Fledgling playwrights may increase their chances of being commissioned by an agent or stage venue if they include a well-written one sentence line to their play. This enables the agent to get an idea of what the play is about before reading it. Along with the stage play synopsis and the stage play itself, the summary forms an essential part of the playwright’s submission package.
Selling Tool for Stage Plays
In movie circles, a catchy one-sentence summary is known as a tagline or slogan, which helps sell a film pitch to potential audiences and is often seen on movie posters. The drama teacher may explain to students that a one sentence summary differs to a tagline, as a tagline serves to catch the attention of movie goers rather than accurately inform on what the film is about.
Examples of movie taglines can be found in Catch Me if You Can (2002) “The true story of a real fake,” or Chicken Run (2002), “Escape or die frying.” Out of context, these taglines say little about what the movies are about, but stick in the mind in retrospect. The one sentence summary provides a taster for the potential reader on what the stage play is actually about. But where does the student begin when writing a stage play summary?
Activity for Drama Students
Summing up a lengthy play, with its plots twists, characters and numerous scenes in one sentence may seem an impossible task. However, the drama teacher may help the students get started by pairing them off and assigned each to ask the other, “What is your play about?” Not all answers will be refined, but the aim is to reply with the first words that come to mind. The students may jot these ideas down.
Promoting a Stage Play
The students may then work upon refining their answers. The teacher may explain that a good summary must have the following qualities:
- It must summarise the play in twenty five words or less.
- It must provide an informative answer to the question “what is the stage play about?”
- It must whet the appetite of the potential reader.
It might also help students to have at hand the following:
- a thesaurus
- a dictionary
- notepad and pen
And to bear in mind the following when writing the tagline.
- the genre of the story
- the time frame
- character profiles of the main players
- the stage play theme
- the moral of the play
- the main protagonist’s goal
Students need not have to cram all these elements into the stage play summary, but can be used as reference when thinking up the one-liner.
Writing Exercise for Drama Students
Students will soon discover that writing a summary in twenty five words or less is not as easy as it sounds. The following strategies will help tighten the sentence to its essential components.
- Look out for words that have no use, such as “rather” or “perhaps.”
- Look out for a grouping or words or sub clauses where one word could do.
- Question the use of every adjective and adverb, which may serve only to modify a weak or inaccurate noun which should be replaced.
- The nouns should be accurate and colourful. Avoid general and overused nouns and aim for a novel alternative.
- Use active and evocative verbs in the sentence.
- Look out for repetitions or the use of two words of similar meaning.
- Juxtaposing two contrasting words against each other may make the sentence stand out.
Exercise for Playwrights in Summarising a Play Script
Student playwrights will benefit from thinking about a one sentence summary for their play. A summary is also a good selling tool for writers seeking representation from agents or stage venues who may wish to read the full play script. Keeping to a maximum of twenty five words means that every word must count but at the same time, inform on what the play is about.
Rachel Shirley - I have written and illustrated several art instruction books entitled Oil Paintings from your Garden and Oil Paintings from the Landscape ...
