What is Dialogue in Plays?

Series Summary

“You need three things in the theater - the play, the actors and the audience.” This quote is undeniably true. In order to make a good production, you do not have to have the expensive props, the professional actors, or the grand performance space. While this may give an extra edge to a production, the most important elements in theater is the effort that is put into it. All you really need is a dedicated cast, a creative set, and a eager audience. Theater is the cornerstone for appreciation of the arts. When a group of people bond together in the task of creating something with great enthusiasm, the true spirit of theater is manifested.

In this expert video series, learn about how to write dialogue for a play. Steve Caverno shows you how to produce your own play. Get tips on playwrights, script writing, finding actors and developing characters. Get started today with these easy instructional videos from the experts at ExpertVillage.

Video Transcript

"STEVE CAVERNO: Steve Caverno on behalf of Expert Village, here to talk to you today about dialogue. Now, we're going to talk about dialogue. This is the primary method of conveying the plot of the play to the audience. In plays, people talk and they talk a lot. And what we're going to talk about today is how they talk. Dialogue can have many different--there are many different ways it is delivered. Dialogue in plays is typically written as Amy: Hi, Joe! And then, Joe: What's up Amy? So--then we just have the person's name on the line and then the line, aim line, aim line. We're going through this more on formatting as well of how you want a lot of space on your script. But, for the moment, we'll look at dialogue. So, one person says something and then another person replies and this continues. And in between the dialogue, you might have some action that happens, you might have a pause that happens perhaps, but the dialogue occurs and then the dialogue continues. This is how the actors know which line they're going to say. So, in a script, you'll have these lines and the actors will learn the lines, memorize them, and repeat them in front of the audience without the script. First, you'll probably have a reading and then you'll go into the rehearsal process, telling the actors where to go and the lines will indicate where to go, the director will say, "Alright, at this point, on 'Hi, Joe!' you'll approach Joe, and then Joe, you'll approach Amy on, 'What's up, Amy?'" So, at this point, these two actors will have a movement. The dialogue is a way for the director to chart the course of the play. They'll decide which line will add a certain movement. Also, it's a way for the lighting designer to come in and say, "Oh, this is a point in the play where I want the lights to brighten up when someone says, 'And then now, I'm going to fight you!' then maybe the lights will brighten and then we see--reveal the whole scene and maybe someone reveals the time machine on the stage. And at one moment, it's in darkness and then the next moment, it lights up." These are ways in dialogue can cue action. A lot of times we talk about cue lines, the actress will talk about "Well, that's my cue line. When Amy says, 'Hi Joe!' that's my cue to say, 'What's up, Amy?'" And so, at that point, we get to see how dialogue interplays and how this is laid out in a play."