Play-Making: A Manual of Craftsmanship

A practical handbook guides aspiring dramatists through the craft of playwriting, treating selection of theme, dramatic versus undramatic material, character creation, and the routine of composition alongside stage-focused structure: point of attack, exposition, first act, tension and its suspension, preparation and obligatory scenes, peripety, probability versus coincidence, logic, and the management of secrets. It addresses methods of foreshadowing without foreclosing action, climax and anticlimax, conversions and false endings, and strategies for full closure, while concluding with notes on psychology, dialogue, and technical detail, illustrating principles with examples drawn notably from Shakespeare and Ibsen.