Working With The Structure Of A Dream

Dreams And Playwrighting

This section will examine the similarity of the dream structure and the play. First to be examined is the point of view of a playwright. The same techniques they use in creating their play will be very helpful to the dreamer as they "unpack" and examine the dream. Second to be examined is the useage of these playwright techniques in unraveling the mysteries of the dream. Third will be an sample dream being examined using these playwright techniques.

Act I: "Learn to write plays as tightly packed as a dream" OR
Examining The Dream Like A Playwright.

The act of writing down your dreams forces the playwright to pick up multiple details quickly which trains the inner ear to be alert. The act of describing a dream trains the playwright to choose language without forethought.

• 1. Playwrights can create better plays by consciously using the techniques of a dream.
• a. Multi-layered uses of the symbols and metaphors.
• b. Multi-layered themes.
• c. Unexpected twists of plot.
• d. Embedded humor and meaning in the details.
• e. Scenes shifting before they are logically ended.
• f. Scenes starting "mid-scene."
• g. Opposites blending into a new powerful resolution or path for the character.
• h. Useful repetition.
• i. Lack of exposition. The information is embedded in the details, not boringly spoken by the characters.
• j. Sparse and pithy dialogue.
• k. Incorporating the archetypal characters into our flesh and blood characters on stage. EXAMPLES: The trickster. The Shadow. (Who carries the gift, which saves us from creating one dimensional characters.) The Willing Sacrifice. The Divine Child. The Wise Old One. The Hero/Heroine. ETC.
• l. Use of action.
• 1. Action is metaphor. The style of the action reveals character.
• 2. Choice of weapons and shields.
• a. Example: weapon, sharp critical voice. Shield, numbness.
• 3. Choice of vehicles.
• 4. The details of inaction.
• 5. Nourishing actions. Cooking, cleaning, helping.
• m. The setting is a character.
• n. Translate colors into feelings.
• o. Acts of nature are ways to embed meaning and emotion without exposition. (Weather, volcanoes, earthquakes, rains, snows etc.)
• p. No detail left to "chance" and every detail left to "chance".
• 1. Always listen to that unconscious choosing of detail. It comes from the same place as the dream.
• 2. Go back and check each detail (What color was the coffee pot? What kind of tea?) Is there a richer way to tie this detail in with the scene.
• q. Questions! Ask the same kinds of questions of your characters as you would your dream figures.
• 1. Who are you in relation to me?
• 2. What do you need right now?
• 3. Why are you here now?

INTERMISSION

Every dream is an embryo play. Use your dream like a DNA strand. Unpack the dream, map the genes, and expand it.

ACT II: "Learn to read your dreams like a play."

• 2. You can use playwright techniques to better understand your dreams.
• a. What is the beginning, the middle and the end.
• b. See each scene as a build to the conflict resolution.
• c. Break the dream down into each beat.
• 1. Each time a new character enters.
• 2. Each time a new scene begins.
• 3. A shift in tone or feeling.
• 4. A shift in time or location.
• d. What is the general theme statement?
• e. Expand the dream dialogue.
• 1. Give voice to the setting, the colors, the objects.
• 2. Write dialogue for the characters.
• 3. Extend the beats. Write in dialogue and stage direction form.
  EXAMPLE:
  CHARACTER NAME: (Centered on page) Begin the dialogue here that this character speaks.
  NEXT CHARACTER NAME: (Write the stage directions here)
  Begin the dialogue of the next character here.
• f. Do character analysis. Make up a background history for this character. Keeping your mind free and uninhibited will help you stay in that "dream" space.
• g. Chart the action timeline.
• h. Write a quick summary of what happens in the dream to get a handle on the general story line. The symbols and characters of our own personal world is seductive. We get caught up in it and can’t see the story line objectively.

7/4/2000
Rocking Out To Sea

I am being shown a special boat the loggers use on the river as they log. It’s a rocker boat, a sort of raft with very high sides made of planks, like an old fashioned hay wagon. It is built to rock back and forth, sideways with the weight of all the logs they gather. I am on the boat and we are going out to sea. At first, we have a hard time getting across the beach to the ocean. I think it is odd we are on land and trying to move in a boat. I look up and see a huge cruise ship on the horizon of the land. Perhaps it is docked past the rise of the dunes. The scene is very dark, I can barely make out the shapes of the sand dunes and rocks. We finally struggle out to sea and cross the surf breakers. It is still very dark. I am seated to the right of and slightly behind a good looking man. I am trying to light a cigarette. Only all I have is a roll of money. I peal off a bill and light it. I puff away and then realize it is a 100 dollar bill. I blow it out and look for a one dollar bill to smoke. The man watches. He lays his arm around me, as he is attracted to me. I am attracted to him as well. I find a paper fake bill like a coupon and roll it up and light it. Suddenly a man behind us screams sharks. He is looking out behind us. I feel fear. A large shark roars up onto the raft with his mouth lunging at us. Then they are all around his. We turn and head back to shore. We are in danger and are running for our lives, only we are a slow moving boat. We dock and swerve to avoid being eaten. Finally we get back on shore, one shark still trying to follow us up onto the sand. I am afraid.

