Some Character Names

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > CONTENT > CHARACTERS > MODERN > NAMES > EXAMPLES

'Someone says something to someone else, and they talk, and at some point I say, Well, who is this? and I give him a name. But I have no idea what the storyline of the play is. It's a process of discovery.'

-- August Wilson

Most playwrights don't use the full name for designating a character in the body of the manuscript. Instead, they select either the first or last name as a matter of habit -- or based on the one that seems to say more about the character. And using only one name means you have fewer keys to pound.

Here's a handful of names from recent plays with the playwright's selection for character designation in the manuscript shown in CAPITALS . . .

Richard DAVENPORT, Vernon C. WATERS, Tony SMALLS
from Charles Fuller
BABE Botrelle, MEG Magrath, CHICK Boyle, BARNETTE Lloyd
from Beth Henley
Rene GALLIMARD, MARC, Comrade CHIN, HELGA
from David Henry Hwang
HEIDI Holland, PETER Patrone, SUSAN Johnston, SCOOP Rosenbaum
from Wendy Wasserstein
BELIZE, LOUIS Ironson, PRIOR Walter, ETHEL ROSENBERG
from Tony Kushner
SETH Holly, ZONIA Loomis, Rutherford SELIG, BYNUM Walker
from August Wilson
Shelly LEVENE, Dave MOSS, Richard ROMA, James LINGK
from David Mamet
VICTORIA, FORGIVENESS From Heaven, WANDA, OLIVER
from Lisa Loomer

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