ShmoopTube

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[Coop and Dino singing]

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Believe it or not, writing a play isn't all sunshine and rainbows... [People watching play and sign of sunshine and rainbows appears]

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Well, unless your play is called “Sunshine and Rainbows,” in which case… we stand

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corrected.

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But our point is that writing a play can be hard work.

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Why? We're glad you asked!

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First things first, the playwright shouldn't even think about starting the writing process [Coop discussing the writing process]

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without completing the planning process first.

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By planning out the play beforehand, the writer will already know the characters, settings,

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conflict and plot points of their play… all before they write a single word.

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Sounds pretty nice, huh?

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It’s like lining up at the finish line before the race even starts. [Guys stood at a tracks finish line]

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Once that's done, all that’s left is to put all that good pre-planned stuff into the

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proper play format.

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And what do we mean by play format?

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We're talking about the text features, of course. [Coop discussing the text features]

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And if you've forgotten what features make a play a play, never fear!

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Shmoop is here, with a handy-dandy checklist.

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First is the Cast of Characters. [Page of cast of characters]

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This comes at the beginning of the play and is used to explain who is in the play and

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what they're like.

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It's important for the actors to learn who they are and how they should act.

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We suggest messing with one of your actors and saying, "this character secretly thinks [Girl discussing character with other actress]

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they're a potato."

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See how they act that one.

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Second are the setting descriptions.

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These descriptions tell us where each scene takes place and how it’s supposed to look.

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It also gives the director and the set designer clues to what the stage should look like. [Example of set descriptions]

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Hopefully it’s more “beach” and less “post-apocalyptic space rodeo,” but no [Actresses on set in post-apocalyptic setting]

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matter what it is, they have to make it happen.

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Third and probably most importantly comes the dialogue, which is really the bread and

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butter of any play.

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After all, a play is all about actors speaking lines to one another, and how the heck are

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they supposed to do that if you don't write them any lines? [Mime artist performing on stage]

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It’s a play, not an onstage mime convention.

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And last but not least comes the stage directions.

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If you want an actor to run across the stage or jump for joy or fall over in a fit of laughter,

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well, you better write it down!

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Stage directions tell the actors how they should move onstage, and unless you want everyone [Girl in a banana costume and guy dressed as a chicken]

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standing completely still the entire time, you should probably include 'em..

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And that's your basic checklist!

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Once you've planned out your play, be sure you have a good grasp on these four text features,

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and how they work.

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Otherwise your play might end up looking like a mime convention, which...might be cool at first? [Mime artist on the street]

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But would probably get old after two hours of a guy pretending to be in a box… [Mime artists on stage pretending to be in a box]

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