Definition
• a written composition which tells a story involving conflict, especially one intended to be acted on the stage; a play
Purpose
• to tell a story by acting in front of an audience
• To entertain
Examples
• Romeo & Juliet
• A Christmas Carol

• Rather than Parts and Chapters, plays are organized into Acts and Scenes
• A scene is a part of an act
Purpose
• Acts & scenes help keep the play organized
• Acts often reflect plot development/changes
• A scene change often occurs when a character enters or exits the stage and/or when there is a location (or scenery) change.
Examples:
• Act II, Scene 1
• Act 1, Scene III

Definition
• Dramas are written almost entirely in dialogue (people speaking out loud)
– This is because a play is intended to be performed. Therefore, the actors must speak out loud for the audience to understand what is happening.
• Since plays are written in dialogue, the dialogue is not in quotations like it is in a novel or story.
• Instead, a bolded or capitalized name shows which character is speaking (see example)
Purpose
• To help the reader understand the events in the play

BENVOLIO
Soft! I will go along;
An if you leave me so, you do me wrong.
ROMEO
Tut, I have lost myself; I am not here;
This is not Romeo, he's some other where.
BENVOLIO
Tell me in sadness, who is that you love.
ROMEO
What, shall I groan and tell thee?
BENVOLIO
Groan! why, no.
But sadly tell me who.
Capitalized name shows who is speaking. No quotation marks are used.

• Instructions to the actors, director, and stage crew regarding scenery, lighting, music, sound effects, and the way for actors to move and speak.
• Included in the script
• Usually in italicized type and enclosed in ( parentheses ) .
• To give the actor’s hints as to how to portray a line, or if they should do a particular action.
– Example: The line “What a beautiful day!” could be stated with sincerity or with sarcasm, drastically changing the end result.
• Sometimes the playwright will also include suggestions for scenery and props in the stage directions, but not always.

• Comment or speech made by one character speaking his or her thoughts directly to the audience
• Usually, an aside is a brief comment
• The other characters are not intended to hear the aside.
• May add humor to a play
• May let the audience know what a character is about to do or what he or she is thinking.
• Provides the audience with information that they need to know, but that the other characters do not know.

• Ferris Bueller's Day off
Traitor, thou liest.
Traitor!
Ay, traitor.
Even in his throat--unless it be the king--
That calls me traitor, I return the lie.
(Aside) Now, by the gods, I do applaud his courage.
~William Shakespeare,
. Act II, Scene IV

Definition
• A speech by one character to other characters .
• The other characters and the audience are intended to hear the speech.
Purpose
• A monologue reveals the thoughts, and feelings of the speaker
• The sole focus of the audience is on the speaker

• 10 Things I Hate About You Monologue
• Macbeth's monologue “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow”
after he learns that Lady Macbeth has killed herself:
– She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing. — Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28)

Definition
• A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character on stage.
• Only the audience is intended to hear the speech.
Purpose
• To reveal the characters thoughts to the audience
– Unlike in a book, the character must “think out loud” for the audience to know what is happening inside his or her mind.

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes Calamity of so long life....

• A comment
(Usually short) by one character directly to the audience.
• The other characters onstage do not hear the comment, but the audience does.
• A speech in which one character talks directly to other characters
• The other characters are aware and hear the speech
• A character discussing thoughts and feelings to him or herself
• Other characters are not aware of what is being said, but the audience is