Stage Play Format

A play is a blueprint for live bodies in a room. The page tells actors what to say and what the audience can see. It is not a novel (no paragraphs of inner thought) and it is not a screenplay (no INT./EXT. camera slugs).

The parts you will use most

• Character name — ALL CAPS on its own line, usually centered. One speaker per name line.
• Dialogue — the spoken line sits under the name. Do not wrap it in quotation marks.
• Parenthetical — a short note in (parentheses) under the name, before or during a speech: (quietly), (to the door). Keep it brief. Do not write a novel in the parens.
• Stage direction — what happens that is not speech: lights, an entrance, a sit, a candle lit. Present tense. Visible. Often italic on a printed play.
• AT RISE — the picture when the lights come up: place, time, who is already there.

What not to do

• Do not start with INT. LIBRARY - NIGHT. That is film.
• Do not write “she thinks about her childhood.” If the audience cannot see or hear it, cut it or put it in a spoken line.
• Do not direct every blink. If the line already does the work, skip the parenthetical.

A small sample

AT RISE: A library table. Evening. One candle.

KEEPER
(lighting it)
You came back.

SCHOLAR
I still have a scene to finish.

KEEPER sets the quill within reach.

SCHOLAR
(takes it)
Stay until I finish the line.

Read it aloud. If an actor could do it in a room, the format is doing its job. On The Ink and Quill, Roman Stage labels these same lines: character, dialogue, paren, and direction.