Playwrights

Playwrights are writers who create plays for performance on stage. They write dialogue, character descriptions, and stage directions, and they often outline the plot, setting, and acts. The resulting script serves as a blueprint for directors, actors, designers, and technicians, and it typically undergoes revisions during rehearsals, workshops, and readings.

Playwriting involves shaping characters, pacing, and dramatic structure. Writers consider how the audience will experience action in real time, including timing of lines, entrances and exits, and the rhythms of speech. Playwrights may collaborate with dramaturgs, directors, and actors to refine material.

Historically, playwrights have been central to theatre across cultures. Ancient Greek dramatists such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides helped define tragedy, while later writers like Shakespeare, Molière, Ibsen, and Chekhov expanded forms and language. In the 20th and 21st centuries, playwrights have explored realism, modernism, and experimental theatre, producing works that address social, political, and personal themes.

Forms and careers: Plays come in full-length, one-act, or shorter formats, and may be written in prose or verse. Some works blend theatre with music, dance, or multimedia. Many playwrights work on commissions, participate in workshops, or collaborate with theatres and festivals. Rights, licensing, and royalties govern productions, and published scripts reach scholars, students, and readers beyond the stage.