The Structure of Plays How is play writing

The Structure of Plays How is play writing different than writing a narrative?

Parts of the Plot l The plot of the play tells the story. l Beginning l l Exposition – Exposes the characters, setting & situation Rising Action – All the events that lead up to the climax l Middle l Climax – How the protagonist deals with the problem or conflict. Answers the question: Does the protagonist succeed or fail? l End Falling Action – Ties up all loose ends. Answers any unanswered questions. l Resolution – The outcome of the plot. The ending of the story. l

Dramatic Structure l Plays are written in a special literary style called: Dramatic Structure Character List (sometimes with descriptions) l Setting (usually described in detail) l Dialogue (does not use quotation marks or dialogue tags) l Stage directions (suggestions for movement on stage written in italics or parentheses(), are not spoken by actor, only done) l

Stage Directions l Stage Left & Stage Right: Direction actor goes when standing on stage & facing audience. l House Left & House Right: Direction actor goes if he was in audience & facing stage.

Stage Directions l Upstage: back of the stage, away from audience. l Downstage: audience. front of the stage, close to the

Structure of Plays l. A play is divided into large parts called acts. l Acts play. are usually large divisions of time within a l Acts are divided into smaller parts called scenes. l Scenes are usually smaller divisions of time within a play or a change in the location in which the play occurs.