Playwriting For Dummies
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The opening of your play needs to grab the audience; otherwise the battle is lost before it begins. Following are some of the elements of a strong start:

  • Start your play as far into the story as possible. Pick a point of attack (opening scenario) that’s well into the story, just before the inciting incident.

  • Upset the status quo. Be sure that something happens early on (the inciting incident) to upset the world of your protagonist, launching her on a mission to set things right.

  • Give your protagonist a critical mission. The audience will get behind your protagonist if what your protagonist is after — the goal— is urgent, important, and crystal clear to the audience.

  • Be sure that the antagonist provides strong obstacles. The more even the battle, the greater the suspense.

  • Get the backstory in. Throughout the play, when it’s necessary to do so, gradually weave into the dialogue the backstory, relevant events that happened before the start of the play.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book author:

Angelo Parra is an award-winning playwright who has received national acclaim for several of his plays. He teaches theatre and playwriting at SUNY Rockland. Angelo is the founder and director of the Hudson Valley Professional Playwrights Lab and president of the board of Penguin Rep Theatre in Stony Point, New York.

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