Angelo Parra

Playwriting is an exciting and accessible performing arts scriptwriting discipline. Anyone can write a play, round up some friends as actors, and gather an audience to present original theatre at its most fundamental level. But to write great plays that enthrall audiences, you may want to explore playwriting in more detail.

The opening of your play needs to grab the audience; otherwise the battle is lost before it begins. Following are some of the elements of a strong start: Start your play as far into the story as possible. Pick a point of attack (opening scenario) that’s well into the story, just before the inciting incident. Upset the status quo.

The characters in your play must be fully developed, as close to real people as you can make them. The keys to creating believable characters are details and specificity. If you know your characters as well as you know your best friends, you’re more likely to know what they will do under the circumstances of your play.

Dialogue is the primary and most important component in playwriting. The principal purpose of dialogue is to advance the action of the play. Though dialogue sounds like natural conversation, every word of dialogue you write for a character — whether it reveals his aspirations, frustrations, motivations, or intentions — should be crafted to help him achieve his objective.

One of your responsibilities as playwright is to deliver a satisfying end to the play. You don’t necessarily have to write a happy ending or even an ending audiences would have wanted. You need an ending that seems truthful, plausible (given the circumstances), and, in retrospect, maybe even inevitable. Use the following tips to build to and execute a satisfying ending: Make the obstacles tougher and tougher.

When you’re ready to develop your idea for a play, you need to express it in terms that other playwrights and theatre people understand. Here are some of the more common playwriting terms: Protagonist: The main character of your story; the character with a mission Antagonist: A character or thing that stan