How to write a Play
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Created on October 8, 2022
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Transcript
HOW TO WRITE A DRAMA
TIPS TO BECOME PLAYWRIGHTS
A LIST OF CHARACTERS
Every play has a playscript that includes
a PLAY tells a story through the characters' dialogue
What is a play?
Dialogue is an important part of a play! Dialogue is what the characters say to each other during the play. It helps the audience understand what is happening in the story and why the characters do the things in the plot.
DIALOGUE
Elements of a play
The plot of the story is the sequence of events that happen in the story, the things that happen at the beginning, the middle and the end. You won’t be able to tell the complete story, but you will need to reveal a CONFLICT and actions taken towards a RESOLUTION. To accomplish this, you will have to build suspense through the characters’ dialogue.
The setting of the story is where the story takes place. In a play, the setting is very important. It helps the audience get a better picture of the world and the time in which the story takes place. The setting helps to make the play more real.
PLOT
SETTING
Characters are the people or animals that live in the story and experience the plot. For example, in Aesop’s fable “The Tortoise and the Hare”, two of the characters are the tortoise and the hare
CHARACTERS
Elements of a playbased on Freytag's pyramid
- The protagonist’s life progresses from bad to good
- The protagonist is in a serious situation that is highly improbable and extremely dire. The situation usually includes pratfalls and slapstick
- The protagonist has an even more rewarding conclusion at the climax
FARCE
- The condition of the protagonist’s life progresses from bad to good
- Comedy is usually about ‘common’ people who are living a dramatic situation, but the story is treated humorously
- Types of comedy include romantic comedy, satirical comedy, and black comedy, in which humor is found in the gloomy or macabre
COMEDY
- The condition of the protagonist’s life progresses from good to bad
- The fate of many people is tied to the protagonist. Therefore, his or her downfall is a catastrophic event
- The purpose of tragedy or drama is ‘catharsis,’ which “cleanses the soul of fear and pity.”
- In a tragedy, there is typically a death at the climax
TRAGEDY- DRAMA
Theatre styles
Like a novel is divided into chapters, a play is also divided into "scenes". A new scene usually means a new setting
FEATURES OF A PLAY
Useful Questions
It can help if you ask yourself these questions:
- Where was this person born and raised?
- How old is he/she?
- Where does he/she live now?
- Who does this person live with? Has he/she got pets?
- What is his/her family like?
- Who does this person tell his/her deepest secrets to?
- Is he/she employed/unemployed
- Who is the antagonist and what is their main objecti
- .What is their relationship to one another?
- What is each character’s greatest wish or need?
- .How does each character plan on getting what they want?
- What are their obstacles? What stands in their way?
- What is each character’s greatest fear or regret?
Creating your characters
All characters should be believable and have strong, complex emotions, thoughts, and lives When you are creating the characters you should also think about their: • posture • movement • body language when sitting and standing • speech/vocabulary • gestures • facial expressions
The main conflict is between the protagonist and the antagonist
- the protagonist should have something serious at stake, and a consequence if they don’t get it
- Time is important! There should be pressure to reach their objective
- person vs person- a problem between characters
- person vs self- a problem one has with him/herself; one must decide between two or more choices
- person vs nature- a problem between a character and some elements of nature like hurricane, rain, wind, earthquacke, wild animals
- person vs society- a problem between a character and a rule of society (school, law, poverty, terrorism...)
Conflict
Active and Passive Voice
Active voice
- It tells the story through dialogue in the present tense
- The characters are actively engaged in the moment they are speaking
- Some dialogue may reflect on a past event or situation, but should be used sparingly
- Refrain from using unspoken stage directions to tell the story
- It explains background information that may be necessary to explain the history of an event or something in the life of a character. Passive exposition should be used only sparingly
- It is based on discussing action or events, rather than showing it actively unfold in the moment
- the events that occurred in the past are in the past tense
CHARACTER PAGE
- At the top of the page: Cast of Characters is centered and underlined.
- Double-spaced under the Cast of Characters and at the left margin is a list of character names. Underline the character name and add a colon.
- After each character name, use one or two tabs (depending on the longest character name) and add a short description of the character.
A good script builds suspense leading towards (or ending with) a resolution.A script has a special format. It includes telling the actors what to say, but also what to do. Actions are always placed within parenthesis!
Script Format
ACT 1, SCENE 1 PAGE
- Scene is centered on the page and underlined.
- Single-spaced below Scene, there is SETTING. It is added in all caps double-spaced, it is followed by a colon.
- The SETTING description describes how the stage is set at the beginning of the play (place and time). If a SETTING changes during the play, it must be noted in the appropriate location.
- AT RISE is double-spaced under the last SETTING description line. It is followed by a colon.
- The AT RISE describes what is happening just prior to the first line.
Script Format
characters' dialogues and actions
- Character names are in all caps, including in stage directions and are written on the left side
- Character names spoken in dialogue are written normally.
- Dialogue is set a single space after the character's name.
- Stage directions show both action and thoughts/feelings and are always in italics and in parentheses
- describing stage action (Enter/ exit a character...) are in italics (except for the name of the characters), are given their own line, and are single-spaced above and below the text.
Script Format
Antagonist: The antagonist is a character or a group of characters whose objectives directly oppose the objectives of the protagonist. The antagonist has a major change at the climax of the story.Character: Characters are fully-formed personalities actively participating in telling a story. They are well developed when their personalities are revealed through their words and actions.Characters should have a strong point of viewConflict: Conflict is the problem or struggle between two opposing forces in a story. There are six types of conflict: a. person vs personConflict is necessary to drive the story forward. Dramatic Action: The dramatic action is a series of events and motivations propelled by characters in conflict. While most plays utilize this structure, some plays, such as absurdist plays, are written to oppose this structure: Falling Action: The falling action holds moments in the story that may contain conflict and tension yet to be resolved.Inciting Incident: The inciting incident occurs when the protagonist and an opposing force come into conflict, setting the main encounter of the story into action.Introduction: The beginning of the play starts with Exposition, in which background information about the story or characters is discussed, presented or disseminated.
DRAMA VOCABULARY WORDS
Monologue:a long speech made by one personNarrator: A narrator plays an important role in revealing information not shown through characters’dialogue, so he/she is important in helping the drama unfold.He/she delivers expositional commentary outside of the dramatic action, usually directly to the audience.Objectives: An objective is a goal or intention that characters are strategically trying to achieve. Characters usually have multiple objectives to pursue.Obstacle: An obstacle is a barrier that hinders characters from easily achieving their objectives. Plot:story line - how a story goes from beginning to middle to end. The plot tells what the story is aboutProtagonist: The protagonist is the main character in a story, and drives the dramatic action with their objectives. They have a major change at the climax. The protagonist, whether a hero or a villain, should always be empathetic to the audience.Resolution: The resolution of the story occurs when the main conflicts of the dramatic action are resolved, and the questions in the play are answered.Rising Action: In the rising action, complications, crises, or discoveries create tension and suspense, and increase Conflict, propelling the protagonist and the antagonist toward a transfor answered.Scenery:part of the set that shows the location of the scene or play, usually on the backdrop