Task 24: Hopper Scripts

A drama task with a difference this week.

Like the past couple of tasks, I am looking for convincing dialogue (with two or three characters) which works as a mini-play (200-300 words) of its own. Therefore, it needs to get going straight away, retain its 'punch' throughout, and work towards an effective climax; also, like all effective drama, it needs to have tension (comic or otherwise).

Also, as before, originality is key, however you choose to achieve that. Whether you opt for the daring, the comic, or even just the surreal, I am looking for anything but the boring and the predictable (paintings, just like literature, can mean what you want them to!).

But your script this time should be inspired by one of the following paintings by the American painter, Edward Hopper (1882-1967). Choose the painting, and then bring the characters therein to life in your own mini-play.

Some stage directions will be necessary, but crucial will be how convincingly you bring dialogue to life on the page - and, of course, how engaged your reader (or, rather, your audience) will be.

For your title, simple use the title of the painting itself.

Deadline = midnight on Saturday 3rd May

Here are the paintings:

Room in New York
















Cape Cod Evening















Chair Car
















Nighthawks












Hotel Lobby
















Summer Evening















Hotel by a Railroad