The play must be typed and in play format (only dialogue and action). You’ll find a quick “how-to” below.
You can write about anything you want. The play can be funny or serious. Try to stay away from poop, sex, or fart jokes, and excessive language without purpose (but if the situation in the play calls for mature language, that is okay). The play must have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
- The play should start with establishing exposition (IE: two strangers meet while waiting to cross the street).
- It should move into conflict (IE: both want the other one to push the “cross the street” button).
- Then comes the climax (IE: They are shouting at each other, ready to fight).
- Finally, something should resolve the problem (IE: a third person comes and pushes the button).
In the cover sheet of your 2-3 page play, you must include a title for your play, a character list, and a short paragraph (100-200 words) describing what you believe the theme of your play is.
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Play Format Guidelines
The format of a play is quite different than formatting in novels. Plays are meant to be seen and heard. Because of this, plays never “enter” into a character’s mind. A character’s inner thoughts are never revealed because it is not something an audience can see or hear while watching the play. Plays are made of two basic components: Action and Dialogue.
Example of Action:
Action lines describe the set, character movement, or sound effects to the production team. These lines are in (parenthesis and italicized.) As an example, if I were to write the action of what I’m doing now as action lines, it would look like this:
(A messy home office. A Big Trouble in Little China poster hangs on calming lavender walls. Stacks of books and papers crowd a desk.
Nick sits at his computer typing a lesson plan into Canvas.
BUZZ! His phone vibrates. A text message. He reads it and sends a quick response before turning his attention back to the lesson.)
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Example of Dialogue:
A line of dialogue contains two parts. The first is the “character tag.” Character tags are unspoken. Their purpose is to let us know which character is speaking. Character tags will often have a character’s name bolded and finish with either a period or a colon. It will look like one of the following: Bolded: or Bolded. Either is fine for this class.
After the Bolded part comes “normal” text. The “normal” text is the dialogue that is to be spoken out loud by the actors. For example, if someone wrote a play of our class meeting in person, it might look something like this:
NICK. Hello class, welcome to Intro to Theatre.
STUDENT. Nick, you’re the coolest teacher ever.
NICK. Tell me something I don’t know.
Note: Don’t stress about mistakes. If you make one– shit happens. It’s okay. Your grade will be based on content. Mistakes will not affect your grade (unless you are willfully refusing to follow format, but that’s another story…).
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