According to Baker (1919), where can a play start, does the starting point matter, and what must the dramatist do with it?
Baker lists many starting points for a play and says that, speaking broadly, none is better than another (E1, E2); but the dramatist 'must end in story', and he who begins with a story is nearer the goal than one who begins with an idea or character (E4, E3). His advice for the start is practical: look for freshness in the idea, setting, treatment and above all the characters, not in an invented story (E9); choose by whether the audience will believe the material, not whether it happened (E11); and take time (E12). Stage practice of 1919, taught mainly from European examples.
Baker lists many starting points for a play and says that, speaking broadly, none is better than another (E1, E2); but the dramatist 'must end in story', and he who begins with a story is nearer the goal than one who begins with an idea or character (E4, E3). His advice for the start is practical: look for freshness in the idea, setting, treatment and above all the characters, not in an invented story (E9); choose by whether the audience will believe the material, not whether it happened (E11); and take time (E12). Stage practice of 1919, taught mainly from European examples.
Curator qualifications: Starting points; no source is better in principle.
Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.
Structured fields
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- [sourced_fact] Baker lists many starting points for a play and says that, speaking broadly, none is better than another (E1, E2); but the dramatist 'must end in story', and he who begins with a story is nearer the goal than one who begins with an idea or character (E4, E3). His advice for the start is practical: look for freshness in the idea, setting, treatment and above all the characters, not in an invented story (E9); choose by whether the audience will believe the material, not whether it happened (E11); and take time (E12). Stage practice of 1919, taught mainly from European examples. · locator: candidate evidence excerpts source
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