CREATING THE

THEATRE: THE
PLAYWRIGHT
GIR1002 – INTRODUCTION TO THEATRE
OBJECTIVES

To understand the role of playwright in theatre production

To understand the process of playwriting
To understand important aspects of playwriting
WHO IS THE PLAYWRIGHT?

• The script is like a blueprint for a theatrical production.

• The playwright or dramatist is responsible for creating the script, selecting the story,
dramatic episodes, and writing the dialogue.
• In the past, actors, directors, and theatre companies have also created scripts for
improvised performances, but they still serve as blueprints for productions.
• This lesson focuses on the traditional role of the playwright in theatre.
THE PLAYWRITING PROCESS

• The playwright works intuitively to create a play.

• In the past, playwrights followed traditional practices.
• Modern playwrights often start without a clear plan and discover the
structure and characters as they write.
ASPECTS OF A SCRIPT

• Six aspects of a script must be addressed:

1. Selecting the specific subject of the play
2. Determining focus
3. Establishing purpose
4. Developing dramatic structure
5. Creating dramatic characters
6. Establishing point of view
• The first five aspects are examined in this lesson
SUBJECT

• Drama is about human beings.

• The first task of creating a dramatic text is deciding what aspect of human existence to
write about.
• The drama can be based on history, biography, personal life, or an imaginary story.
FOCUS

• Playwrights must decide whom and what to focus on in a drama.

• Playwrights may need to interpret characters and events of an existing story and even
change their order.
• Through focus, the playwright determines the main character(s) and how the audience is
to view them.
DRAMATIC PURPOSE

• Determining the purpose of a play is a challenge in creating a script or text.

• Theatre events are intended to serve some purpose, which can be casual or conscious.
• Plays throughout theatre history have served different purposes such as entertaining, imparting information,
probing the human condition, and providing an escape.
• Some plays are written for a specific sociopolitical purpose, while others are written purely for fun and escape.
• At times, the purpose of drama has been to raise philosophical questions or to probe timeless themes.
• A play can serve more than one purpose, and the purpose may emerge only as the script goes through several
revisions.
• Once the purpose is clear, the director, performers, and designers work together to achieve it.
THINKING TIME!

• Choose one favourite drama/theatre/film/TV series/cartoon and list down the subject,
focus and dramatic purpose.
STRUCTURE IN DRAMA

• Every work of art has a structure, including plays.

• The structure of a play is like the substructure of a building, providing inner strength.
• Playwrights develop dramatic structure through conflicts, boundaries, and dynamics.
• Feminist dramas may have less traditional structures.
• Each play should have its own internal laws and framework for shape, strength, and meaning.
• Structure is manifested differently in theatre than in architecture, developing over time.
• The structure of a play is sensed through underlying patterns and rhythms that give shape to the
dramatic action.
ESSENTIALS OF DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

a) Plot
• Plot is the arrangement of events or selection and order of scenes in a play
• Dramatic plot is usually based on a story, but differs from a full account of events
• The plot is what actually happens onstage, not what is talked about
• Playwrights must make choices in developing a plot, even when based on a fictional story
ESSENTIALS OF DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

b) Action
• Second essential of dramatic structure is action
• Drama involves action
• Drama derives from Greek verb "dran" meaning "to do" or "to act"
ESSENTIALS OF DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

c) Conflict
• Third essential of dramatic structure: conflict.
• Conflict is the collision/opposition of persons or forces in a drama.
• People define themselves by the way they respond to challenges, and we come to know them by how they
meet crises.
• In theatre, the playwright must devise means by which characters will face challenges and be tested in a
short time.
• Every play provides a test to show how characters behave under stress, bringing out the meaning of the
play.
ESSENTIALS OF DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

d) Strongly opposed force

• Strongly opposed forces are necessary for conflict to arise in a play.
• Conflicting characters have clear, strong goals that they will go to any length to achieve.
• Restricting characters to members of a single family often creates built-in rivalries and
affinities.
• The characters are usually still in close proximity and fighting for the same things.
ESSENTIALS OF DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

e) Balance of forces
• Dramatic structure requires balance between opposed forces
• Opposing forces must be roughly equal in strength and determination
• One side eventually wins, but before that, there must be a hard-fought contest
• Similar to rules in sports where handicaps are used to ensure equal competition
• Theatre also sets up equal contest between opposing forces
SEQUENCE IN DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

