The Shape & Progression of a Play

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > STRUCTURE > SHAPE >

'I've always had to invent some kind of form for my plays that will take the place of the form that plays usually have. I know for a fact that the only reason one watches something for more than 15 or 20 minutes is because it has a plot and you're curious to know what happens next. But having no talent for the regular type of plot development, I have had to struggle to invent an equivalent that would be equally gripping.'

-- Wallace Shawn

There's a reason people who build ships, wagon wheels, and plays are called Shipwrights, Wheelwrights, and Playwrights. And it's not just some quaint old medieval custom. A play really is a construction of parts.

The Shape -- or structure -- of a play shares equal billing with the story you're telling. As the song says, It's like a horse and carriage. You can't have one . . .

Structural Diagram of Plays

With Links to Technical Details

. . . Well, you can have one without the other. But odds are you won't be able to hold an audience for more than those first 15 or 20 minutes.

If structure strikes you as a pointless exercise, maybe one-act plays are your thing. Keep them under 15 minutes and you can get away with almost anything.

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