Writing Blog Number 2

20240920 Writing A Play

Writing A Play

This is an extension of a previous column, more detailed.

Now, as far as writing plays goes, I have only written four. One was performed by a high school drama club (they liked it because of the number of characters), one my daughter has been pushing her school to produce (and which some people on WdC have read for me, a Shakespearean sequel, written in rhyming couplets), and two others. One I think is really good; the other is… not.
         I have also written a musical. Lyrics and story, some music, and have had some other music written for me.
         So… this leads to the question: What is it with plays? (^TMSeinfeld)


What is a play?
A play is a piece of writing designed for performance on a stage. There are also radio plays, but they are called “radio plays” or “audio plays” and this does not include those. Screenplays are for film or TV, and are a beast all their own.
         This will include only live performance plays. Generally, there are three sorts of play – the sketch, the monologue and the play.
         A sketch is a short piece involving very few characters, with one act and one scene, minimal props, lasting a very short amount of time. The performance equivalent of a short story or vignette. May be performance only, no dialogue, but can include dialogue.
         A monologue is a play designed for one person. Normally one act, length is dependent upon what the writer and performer can do. Barry Humphries’ Sandy Stone character was used in some wonderful monologues that lasted a good hour.
         A play, on the other hand, is a full and complex story involving multiple characters, usually across multiple acts (though one act plays do exist) and usually with multiple scenes in each act. There is dialogue, maybe soliloquy, stage directions, maybe scenery directions.
         So play is a piece of literature designed for performance in front of a live audience.


Why write a play?
Good question!
         As a piece of writing, it is hard to say why an idea will work better as a play than as a novel or novella. Sometimes it is because a work is very dialogue-heavy, and the play is the perfect medium for that. In other cases, there might need to be some physical action that does not translate well to the page. In still others, it might feel like a way to reach a wider audience. But there is more to it than just writing a play because the idea lends itself to the medium of a stage.
         A play is a great way to practise writing dialogue so that it is meaningful, so that extraneous words and phrases are removed, so that it becomes natural sounding and not stilted. It is so very good for just getting the skills of writing the spoken word.
         A play is also really good for learning to develop character. The characters need to come through in their actions, interactions and reactions as well as what they say. Yes, this is also dependent on the actors, but the stage directions are vital in this.
         A play teaches how to tell a story with less. There are the confines of space, there are the restrictions of the passage of time, there are minimal props available –all of it means the writing has to be tighter, which can only help with other forms of writing.
         Just writing a play can help refine some of the aspects of writing which can meander and get out of control if writing prose.


What does a play involve?
There are a number of things you need.
         First, like every other piece of writing, you need a story. Something has to happen. Which story arc you use – 3-act, hero’s journey, whatever – it is still applicable when writing for the stage.
         Next, you need characters. A play, especially modern plays, should not include too many extraneous characters. A rule of thumb is no more than 5 main characters, no more than an additional 7 characters/ extras. That is 12 actors. Even that is pushing the envelope. Crowd scenes need to be done through means other than employing 20 people to stand on a stage. With modern AV equipment, a lot of this is easier, but not every theatre group is going to have access to such equipment, and so this needs to be taken into account.
         Then we have the scenes, where the action takes place. Using scenes more than once does reduce props needed; if you have 3 acts with 3 scenes and each is in a different place, that’s 9 different lots of props, each of which will need to be set up and moved, etc. Outdoors can be done, but vagaries of weather is also very difficult.
         This leads to props. A play as written should only mention the props that are vital to the action; the rest is generally left to the director to colour and populate each scene, based on what they have available to them, money, time, etc.
         In the end, the playwright is only one person involved in producing a play. A playwright is not the be-all and end-all. Putting on a play is a very collaborative exercise. It is important the writer realizes this.


Writing the play
Before writing a play, the playwright must do two things: read play scripts and go and see a number of different plays being performed live in a theatre. Everything from the local high school drama club to a full-on professional travelling performance. In the USA, there are the Broadway and off-Broadway productions – seeing these can help as well. Also watch and read plays from the classics (e.g. Shakespeare) to early twentieth century to later twentieth century to modern. That will give you a better idea of how things have developed and changed, and where to aim your writing.
         When writing a play, you will need to perform. Not in front of anyone (necessarily), but you will need to make sure what is being said and what is being done makes sense. I had a friend who was an actress and, much to my ex-wife’s amusement, we would perform the whole play with each of us taking on numerous roles. Until you have a lot of experience writing plays and seeing them performed, guessing how things are going to go is not a good thing to do. It will also give you an idea of how long the play will last.
         As to the actual minutiae of writing a play, that is entirely up to the writer. But two things to remember – being over-prescriptive in actions and props and scenery and everything will turn off producers and directors, and not allowing for changes to be made to suit companies and available resources will see you get a bad name in your performance community. These communities are small, they talk, and getting black-marked is never good.


Formatting
The format of a play script differs from country to country, company to company, the whole lot. However, there are three things that all hold true:
         Each new speaker is a new block of text, well separated from everything else. Each action is a new carriage return. This needs to be obvious. No justifying of text, either.
         Each new scene needs to be well separated, and each new act should be on a new page.
         Dialogue, stage directions and actions, and scenery all needs to be differentiated on the page.
         Some want the name of the character speaking above the dialogue, some want it next to the first word. Some want stage directions in all capitals, some don’t. Some want scenery in italics, some don’t. Some want a different font for dialogue, some want it bolded.
         My suggestion is write it in a way that makes sense to you, and be prepared to completely re-format the work depending on what your intended production company wants. Don’t be precious about how it looks!


Conclusion
I know that writing a play is not for everyone, but it can be a fun thing to do and try, even if just once. Like I said, it can help with other aspects of writing as well, and a diversion is always good to try.
         Good luck!