When a playwright starts working on their play, they might not think about the format first.
But once inspiration strikes, the structure of their script is what brings their vision to life on stage. Whether they are writing a quirky one-act comedy or a weeping historical epic, knowing how to format a play properly is the key.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a Broadway veteran to figure it out. Writing a play might sound intimidating, but once you understand the basic format, it’s just storytelling with stage directions. You will need to think like a writer and a director (where people stand, how they talk, when the lights change) because all of it contributes to the magic of live theater.
In this guide, we will walk you through everything you need: how to format your play script correctly, real examples from well-known works, and even a free template to get you started. So, let’s dive in.
What is a Stage Play?
A stage play is a live performance of a story acted out by performers on a stage, in front of an audience. It combines dialogue, movement, emotion, and sometimes music or dance to bring characters and situations to life, without the help of camera tricks or post-production edits. Everything unfolds right there, in the moment.
There are several types of stage plays:
- Comedy: Light-hearted, designed to amuse and entertain, often with a happy ending
- Tragedy: Serious, depicts the downfall of the main character due to fate or a fatal flaw
- Drama: Realistic, focused on the emotional and relational development of characters
- History: Based on historical events or figures, often dramatizes real past events
- Satire: Uses humor, irony, and exaggeration to criticize society or politics
- Parody: A humorous imitation of another work or genre, poking fun at its style or themes
- Farce: A fast-paced comedy with exaggerated characters and improbable situations
- Melodrama: It has exaggerated characters–clear heroes and villains–and emotions
- Musical: It incorporates songs, music, and often dance to tell the story
- One-act Plays: Short plays consisting of a single act, typically with one main plot
How is playwriting different from screenwriting?
Playwriting (writing for the live stage) significantly differs from screenwriting (writing for the screen, like movies or television). To do justice to your stage play, you must be aware of the limitations and benefits of writing for the live stage.
Screenwriting (Movies/TV)
- Visual storytelling: You can focus on a character’s emotions just by zooming in on their face or using a moody shot, no need for them to say a word.
- More locations, more cuts: One scene can be about a meet-cute on a Paris street, and the next one, a dream sequence on the moon. The sky is the limit.
- You write what you see and hear. Screenplays are highly structured and have specific formatting. You describe the setting, the actions, and the dialogue.
- Post-production: Editors, music, camera angles—a big team effort to bring a script to life.
It’s more like a painting with images, sounds, and words blended together to tell a story.
Playwriting (Theater)
- All about the dialogue: Since you cannot enhance the performance with camera movements, special effects, or tons of locations on stage, the characters’ words must do the heavy lifting.
- Limited visuals: You are working with one or two (sometimes three) sets, max, and everything plays out in front of a live audience, so scene changes must be quick and simple.
- The audience is right there: The actors feed off the energy of a live crowd, so timing (especially for comedy or drama) is a big deal.
- Basic stage directions: Directors and actors often want and need the freedom to interpret things.
It’s like writing a story that unfolds in real time, in one place, with people watching it live.
You might want to consider which type of stage you are writing the play for, as there are more than just one. They come in different styles, and each gives off a different vibe depending on how it’s set up and where the audience sits.
Types of Stages
1. Proscenium stage:
Source: Wikimedia Commons
This is the classic one. Think of a traditional theater with a big curtained frame facing the auditorium. This is the most common and well-known stage type where the audience sits in front, facing the same direction. It’s like watching a giant TV or movie screen in real life. It’s great for dramatic plays, musicals, and anything with fancy sets and curtains.
2. Thrust stage:
Credit: Michael Davis | Copyright: Wharton Center for Performing Arts
This one thrusts out into the audience, like a little runway. People sit on three sides. In this set-up, the audience is close to the action. It feels more personal, like you are part of the show. It’s great for intimate scenes, dramatic moments, and when you want the audience to feel super connected.
3. Arena stage (Theater-in-the-round):
Source: Wikimedia Commons – Wikimedia.org
This stage is smack in the middle, and the audience surrounds it on all four sides. This set-up has no backstage. It’s more like actors are in the middle of a circle of people. It feels real and raw. There is not much (or any) scope for hiding, so everything has to be tight and very well choreographed.
4. Black box theater:
Credit: Picasa | Source: Wikimedia Commons – Wikimedia.org
This type of stage is super flexible. It’s basically a big black room with movable seating and stage areas. You have the liberty to change it with every performance. One day it’s in-the-round, the next it’s a thrust or something else. Since it’s so vastly customizable, it’s great for experimental plays and performances that break the usual rules.
5. Open air/Outdoor stage:
Credit: bingqian.li_photo
It is what it sounds like—shows under the sky, in parks, amphitheaters, or other outdoor spots. Nature is your background. Birds, wind, and sunsets are all part of the show.
