Introduction
This playwriting tutorial was written by playwright and screenwriter Jonathan Dorf, whose plays have been produced in more than 45 states and on five continents. Co-Chair of the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights and Final Draft Resident Playwriting Expert, he co-founded YouthPLAYS, the online publisher of plays for young actors and audiences, and has served as US cultural envoy to Barbados and Visiting Associate Professor in the graduate playwriting program at Hollins University. He received his B.A. magna cum laude in Dramatic Writing and Literature from Harvard College and his M.F.A. in Playwriting from UCLA. Creator of the book Young Playwrights 101 and the course Introduction to Playwriting, Jonathan Dorf is available as a script consultant.
Table of Contents
- The Play's the Thing and Types of Plays
- Different Theater Spaces
- Story Structure and Write to be Read
- Story Development
- What Does a Play Look Like? What Should My Play Look Like?
- Manuscript Format Elements and Play Page Layout
- Title Page Element
- Cast Page Element
- 'Musical' Numbers Page Element and Act/Scene Heading Element
- Setting and At Rise Description Element
- The Stage and Character Name Element
- Dialogue Element
- Lyrics and Stage Direction Element
- Transition Element
- Page Break Rules and Binding
- Submitting Your Work
- International Submission Formats and Conclusion