Structure of Playwriting
Playwriting is the art of writing a script for a play or drama. The profession of playwriting has been around for centuries, although it was more popular during some eras. Successful playwriting depends not only on dialogue but on intelligent plotting, credible characterization, and the ability to develop a theme. The pleasures of writing a drama can be significant. If you are looking for a profession in playwriting, wish to level up your game & expand your horizons, then keep reading because we will cover types of playwriting, famous playwrights who took playwriting to next level, how it is different from any other type of writing, and more!
Structure of a Play
THE POINT OF ATTACK AND THE INCITING INCIDENT
Keeping in mind that every entrance and every exit can constitute an action,
you'll be astounded to discover the large number and great variety of
actions found in successful plays. Once you've written your long list of
actions, you'll also be able to identify the divisions between the beginning
of the play and its middle, and between the middle and the end.
THE CLIMAX
Now. You have a notebook full of actions for all of the plays mentioned above. You've written down the actions in French scenes, in sequence. You don't need to make notations on motivation or meaning. These are successful plays. Motivation and meaning are there. Just write down the actions: the nouns and the verbs; the subjects, verbs and objects (“Maryshoots John”). You've found dozens of actions. You've identified the inciting incident and the point of attack.
The next major division to look for is the climax. It comes late in the
play. The climax is that action or sequence of actions that resolves the
conflict. In the climax, the major combatants come to blows. The protagonist meets his antagonist(s) for the final battle. The central dramatic question is answered. There is a win, a loss or a draw, although audiences prefer plays with winners and losers, not draws. The climax is fairly easy to identify. One of the key ways of recognizing a climax is that all the actions following the climax are an acceptance of the situation derived from the climax. After the climax, there are no more major actions to be performed. The central dramatic question has been answered. The conflict has been resolved, happily or unhappily. In Hamlet, the prince finally kills Claudius; a few pages or minutes of minor actions remain, but the key question has been answered. In Dial “M,” the murderous husband is caught; the only action that remains is the inspector's telephone call to police headquarters. In Hedda Gabler, Hedda shoots herself; only four lines remain as Tesman and Judge Brack react to her death. In The Odd Couple, Felix moves out, and Oscar goes back to living alone, wiser about
friendship.
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
So. You've found the point of attack and the climax. You have discovered that prior to each play's point of attack there have been just a handful of real actions. You have also discovered that after the climax there are even fewer real actions. What's interesting is what you've found in the middle: actions,
reactions, complications, surprises, reversals.
Dozens or hundreds. Now, the moment of truth: If you've already written a play, or if you've just outlined a play, do the same exercise with your own work. List the actions French scene by French scene. What have you discovered? If you're like me, you were probably shocked to discover that the play you'd written or planned to write had about one fourth the number of actions that
Shakespeare, Ibsen, Frederick Knott, Caryl Churchill and Neil Simon put in their plays. This is not to say that the play with the most actions wins. But all successful plays use many cables (actions) to support the suspension bridge (plot). Nine times out of ten, a less experienced playwright finds that
she doesn't have more than a few real, effective, change-making actions in the whole play.
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