How to Format a Stage Play Script

Stage directions and scene descriptions are the main format elements unique to stage plays. Like screenplay formatting, stage play formatting requires an understanding of jargon specific to the craft. There are also specific visual differences in text layout in a standard stage play format.

While screenplays are divided into scenes, stage plays are divided into one-to-five acts, each act divided into scenes.

Even though there’s formatting software available for stage play formatting (usually part of one of the standard screenplay formatting software packages), you’ll still need to familiarize yourself with stage action jargon and scene description nuances specific to stage plays.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Stage Plays
• Stage Play Formatting Software (optional)
• Word Processing Software
• Computer

1. As mentioned above, many of the standard screenplay formatting software, like Movie Magic Screenwriter or Final Draft, include a stage play formatting feature. If you don’t have the (about) $250 to purchase the software, manual formatting won’t be too daunting a task.

2. Read through copies of published stage plays, preferably those of a genre similar to yours. Look for writing craft, specific stage direction jargon, and how the playwright uses scene descriptions.

3. Unlike screenplays, a stage play begins with a type of table of contents; first a character list with a brief description of each character (listed in order of importance), and a list of setting descriptions. The length of each setting description depends on how many fantasy elements are included in the script.

4. Begin to write your play. Keep a copy of your favorite stage play on hand as an immediate formatting reference, mostly for scene descriptions and dialogue.

Tips & Warnings

• Note that in a stage play stage directions are indented while dialogue isn’t. In a screenplay it’s the dialogue that’s indented while the action descriptions aren’t.

Resources

• Play Formatting Tips from Script Frenzy
• Script Formatting Tips from BBC

[orionr]

on 10/23/2008 Another option is to use Zhura (http://www.zhura.com), which is both free and online. It's like Google Docs for writing stageplays. You can even print out your play as a PDF. Check it out.