Introduce Yourself : Verse Playwright by Troy Camplin

Greetings. I have introduced myself recently, but I could always re-introduce myself for introduction week. I am a playwright who writes plays in verse -- usually iambic pentameter, sometimes as blank verse, sometimes with rhyme. I like to write in iambic pentameter because the pentameter lines are optimal for memorization -- fitting as they do into our auditory short term memory slot -- and the steady rhythms both benefit the memorization process and draw the listeners in as the rhythm puts the audience's brains in sync with what is being spoken. I also tend to write tragedies. I have played with ancient Greek tragic form, even introducing satyrs into one of my plays, and having what amounts to a "satyr play" as Act IV of one of my plays, though most of my plays are more in the Shakespearean tradition of tragedy than the ancient Greek. I have also played with Japanese Noh play structure. I am interested in bringing in elements of ritual, making plays more like those found in more traditional societies (such as ancient Greece and Medieval Japan), where plays are far more than mere entertainment. Which isn't to say that I don't try to make my plays entertaining! :-) Obviously, I would fail as a playwright if my works weren't entertaining first and foremost. Of course, I also write plays in more straightforward formats -- contemporary plays with contemporary themes (though my experimental plays also have contemporary themes). Only one of those plays is in prose, though (and it's a 15 minute play). Right now I am working on a Faust play -- "President Faust." I have been working on it for a while. But I think I'll be happy with the results working so long on it.