BREAKING THE DREAM UP INTO SCENES AND BEATS.
THE BEGINNING:


Scene I:(Sets up where we are and what we are going to be dealing with in this dream.)
I am being shown a special boat the loggers use on the river as they log. It’s a rocker boat, a sort of raft with very high sides made of planks, like an old fashioned hay wagon. It is built to rock back and forth, sideways with the weight of all the logs they gather.

Scene 2:(Change of location)(This scene starts the build toward conflict.)
I am on the boat and we are going out to sea.

THE MIDDLE:
At first, we have a hard time getting across the beach to the ocean.

Scene 3: (Change of feeling tone.)(Rachets up the tension one more notch.)
I think it is odd we are on land and trying to move in a boat.

Scene 4:(Change of View)(Tension builds. More obstacles develop.)
I look up and see a huge cruise ship on the horizon of the land. Perhaps it is docked past the rise of the dunes. The scene is very dark, I can barely make out the shapes of the sand dunes and rocks.

Scene 5:(Change of location)(Movement toward resolution)
We finally struggle out to sea and cross the surf breakers. It is still very dark.

Scene 6: (New character introduced)(A new devlopment in the plot.)
I am seated to the right of and slightly behind a good looking man. I am trying to light a cigarette. Only all I have is a roll of money. I peal off a bill and light it. I puff away and then realize it is a 100 dollar bill. I blow it out and look for a one dollar bill to smoke. The man watches. He lays his arm around me, as he is attracted to me. I am attracted to him as well. I find a paper fake bill like a coupon and roll it up and light it.

Scene 7: (Change of feeling tone and new character enters.)(Tension rachets to the top. Crisis!)
Suddenly a man behind us screams sharks. He is looking out behind us. I feel fear.

Scene 8: (New character enters.)(The villian arrives. The crisis is occuring. What will the heroine do??)
A large shark roars up onto the raft with his mouth lunging at us. Then they are all around his. We turn and head back to shore.

THE END:

Scene 9: (Change of location)(Resolution. An action is taken. The danger resolves.)
We are in danger and are running for our lives, only we are a slow moving boat. We dock and swerve to avoid being eaten. Finally we get back on shore, one shark still trying to follow us up onto the sand. I am afraid.

EXPANDING THE VOICES OF THE SETTING, COLORS AND OBJECTS.

• The Setting
• The coast. I am the edge between land and sea. A transition place. Different worlds meet. Are you struggling to cross one world and enter another?
• The ocean. I am huge, endless. and deep. maybe I am your unconscious. Maybe I am your emotions. I am the birthplace of all things.You are on my surface, afraid to go deep. You see danger under my mantle.
• The Dunes and Rocks. We live here. We are solid. We are shaped by the water. You can't see us well. What ideas or processes do we represent?
• Surf Breakers. We are agitated, rolling, never stopping. Life just goes on and on relentlessly, doesn't it? You have to struggle to deal with me to get where you want to be. It's hard, but you manage it.
• The Colors
• Darkness. I obscure things. Cover them up. What thoughts and processes are you covering up?
• The Objects
• Rocking Raft. I am a slow boat to nowhere. Usually I am a craft that is a work horse. But you are taking an excursion without apparent purpose. Why did you choose me, a slow, plodding practical boat for this purpose?
• The Cruise Ship. Humm. I am another kind of boat. Out of your reach, but not out of your sight. Perhaps this is the style of journey you wish to take, but you make another choice and get in the Rocking Raft.
• Cigarette. I kill people. I am poison you choose to inhale into your precious body. You probably think you look sexy and cool with me. What an illusion that thought is. I am rolled up tight.
• The fire. I burn what I touch. I ignite things. I am the spark that causes the transformation of state. Matter chages from solid to smoke. It all goes up in smoke.
• Money. I represent value placed on something. Do you have money to burn? Energy? I think not. You ended up burning fake money and saving the big bills.


Character Analysis


• The Attractive Man. I see a suave dark haired man in a tuxedo. He is very charming with a dimple in his cheek. He gazes at me attentively. He is a member of a social class who knows the rules of flirting. He is wealthy and has no worries. He is in his mid-thirties.
• The Warning Man. He's an ordinary guy who is scared out of his wits by the sharks. He loses control.He is burly looking, in a plaid shirt and black slacks. He's in his 40's and works as a logger for a living. He has a family, with grown children. He and his wife dress in look alike bowling shirts on Tuesday night bowl.
• Sharks. Huge. Mindless predator. Hungry and has the power to get what it wants. An efficient eating machine.


Summary Statement of the plot.

The dreamer struggles across land in a boat, finally making it to the ocean. It is a working boat. The cruise ship is too far away. But the dreamer is partying. An attractive man is there beside her, but she is too busy to engage in flirting. She needs to light her cigarette with money. She fusses with trying to save money. Suddenly a warning. Danger. Sharks attack. Her problem solving technique is to turn and run, in a slow moving boat. She struggles back across land. The shark even follows her there.

Dream Theme

Working too hard. Can't see the relationship and fun possibilities. Being chased by animals.

SUMMARY

This form of dream work examines the dream as though it were a play. Looking at the structure does not diminish the dream, but expands the knowlege about the dream. Dreams are so firmly packed with multiple meanings and insights that looking at the pieces helps tease out the details for closer examination.