6. Site-specific or Immersive stage:
Source: Flickr
This isn’t a traditional stage. It’s when the performance happens in a real-world location (like an old mansion, warehouse, forest, restaurant, etc). The actors might perform amidst the dinner tables in a restaurant while people eat, or the audience might follow actors from room to room or walk around with the action. It gives the audience an immersive experience, making them feel inside the story.
Playwriting: Script Format Components
All right! Now you must have an idea of what goes into writing for stage—great characters, juicy dialogue, comedy or drama, etc. Now comes the part you may think is a little less fun. Formatting the script. Don’t worry, it’s quite fun.
1. Title Page:
Source: itoldya test1 – GetArchive
Start with a clean, simple title page. The title page in a stage-play script is no different from a screenplay. Big, bold title in the center, your name under it, followed by your contact information and agent (if you have any) information in the left and right bottom corners, respectively.
2. Character Glossary (Dramatis Personae):
Source: Wikimedia Commons
On this page, you list every character along with a very brief (one-line) description for each. The description includes details, like their age, profession, or physical attributes.
3. Setting and Time:
This section is nothing more than what it sounds like. Where are we, and when are we? You decide its length, and it depends on how descriptive you think you need to be.
Setting: “Alpha Kappa Delta,” an upscale UPenn sorority house. Pink and purple decor.
Time: The present. Recruitment rush. Midnoon.
4. Act Structure:
Before you start writing the actual script, you might want to outline the structure of the play. In simple words, divide the play into acts and scenes. Imagine the acts and place the corresponding scenes below.
ACT 1
Scene 1 The house Present
Scene 2 Bedroom Present
ACT 2
Scene 1 Gazebo Present
Scene 2 Cellar Present
5. Scene Headings:
This is where you start writing the actual script. The scene headings in a stageplay are a bit different than screenplays.
ACT ONE, SCENE ONE
Lights up on a messy living room. Late afternoon.
That quick description? That’s your stage direction. It helps the director and actors to picture what’s going on. It’s usually italicized or set apart from the dialogue.
6. Character Names and Dialogue:
Like in a movie screenplay, character names are written in ALL CAPS and centered on the page. (In published plays, you’ll sometimes see character names aligned left, sometimes not in all caps, depending on the publisher.)
Dialogue appears directly beneath the character names and is centered in both movie and stageplay scripts. But unlike in a movie script, where it is written within a narrower column (~ 3.5 inches wide), stageplay scripts have dialogue written across the whole line.
ESTRAGON
Am I?
VLADIMIR
I’m glad to see you back. I thought you were gone forever.
ESTRAGON
Me too.
VLADIMIR
Together again at last! We’ll have to celebrate this. But how? (He reflects) Get up till I embrace you.
ESTRAGON
(irritably)
Not now, not now.
7. Stage Directions:
You want to show what a character is doing while they talk? Or maybe how they say something? That’s stage direction. Stage direction should be brief.
They are typically italicized and aligned left. Sometimes they appear in brackets or parentheses. Often, character names within stage direction are in ALL CAPS.
MARTHA
What a cluck! What a cluck you are.
GEORGE
It’s late, you know? It’s late.
MARTHA looks about the room.
MARTHA
What a dump! Hey, what’s that from? “What a dump!”
8. Parentheticals:
Sometimes, you need to give a tiny hint about how a line should be said. Those hints—brief acting instructions—are given in parentheticals, and appear within dialogue or immediately after character names.
Longer stage directions describing action or movement, as mentioned above, appear as separate blocks.
ESTRAGON:
(irritably)
Not now, not now.
VLADIMIR:
(hurt, coldly)
May one inquire where His Highness spent the night?
ESTRAGON:
In a ditch.
VLADIMIR:
(admiringly)
A ditch? Where?
ESTRAGON:
(without gesture)
Over there.
There is no better learning exercise than to learn from the best. That’s why it would be beneficial if you referred to the stage-play scripts of some of the most iconic plays, such as Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Also, for your reference, you can download templates that cater to different formats and types of stage plays, from a traditional play to a modern musical, and from a title-page format to a Samuel French format.
Conclusion
All right, let’s wrap this up.
Writing a play might seem intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of the format and start having fun with the characters, it’s honestly one of the most rewarding creative projects you can take on.
Just remember: start with a strong idea, keep your scenes tight and purposeful, and don’t stress too much about making it perfect on the first go. Rewriting is part of the magic.
With the examples we went over and the free templates in your toolbox, you have everything you need to get started. Put your words on the page, bring your story to life, and maybe even imagine it on stage. The world’s waiting for your voice.
