I’ve been obsessed with this clip of a little boy asking Pete Buttigieg a question. I realized why: this video is a masterclass on dramatic structure
- Starts in medias res
- Illustrates characters through voice and action. Everything anyone says or does shows who they are.
- Quickly establishes world and stakes with the parental request, “Ask your question.”
- Introduces complication.
- Escalates the complication
- Has a strong, surprising turn at the climax (the boy jumps from the stage), which is fitting with the ‘bunny’ theme
- Aces the dismount with Pete’s “button” line.
Note: Chasten, Pete’s husband, is a gay middle school theatre teacher.
*****
In honor of Pride Month, I was on Jimmy Chrismon’s THED Talks again to discuss the LGBTQ+ Romeo & Juliet.
Note to self: never read the transcript of your own interviews. The marbled mess of incomplete sentences and dropped in ‘likes’ will make you crazy.
Pride Month is over.
Long live Pride!
Briandaniel Oglesby 