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Year 8 · English · Modern drama · Lesson 1

How plays work

How play scripts work: dialogue, stage directions, layout, props, lighting and subtext, using an original modern scene.

Whiteboard video lesson: How plays work

19-minute video lesson

Teaching, worked examples and 20 practice questions solved step by step.

Watch free for a month

What your child will learn

  • Explain how scripts differ from stories
  • Use stage directions as evidence
  • Set out a script correctly
  • Identify subtext
  • Write stage directions

The method

  1. Read the stage directions.
  2. Read the dialogue and how it's said.
  3. Look for subtext.
  4. Explain the effect on the audience.

Key words: script, dialogue, stage directions, audience, props, subtext, scene.

Worked examples

The first three practice questions from the lesson, with every step.

Question 1

What is dialogue?

  1. Step 1: Conversation between characters

Answer: Characters talking to each other

Question 2

Do play scripts use speech marks?

  1. Step 1: No: name, colon, then the line

Answer: No

Question 3

Where is the play scene set?

  1. Step 1: A bus shelter at night, in the rain

Answer: A bus shelter at night in the rain