Introduction
A play is a story dramatized by characters using dialogues and actions on stage before a live audience. Its origin is said to have emanated from Greece during the worship of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility. Drama developed from rituals at a time when it was just an exclusive preserve of the initiates. Gradually, the people began to adopt aspects of the ritual such as dance, music, costume and characters to enact plays about happenings in the society. Over several generations, drama has gone through various transformations to what it is today.
Have you been nursing the idea of writing a play either for fun or you want your play staged before a live audience? Perhaps, you have a story idea but you don’t know how to go about transforming it into a play? If this is your desire, then this article is for you. I will be sharing eight practical steps you need to write a play.
- Generate Your Idea
The first step involved in playwriting is to generate your idea. What exactly do you want to write about? What aspect of life do you want to correct or condemn? Before writing a play, you must first address this point. Knowing or having an idea of what you want to write will help you to write a relatable and believable play. Part of generating your idea is determining the kind of play you want to write about. Is it a tragedy, a comedy or a combination of both tragedy and comedy, known as tragi-comedy?
2. Draft Your Plot
Remember that every play must answer the questions: What happened to whom? When and How? A plot is like a map detailing how your play will run. It is what will tell your readers or audience the beginning of the play, the middle and the end of the play. Remember that your storyline must follow the causes and effect method. That is, one action leading to another action.
3. Develop Your Main Character(s)
A play is about an individual or individuals whose life/lives and lifestyles is meant to teach a lesson or two. Determine what is the driving motivation for your character to do what he or she is doing. What is your character aiming after? What is standing in his or her way of achieving this desire? You will also need to spell out physical and mental workings that differentiate one character from the other.
4. Develop Your Dialogue
Through dialogue, your readers or audience will understand what your play is all about. If the dialogue is prosaic, you may end up losing your audience or readers. So, to avoid this, write a dialogue that is dramatic because a good play is about writing fewer words laced with a lot of actions.
5. Revise Your First Draft
After you have written the play from start to finish, you need to revise it to take care of errors in words, ideas and even actions so that your play will be an interesting one.
6.Cast Your Characters
Casting your characters can be a very tough job. That is the reason the audition proves useful. It is through audition that you will identify individuals from the crowd who will artistically project your characters the way you want it.
7. Rehearsal
After casting your characters, the next thing to do is rigorous rehearsal which will enable your actors to internalize the personality of the characters in your play. Rehearsal will also help you identify some actions or words you may need to change or the mistakes your cast may likely make and then find a way to effectively manage it.
8. Enact the Play
The next thing to do after a rigorous rehearsal is to enact the play before a live audience. It is after the success or failure of the play that you can determine whether to approach a publisher for the play’s publication or you still need to sit down and rework the script to ensure you don’t get a negative review.
Conclusion
Writing a play is the first step you need to take before arriving at being awarded a prize for your efforts. Another thing is to write a play that is true to life. A kind of play that your readers or audience can relate with. Finally, adopting the steps above will guide you to becoming a playwright.
READ ALSO : 5 Reasons Why Writing Plays Can Make You A Better Screenwriter
Discover more from The Ready Writers
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.