THE 7 MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF THE THEATER SCRIPT - ART - 2025

The elements of the theater script are what make the staging possible. The theatrical script is a written text that allows the actors to know what words they have to pronounce in the play.

The script details to the costume designer what costumes are needed and to the set designer what the context of the scene is.

For the director, the script allows him to unify all these elements with coherence, including his own interpretation.

How a play is written depends on many factors: the audience and purpose, the scriptwriter's current view of the human condition, and how the writer perceives the truth around him.

Some plays may begin by focusing on an idea, others on a main character. Other scripts are written with the viewer in mind.

Whatever the point of view, a play recreates and highlights human experiences.

The 7 main elements of the theater script

1- Name of the work

Refers to the title of the written work.

2- Argument or plot

The facts of a play, what happens, make up the plot. The argument must have unity and clarity.

Each action triggers another action. If that movement is not achieved, the action is disconnected from the rest.

The characters involved in the conflict have a pattern of movement: initial conflict, action, climax, and resolution.

The plot can have a playful tone if it is a comedy and a more serious tone if the script refers to a tragedy.

Between one extreme and the other there is a great variety of plots and styles, including the tragicomedy, which mixes funny and witty elements with sad and painful ones.

3- Act

The act is one of the parts in which a play is divided. Each act is made up of pictures and scenes and is characterized by the statement of a problem, the development of a situation or the outcome of the conflict.

When the situation changes, the act changes. The environment in which the act takes place also tends to change, changing the scenery of the stage. In this way, it gives the impression that the actors have moved to another place.

The acts are visually separated by the curtain falling, or the lights are turned off to make way for the next act.

4- Scenes

It is the basic form of the theatrical structure, a unit of time, space and action. A scene is a rhythmic piece, situation or event; for example, the entry of a new character, even for a moment.

5- Table

The box is a structure used today, a separate unit. Therefore, a painting is made up of a statement, a development and an outcome itself. It is made up of several scenes.

6- Characters

The characters are the people who act in the play and are involved in the plot.

Each must have a distinctive personality, age, appearance, beliefs, manner of speaking, and socio-cultural location.

The types of characters are the main, secondary or environmental. The main characters cannot be replaced by others: without them the story does not exist.

The secondary ones follow the main ones in importance, accompany them and second them. The environmental characters appear according to the needs of the circumstances of the work.

7- Dialogue

Dialogue is every word that is heard in the play. They are the words that are heard, whether on stage or off, spoken through an omniscient narrator.

References

1. Linares, Marco Julio (2010) The script: elements, formats and structures. Mexico. Mexican Alhambra.
2. V MÉNDEZ, J DOMINGO (2002) The cinematographic script as a literary genre. Murcia: University of Murcia
3. Editor (2014) Scripts are Elements. 12/07/2017. Script Writing. scripwritingsecrets.com
4. Editor (2016) 9 elements of script writing. 12/07/2017. KM Studios. kmpactinstudio.com
5. Terrin Adair-Lynch (2016) The Basic Elements of Theater. 12/07/2017. Santa Monica College. homepage.smc.edu