Information about writing a play, a movie or TV show and activities to get you started as a playwright or screenwriter.

Click on My Vocabulary to write in the drama words you want to put in your dictionary.

playwrights are the people who write the plays. They get
to choose the characters, settings, and problems. They
also write the dialogue, what the characters say. They
write the stage directions, what the characters do.

dramaturgs help the playwright. They read the play then
ask the playwright questions to help him or her figure out what changes might be made to make the play even better. The dramaturg asks questions about the characters, the setting or environment, and the problem and incidents.

characters are the people the play is about. Playwrights
get to choose the characters. The playwrights really need to know their characters so that they can make them seem like very interesting people. If the playwright does a good job, the actors will be able to know all about their characters. They can pretend to be the characters and do what the characters would do.

Characters in a Childsplay production.

The playwrights and the actors also need to know what the characters want. This is called the character motivation, why a character does something. Actors and playwrights need to know why characters act as they do and say what they say. For example, the mother paces the floor, calls her son’s best friend and the police. Her motivation is that she is very worried because her son isn’t home on time.

Another important thing for the playwright to consider is how a character will talk. Each character has his or her own special way of choosing words. This is called the voice of the character. The words should fit just him or her. For example,

Teacher: Henry, have you forgotten your homework?
A kid: Betcha ya din’ do yer homework again!

The teacher didn’t use slang, but the student did!

Here are two games to try your hand at creating a character.

The Character Game or characters from books, for third graders by Mary Jo Kelsey

Characters from History, for fourth through eighth grades

problem/story - what the characters need to solve before the end of the play. For example, the bully is making fun of the little kids. He even hurts them. The children need to help the bully understand that he will have no friends if he keeps on hurting the younger kids.

setting/environment - where the play takes place.
In a book this is the setting.


In a play it is also called the setting. But with a play it is important to think about the place and also about the mood. Is it a happy place? Is it a scary place? Is it a sad place? The setting tells the audience a lot about the play and what is happening to the characters.

Because the setting can tell the audience so much in a drama, it is often called the environment. The environment includes where the play takes place, inside or outside? What furniture and things are in that place? Environment also includes lighting and sound. Is it light or dark? Are there any sounds the audience needs to hear? Will music help to create the mood and tell the story? The playwright can make suggestions about what the enviornment should look and sound like.

scenarios - the outline of the playwright’s choices about
characters, setting and problem or plot. The plot has a problem that the characters must solve. It has a beginning. Next is the middle that has several incidents, what the characters do to solve the problem. Usually there are several things the hero has to do to solve the problem, or he or she can meet more problems. Then comes the ending. The problem is solved – or sometimes the characters can’t solve the problem! Then the play is sad.

See scenario examples from third, fourth and fifth grade students. Also check out the scenario form that will help you write your own scenarios.

screenplay – Playwrights tell stories with words and stage
directions. Screenwriters who write for TV and movies tell stories with words for the actors and directions for the cameraman.

Check out the example of a screenplay and storyboard . It tells what the camera will see and it tells what the actors will say and do. The screenplay form will help you write your own screenplays.

dialogue - what the characters say. It is written by the playwright or made up by the actors in improvisations. Dialogue should sound just like the character would talk. For example,

The Principal: Jane, what are you doing?
Jane: Waitin’ for my mom an’ baby sister. We’re
gunna’ go ta the zoo!

In other words, kids will probably talk differently than the principal or their parents. This is the voice of the character.

Also notice that dialogue has a special form. “Quotation marks” are not used to show what is said. Instead the name of the character is written, followed by : a colon. Then the words for the character to speak are written.

stage directions - the playwright writes what the actors
are to do. For example:

Peter: Come here, boy. (The boy kneels and pets the dog.)

The stage directions are in parentheses.

Examples can help give you ideas for writing dialogue and stage directions for your plays. Check out the following

Third grade school community dialogues
Fourth grade immigration dialogues
Fifth grade Civil War dialogues
Dialogue from The Little Princess, a play by the
professional playwright Frances H. Burnett
Dialogue from The Birthday of the Infanta, a tragedy
by the professional playwright Stuart Walker

play reading – actors reading a play out loud. Playwrights
like to hear their plays read out loud. It helps them decide if they like the dialogue they wrote or if they want to change it. Check out more about play reading.

      

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