Writing a Scene for
One-Act Play
Drama
•A drama, or a play, is a piece of writing that is
presented almost exclusively through dialogue
(Jose & Laroque, 2017). Like a short story or novel,
it has a setting. Characters, plot, and even
symbolism.
One-Act Play
One-Act Plays are short plays, but with complete
stories. It is brief and one simation & presented for
a single purpose and effect.A one-act play is a
play that has only one act, as distinct from plays
that occur over several acts. One-act plays may
consist of one or more scenes.
Techniques in writing scenes for one act
play
1. Be clear with you theme.
•This is one of the main considerations that in
planning for scenes in a play. You may have How
may ask yourself some questions like: What will my
play be all about? About love? Or success in life?
You have to have a clear picture about the theme
because the other elements like plot, characters, and
settings will point to or support the theme.
2. Develop the plot simply In one-act play,
identify only one significant event.
• You may develop the action first, then
compose the dialogue before deciding on
other elements. Keep the plot simple for a one-
act play, and it should move consistently
throughout the play.
3. Develop the characters.
•You may have a character sketch first before bring
them to life. You have to limit the characters that have
to develop. The hero or the protagonist’s characters
need to be focused one or to be more developed,
while the ortogonist. Needs to be developed to show
complict which is one of the Central dements in a
characters to face a play. Thus, problem you have to
allow your
4. Generate the setting.
•The setting for one-act play will be one scene.
Thus, you have to develop the scene in order for the
audience to see everything about the story line.
Include imagery. So that the audience can imagine
the setting. Make sure you describe how the
lightings and the scence should look like.
5. Craft meaningful dialogues.
•The dialogues that you will create need not
to be tense, but concise and meaningful. Each
line must be crafted carefully. You have to
make sure that the lines point out on the
theme, the plot, and the characters of the
protagonists.
6. Add in the stage directions after you write
the action .
•You may wont notes about how the
characters should respond, what sounds to
make, and what props are needed.
[Link] other literary devices.
•Include some lituring devices such as
foreshadowing, imagery, personification, satire,
and symbolism. This will help enhance emotional,
aural, and visual experience of the audience. This
will also underline scripts meaning.
Rules of Thumb
1. Be set in a single location
[Link] set over a period of no more than one day.
3. have one central plot.
[Link] four or fewer characters
5. have conflict that is resolved by the end
6. develop characters primarily through dialogue
[Link] rely on the use of a narrator (instead, dramatize,
everything)
[Link] a complete, compact droma, with a beginning,
middle and end
9. follow the standard format of a short story-
opening Situation-rising achon, which develop’s
the conflict- conflict-climax (the turning point) –
falling action- resolution (the conflict is resolved)
Story Development –Ten Tips-
[Link] a world that’s true to real life or fantastical or
that mixes the mundane with the magical. But whatever
set of rules you create for that world, make sure you
follow them.
2. Write a conflict that builds as the play progresses. As
you structure the conflict, think in terms of your play
having a begginning, a middle and on end.
3. Write characters that want something (which
puts them in conflict with other characters and try
to get what they want at every moment.
4. Make sure that each characters has something
at stake, a consequence if he doesn’t get what he
wants.
5. Create a ticking clock” that puts the characters
under to pressure get what they want right away.
[Link] sure there is a good reason, an “event” for
your play, It’s not enough for
two characters to sit around and talk for a while and
then leave. There needs to be some important reason
why we’re watching them now, at this particular
moment.
