Playwriting

Fifteen chapters explain every aspect of playwriting, with excerpts from classic and prominent modern works, quotations from noted playwrights, and anecdotes from the author’s personal experiences with such masters as Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. Interviews with A.R. Gurney, Lloyd Richards, Connie Congdon, Alfred Uhry, and others are included. An appendix gives information about submitting playscripts, getting grants, entering contests, doing play festivals, securing an agent and other topics of interest to aspiring playwrights.

Shelly Frome is a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at the University of Connecticut, a former professional actor and a prolific writer of fiction and nonfiction. He lives in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Shelly Frome
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 191
Bibliographic Info: interviews, directory, notes, appendices, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014 [1990]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7747-0
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Foreword (by Kenneth Pickering) vii
Preface xi

Part One: What Makes a Play “Play”? 1
1. The Basic Ritual 3
2. Stalking the Springboard 8
3. Laying the Groundwork 16
4. Charting the Course 25
5. Tinkering with the Building Blocks 35
6. Actualizing All the Characters 45
7. Sketching in the Dialogue and Movement 56
8. Shaping a Working Draft 65

Part Two: Activation 77
9. Seeking Practical Advice 79
10. Calling in the Players 89
11. Pressing On 98
12. Polishing and Reassessment 106

Part Three: Finding a Path 113
13. Taking Stock 115
14. Perusing the Market 125
15. Examining the Life 139

Afterword 159
Appendix A: Professional Playscript Format 161
Appendix B: A Selected Bibliography 165
Appendix C: A Directory of Market Information, Agents and Support 166
Appendix D: Notes on Sources 171
Index 177

“strongly recommended..a ‘must read’”—Midwest Book Review; “excerpts from classic plays and prominent modern works [and] anecdotes from the author’s personal experiences”—Theater Crafts; “emphasis throughout is upon the craft of dramatic literary production…style is persuasive”—Speech & Drama.