CW

• A one-act play is usually between 10-40 pages long, and is often called a “tenner” because of the short length.
• Traditional plays, and often one-act plays, sometimes conform to the unities of drama as discussed by the philosopher Aristotle.
• A one-act play usually will have four (4) or less characters that are developed in varying degrees. Depending on the story you are trying to tell, there may be one (1) or more main characters.
• Typically, the Setting description is left indented approximately half way across the page, running to the right margin.
• Notice the use of the terms "right" and "centre," which along with "left" are theatrical shorthand for Stage Right, Stage Left, and Centre Stage.
• Dialogue, which is always mixed case, single-spaced, typically runs margin to margin and follows on the same line as the character name, left-indented, approximately 1.5”-2" or generously enough for there to be sufficient white space for easy readability.
• For character names that appear in the stage directions, you have the choice of two (2) formats. The first format is like screenwriting: the character name is in all CAPS the first time it is introduced in the stage directions: after that, it's always in mixed case. The second way to format character names in stage directions is to use ALL CAPS throughout. It's a matter of personal preference: pick the format that seems most readable and stick with it.
• If a character's dialogue is interrupted by a page break, and continues onto the next page, you repeat the character name set-up on the next page with the (cont'd) remark after the name. This is what formatting software was made for!
• WRITING ONE ACT PLAY WHAT YOU MUST KNOW:

  • Setting Description
  • The Stage
  • Character Name
  • Dialogue
  • Continuing Dialouge
  • Offstage Dialouge
  • Interruptions
  • Emphasizing Dialogue
  • Simultaneous Dialogue
  • Stage Direction
  • Transition
• Offstage Dialogue

  When a character walks offstage while speaking either notate, this as part of the stage directions, or alongside the character name if the character is already offstage. You may write either "Offstage" or "Off."
• Interruptions

  When one (1) character interrupts another, use double dashes (--) or an em dash (a long dash) to show that the speaker is being cut off. Below, we make use of an em dash. No need to write "interrupts."
• Emphasizing Dialogue

  Occasionally, the actor's emphasis on a particular word may be so important that you want to write that direction into the script. While there is no ironclad rule for this practice, making the word to beemphasized bold or underlining it works best.
• Simultaneous Dialogue

  Sometimes characters speak at the same time. Below is an example of how to format this eventuality.

   

  SARAH: And what do you say?

   

  BEN / BILL (TOGETHER): (Sheepishly)   Thanks mum!
• Stage directions should sit on their own line, italicized, and left-indented approximately .5-1".
• Transition

  Since curtains are so rarely used, lighting has become the chief means of indicating the beginning and end of your play.
• Typically, "Lights up" is understood as the direction at the opening of any scene, so it's rarely written. However, a lights out direction usually does appear at the end of a scene or an act or the play. Among the common terms are "Lights fade" and "Blackout."
• Instead of "End of play," you may wish to cling to tradition and write "Curtain."
• • Drama - any story told in dialogue form told by actors. Dramatic works include TV shows, live plays, and movies.
• • Characters- as with all literature, drama includes main characters, minor characters, round or dynamic characters, flat and round characters, protagonists, antagonists, and foils.
• • Dialogue- a conversation between characters. Drama uses unique dialogue types:

  monologue: a long uninterrupted speech that reveals the speaker's thoughts and feelings.

  soliloquy: a long uninterrupted speech in which the character is alone on stage.

  aside: a short speech to the audience that the characters cannot hear.
• • Stage directions - printed in italics or in parentheses, stage directions provide information on setting and how the play should be performed.
• Strategies for Reading Drama

  1. Connect personal experiences to events in the drama.
  2. Visualize the characters as you read stage directions.
  3. Evaluate characters' words and actions and determine what motivates them.
  4. Notice character changes.
  5. Compare characters.
  6. Analyze monologues and soliloquies.
  7. Read the play aloud.
  8. Identify the setting.
  9. Evaluate how the setting affects the play's mood.
  10. Identify major and minor conflicts.
• Below are the things that you must critically identify, analyze, and report

  1. Setting/s: Explain its significance in the story
  2. Characters: Provide brief descriptions for each character
  3. Plot: Summarize the events in the story.
  4. Theme: Explain the prevailing message you extracted from the play.
  5. Appreciation: Relate the theme of the story the current social or political situation in our country.
• Verbal Irony:  This is the contrast between what is said and what is meant. In other words, sarcasm.
• Dramatic Irony:  This is the contrast between what the character thinks to be true and what we, the readers, know to be true.
• A form of dramatic irony in which a character who is about to become a victim of disaster uses words that have one meaning to him and quite another to the spectator or those who are aware of the real situation is called TRAGIC IRONY.
• Situational Irony:  This is the most common in literature.  It is the contrast between what happens and what was expected (or what would seem appropriate).
• SYMBOLISM: A character, an action, a setting, or an object representing something else can be a symbol.
• FLASHBACK:  This is a writers’ technique in which the author interrupts the plot of the story to recreate an incident of an earlier time (goes back in time; like giving the reader a memory).
• FORESHADOWING: This is a writers’ technique in which the author provides clues or hints as to what is going to happen later in the story.
• In reading short story:

  • Step 1: Consider the point of View and Setting
  • Step 2: Notice the Structure
  • Step 3: Study the Characters
  • Step 4: Discover the Theme
• • Internal Narrator (First-person Narrator; the narrator uses "I" to refer to himself/herself): the narrator is a character in the story, often, but not necessarily, the protagonist. This narrative point of view allows for a very personal touchin the story telling.
• • Omniscient Narrator(multiple points of view; the narrator is "all-knowing"): the narrator is not a character in the story but knows everything about the story. The omniscient narrator can show the thoughts and experiences of any character in the story. It permits the writer the broadest scope.
• • Limited Narrator (External Subjective Narrator; the 3rdperson point of view): the narrator is not a character in the story but looks at things only through the eyes of a single character. This type of narrative permits the narrator to quickly build a close bond between the protagonist and the reader, without being confined by the protagonist’s educational or language restrictions.
• The setting refers to the time, the geographical locations, and the general environment and circumstances that prevail in a narrative. The setting helps to establish the mood of a story.
• • Integral Setting: the setting is fully described in both time and place, usually found in historical fiction.
• Backdrop Setting: the setting is vague and general, which helps to convey a universal, timeless tale. This type of setting is often found in folktales and simply sets the stage and the mood
• Plot – the structure of the action of a story. In conventional stories, plot has three (3) main parts: rising action, climax, and falling action leading to a resolution or denouement 
• Linear – plot is constructed logically and not by coincidence. There are three (3) major parts to a linear plot:

  • Beginning – the characters and setting are introduced, and the central conflict/problem of the story is revealed.
  • Middle – the main character participates in a series of events or attempts to reach the goal that leads to a resolution of the conflict/problem.
  • End – the main character may or may not reach his/her goal, thus resolving the conflict/problem.
• Episodic – “one incident or short episode is linked to another by common characters or a unified theme”