The

Qualities
of a
Fine Play
Introduction

As with any art form, the

qualities that make up a good
play can be discussed
individually.
Introduction

But only in their combination and

interaction—ways that cannot be
dissected or measured—do these
qualities have meaning.
CREDIBILITY AND INTRIGUE

To be credible is to be believable, but

it is not the same as being lifelike. It
might be helpful to distinguish the
“true” from the “real.” Fantasy, ritual,
and absurdity might not be
CREDIBILITY AND INTRIGUE

“real,” but they can all convey truth.

And they have the all proven to be
enduringly popular theatrical modes.
 CREDIBILITY

Credibility is the audience-imposed

demand that requires a play’s actions
to appear to flow logically from its
characters, its situation, and the
theatrical context the playwright
provides.
 CREDIBILITY

Credibility, in essence, is a contract between

author and audience, whereby the audience agrees
to view the characters as “people” as long as the
author agrees not to shatter that belief in order to
accomplish other purposes. Even in the most
absurd situations—perhaps especially in those
situations—characters should reflect to us
something familiar.
INTRIGUE

Intrigue is the quality of a play that

makes us curious (sometimes fervently
so) to see “what happens next.” Sheer
plot intrigue—which is sometimes called
“suspense” because it leaves us
suspended (that is, “hanging”)—is one of
the most powerful dramatic effects.
SPEAKABILITY, STAGEABILITY, AND
FLOW

The dialogue of drama is written upon the page, but it must

be spoken by actors and staged by directors. Thus the goal of
the dramatist is to fabricate actable, stageable dialogue that
flows in a progression leading to theatrical impact. One of
the most common faults of beginning playwrights is that their
lines lack speakability.
STAGEABILITY

Stageability, of course,
requires that dialogue be
written so it can be spoken
effectively upon a stage, but
it requires something more:
STAGEABILITY

dialogue must be conceived as

an integral element of a
particular staged situation in
which setting, physical acting,
and spoken dialogue are
inextricably combined.
STAGEABILITY

A stageable script is one in which staging

and stage business—as well as design and
the acting demands—are neither adornments
for the dialogue nor sugar-coating for the
writer’s opinions but are intrinsic to the very
nature of the play.
 FLOW

Flow requires a continual stream

of information, and a play that
flows is one that is continually
saying something, doing
something, and meaning
something to the audience.
 RICHNESS

Depth, subtlety, fineness, quality,

wholeness, and inevitability—these
words are often used in reference to
plays we like. Certainly richness is one
of the qualities common to plays that
leave us with this sense of satisfaction—
richness of detail and richness of
dimension.
DEPTH OF CHARACTERIZATION

Depth of characterization presents perhaps

the greatest single stumbling block for
novice playwrights, who tend either to
write all characters “in the same voice”
(normally the author’s own) or to divide
them into two camps: good characters and
bad.
 GRAVITY AND PERTINENCE

Gravity and pertinence are terms used to

describe the importance of a play’s theme
and its overall relevance to the concerns
of the intended audience. To say a play
has gravity is to say simply that its central
theme is one of serious and lasting
significance in humanity’s spiritual,
moral, or intellectual life.
 COMPRESSION, ECONOMY, AND
INTENSITY

Compression, economy, and

intensity are also aspects of the
finest plays. Compression refers
to the playwright’s skill in
condensing a story into a
theatrical time frame.
 COMPRESSION, ECONOMY, AND
INTENSITY

Economy relates to an author’s skill in eliminating or

consolidating characters, events, locales, and words in the
service of compression. The effects of economy and
compression are both financial and aesthetic. Obviously, when
scenery changes and the number of actors are held to a
minimum, the costs of production are minimized as well.
COMPRESSION, ECONOMY, AND
INTENSITY

Dramatic intensity can take many forms. It can be

harsh, abrasive, explosive, eminently physical, or
overtly calm. It can be ruminative, tender, or
comic. Intensity does not come about by happy
accident, obviously, but neither can it be simply
injected at the whim of the playwright.
CLIP
 CELEBRATION

Finally, a great play does not merely depict or

analyze life—it celebrates it. The truest and
most exciting theatre has always been created
out of a passionate, personal vision of reality
and deep devotion to expressing life’s struggles
and splendors, for the theatre is fundamentally
an affirmation.
Thank you.!!!