Opening scene
• The first scene of a drama sets the tone and style for the rest of the play.
• It establishes a problem or an imbalance of forces that compels the characters to respond.
• Generally, the problem occurs just before or immediately after the play begins.
• The opening scene thrusts the characters into a situation that provides the starting point
for the play.
SEQUENCE IN DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

Obstacles and complications

• Characters face a series of hurdles or obstacles after confronting the initial challenge of
the play.
• These hurdles are known as obstacles and complications.
SEQUENCE IN DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

Crises and climaxes

• Dramatic characters face crises due to conflicts, obstacles, and complications
• A play builds from one crisis to another, leading to the final and most significant crisis
called the climax
• Sometimes, there are minor and major climaxes before the final climax
• The final climax resolves the issues of the play, either happily or tragically
• After the final climax, there is often the winding down of the plot.
THINKING TIME!

• Using the same drama/film/TV series, list down sequence in dramatic structure.
TWO FORMS OF DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

• Two basic forms of structure

1) Climactic
2) Episodic
CLIMACTIC DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

• Western theatre has two basic dramatic structures: climactic and episodic
• Climactic structure is characterized by severe restrictions in duration, locale, action, and
number of characters
• Climactic plots begin near the climax of the story and focus on a culmination of events
• Exposition is used to provide details about the past
• Climactic structure has limited scenes, locales, and characters, with construction arranged in a
chain of events
• The aim of climactic plays is to make events inevitable and unbreakable
EPISODIC DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

• Episodic structure emerged during the Renaissance in England and Spain, and was adopted
by German and Norwegian playwrights in later centuries.
• Episodic plays cover an extended period of time and have many characters and locations.
• Short scenes alternate with longer scenes, and there may be a parallel plot or subplot.
• Contrast and juxtaposition are used, with public and private scenes and serious and comic
scenes alternating.
• The overall effect is cumulative, with events piling up to create a tidal wave of
circumstances and emotions.
COMBINATIONS OF CLIMACTIC AND EPISODIC
STRUCTURE
• A play can be episodic or climactic, but they are not mutually exclusive.
• Mixing the two forms can be challenging as each has its own laws and logic.
• In some periods, they have been successfully integrated.
CREATING DRAMATIC CHARACTERS

• The playwright must create characters who carry out the action in a play.
• Everything in a play must be transformed into conversation between characters or into
action.
• Dramatic characters are created by emphasizing certain features of their personality and
eliminating others.
DRAMATIC CHARACTERS

• Extraordinary characters are often kings, queens, generals, or other figures marked as
holding a special place in society. They also represent some extreme of human behaviour.
• Representative or quintessential characters are notable because they embody the
characteristics of an entire group.
• Stock characters are incomplete, stereotypical characters used in comedy and
melodrama.
• Characters with a dominant trait, One aspect of such a character dominates, making
for an unbalanced, often comic, personality.
• Minor characters are characters who play a small part in the overall action.
• Narrator or Chorus speaks directly to the audience, frequently commenting on the
action.
• Nonhuman Characters’ focus is always on drawing parallels with the human
experience.
JUXTAPOSITION OF CHARACTERS

• Playwrights can use character combinations to bring out certain qualities.

• A protagonist is the leading character, while an antagonist opposes the protagonist.
• The conflict between the protagonist and antagonist reveals the qualities of both
characters.
• Secondary characters can be introduced to serve as foils or counterparts to the main
characters.
• Foils are people who stand in contrast to another character.
THINKING TIME!

• Using the same drama/film/TV series what is the dramatic structure of the story?
ASSIGNMENTS

• Is practice-based research relevant to your area of study? Why?

• (For those who didn’t attend one or both week of the special lecture) – Is theatre relevant
to your area of study? Why?
• Choose one favourite TV shows/film/theatre and identify its dramatic structure (climactic
or episodic?) and its dramatic characters. State your argument. (More than 100 words)
• Deadline: After mid semester break.