Making a scene
8.5 The obligatory scene
This is a concept that both David Edgar and Lajos Egri write about. Egri calls it:
The scene which a play must have […] the scene which has been promised throughout and which cannot be eliminated
The Art of Dramatic Writing, p. 247
Edgar describes it as:
an inevitable confrontation between the characters who embody [the play’s] contending forces
How Plays Work, p. 171
The final showdown, if you like. Edgar goes on to explain that:
the obligatory scene is not just about characters having it out, but the play spelling it out, which is why they tend to occur just before the denouement.
The obligatory scene is the scene the audience has been made to need to achieve closure.
This is particularly relevant to pieces in a specific genre, in which a story comes ‘fully equipped with expectation, and ready-primed to be blown apart’ (How Plays Work, p. 176). A simple example of this would be the showdown between protagonist and antagonist in a western, or the moment when James Bond is finally bought face to face with his arch nemesis. Comedy is always playing with the obligatory scene, using the device of mistaken identity to enable lovers to declare themselves without actually realising who they are talking to.
But dramatic scripts built on emotional realism should also build towards a confrontation that feels inevitable – obligatory. Without this showdown, the audience won’t gain closure from the story. The relationship meltdown between Nicole and Charlie in Marriage Story (2019), the final dropping of Saul’s many masks in Better Call Saul (2015–2022), and Fleabag being told ‘It’ll pass’ are the cathartic climaxes we’ve been waiting for. Lajos Egri emphasises that the obligatory scene is but one chain on a link that encompasses the whole play. There is an accumulative power that drives the drama forward so that while the final conflict may mark the end of the story, it is on one level simply repeating in greater intensity what the audience has been experiencing throughout the drama.
Group activity: Expected scenes
While Egri and Edgar focus on the single decisive showdown as the obligatory scene in drama, audiences also have other expectations of their drama, especially when it comes to genre. Writers can try to subvert these genre expectations, but must tread carefully: if promises are not fulfilled, audiences will be left unsatisfied unless the subversion is even better than the culmination they were expecting.
Choose one of the following genres and write down what you consider to be five necessary scenes the audience will expect.
- Horror
- Romantic comedy
- Action adventure
- Family drama
- Children’s animation.
Post your lists to the Expected scenes forum, and respond to others’ posts. Are these scenes you would expect when watching or listening to this genre? How would you subvert audiences’ expectations – and importantly, would there be an effective reason for that subversion? Can you add to the original post any examples of plays or films that embody these expected scenes?