to the new neighbors who just moved in next door. His wife Nancy, a pharmaceutical practitioner, also hosts the new neighbors for dinner in their home.

-Don and Nancy serve as the protagonists of the play, although there is not a clear struggle with the antagonists. They are introduced first in the play and the audience is given much more insight into the lives and feelings of Don and Nancy as opposed to those of Emma and Aiden. The play is also directed in such a way that would seem as though the evil/negative conflicts are those proposed by Emma and Aiden towards Don and Nancy.

PROTAGONISTS:

Don and Nancy:

Characters:

I'm attractive.