All Questions
Tagged with plays or playwriting
30 questions
1
vote
2
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55
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Should plays that are not verse drama be line-numbered and, if so, how?
As is stated in the title, I have two questions.
1.) When writing a play that is not a verse-drama, is it appropriate to add line numbers?
2.) If the answer to 1.) is positive, do I just number the ...
- 111
0
votes
3
answers
103
views
Versification of a drama
I have originally written a drama in prose. However, now I am considering writing it in verse. Thus, I have the following questions:
1.) Is this common practice (writing drama in verse)?
2.) Is there ...
- 111
1
vote
1
answer
328
views
Can I use a song and/or quotes when writing a play?
I would like to write a one act play based on a song. Would I be violating any copyright issues or anything for this approach?
A music video was made for the song and one film used it for its opening ...
- 13
1
vote
0
answers
211
views
Is there a markup language for writing stage plays?
Is there an equivalent of the Fountain markup language for theatre plays rather than film scripts?
- 11
0
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2
answers
278
views
Number of characters in ensemble for a musical
In writing a musical I have 3 primary and 7 minor characters - some of whom can be also used in the ensemble. There are four scenes in the two act play in which an ensemble consisting of, at most at ...
2
votes
2
answers
142
views
I am trying to write a Shakespearean-style play, but my “ideas” are always something I remember from Hamlet?
How does one come up with original ideas? Hamlet was amazing, but every time I think of a plot point or character, it just is not nearly as good as Hamlet or is a direct copy of the play.
Is there ...
- 23
5
votes
2
answers
117
views
Is there a way to describe casting and costuming notes for a stage play?
I am writing a stage play and would like to express my desires for casting and costuming of the characters. For instance, a historical character is of Irish ancestry (thus an actor with red hair and a ...
- 447
4
votes
2
answers
548
views
In a stage play, how should the script refer to minor characters whose names are irrelevant?
Problem
I'm writing a play that includes a number of minor characters who only exist for a scene or two. They are defined by their personality traits, not by their professions, and their names are ...
- 447
4
votes
1
answer
61
views
Software for Reading Playscripts?
I recently wrote a play and wanted to know what it sounded like before I showed it to the director, actors and so on so forth. Hence I was wondering if there is a software that just simply narrates my ...
- 41
1
vote
1
answer
83
views
How do I write a "take action" scene for a play?
Here is what I mean.
My character- Violet- started the play with a lofty attitude, but now her pride has been broken by her mother's death and betrayal of a friend. The scene begins with her reuniting ...
- 11
5
votes
3
answers
374
views
What are the meta considerations when writing a play?
What are the considerations one has to take into account when writing a play, that are imposed by the format of a play, a.k.a by the fact that it is played on stage?
For example, in Shakespeare's ...
4
votes
1
answer
725
views
How can I keep dialogue attached to character names in a Pages play script?
I'm formatting a play using Pages on macOS. I cannot figure out how to get character names to be associated with their dialogue. I'm formatting like
[centered] JOHN [\centered]
Yes, that’s me.
...
2
votes
2
answers
111
views
How do I make a repetitive element in a play interesting?
I am writing a playscript these days which includes various characters that are frequently related throughout the story. They all hold special orbs/keys that help the main protagonist progress further ...
- 21
43
votes
7
answers
7k
views
I'm producing a play with a character who the audience isn't supposed to know is alive, can I credit the actor in the program?
There isn't a theater SE so this seems like the best place to ask, but feel free to suggest a better place. I'm producing a community play with a character who's believed to be dead, but turns out to ...
user30789
3
votes
2
answers
746
views
Sorkin: "Dialog is music" - In what way(s)?
I recently watched Aaron Sorkin's Masterclass on screenwriting. One frustrating section of it (overall it's quite good, IMHO) is about dialog, and Sorkin says that dialog is important, it can't be ...
- 1,720
1
vote
4
answers
169
views
What tips would you give to someone about to write a stage play? [closed]
This is a broad and subjective question. However, I think it can be answered with advice such as: Don't include car chases, train accidents or other things that require special effects that can't be ...
- 7,924
2
votes
2
answers
247
views
How to use small caps in stage directions of a play?
I hate asking this, but for some reason I am utterly confused: is small caps not capitalized? I assumed if I wrote a characters name, "JASON", for instance, and then highlighted it and selected the ...
- 902
4
votes
2
answers
144
views
How to approach the Novelisation of a Play
So a couple of years ago I wrote a locally succesful one-act play, of which I still really enjoy the world. I want to continue writing in this world in a more prose-y way.
I feel like the appropriate ...
- 1,853
3
votes
1
answer
156
views
What are these script formats called?
I have found two ways of formatting a script for a play.
Character names go in the middle of the page, on a separate line. Example: http://filmschoolonline.com/sample_lessons/sample_script_page.htm
...
- 966
4
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Software for writing theater-like scenes
I do my writing in MS Word.
I must incorporate some theater-like scenes into a book. In the theater-like scenes, there will be three to five characters speaking lines. Very, very occasionally a ...
- 966
5
votes
2
answers
5k
views
How to present asides in play writing?
I'm not sure whether this is the stackexchange website for this, but I'm in the process of writing a play for a competition. The main character often has asides (where she expresses an idea or thought ...
- 1,185
1
vote
1
answer
52
views
Restrictions On Producing A Playscript
So the annual play at my university is coming up and i wanted it to be on a novel i recently read. I'm ready to adopt it but the thing is that i wanted to know if i might encounter any trouble with ...
- 11
1
vote
2
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68
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Are there any theaters that are receptive to manuscripts for monologues from the author/performer?
First, a caveat: I am only the author of the "play" in question in a sense of the word; since much of the monologue is drawn verbatim from the writings and speeches of Mark Twain, I am really just the ...
1
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2
answers
6k
views
Playwriting: What is the difference between parentheticals and stage directions?
Coming from the World of Screenwriting, it proves difficult for me to discern the usage of parentheticals from the usage of stage directions in a play I'm writing. I need to know which is for what and ...
1
vote
2
answers
281
views
In play writing, script writing or theatre is there a name for some exchange of dialogue between characters that is supposed to make a point?
Suppose you want to show that two characters have some animosity towards one another. In some scene you set up a meeting between the characters in the elevator and an exchange of lines occurs. This ...
- 111
1
vote
2
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402
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Writing the role of the actor in a movie/play
When writing a script / screen play would you write it as 'Vin Diesel says:...' or as the character i.e. 'John Smith says:...'
- 19
0
votes
1
answer
3k
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What is the most important element of a drama, beside its message? [closed]
I am participating in a skit in school about superstition and science.
How much will the presence of emotion attract the attention of the audience? What are other important things to attract ...
- 101
1
vote
5
answers
883
views
When developing a stage play, whose gender matters more? The characters' or the actors'?
When striving for gender balance in a play: What is more important, balance among the characters or among the actors? (Given that all characters are written as individuals, and not as stereotypes.)
...
- 113
3
votes
1
answer
183
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Translation as the starting point of a new work of fiction
In the past, there has been famous cases of translations becoming works on their own. Many dramatic plots were copied from country to country (Elizabethan dramatists used to translate Spanish plays ...
- 201
10
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5
answers
625
views
How can I get started screenwriting/playwriting?
I have some experience writing stories, but would like to beginning screenwriting. Are there any online guides to show how to get started and transition into writing for the stage, where ideas need to ...
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