Increasing interest of college students in scriptwriting suggests a need for more professional writing programs. Such programs should be directed by faculty members with experience in both writing and teaching. Writing format and techniques are two major emphases. Students can learn the proper format from accessible scripts, techniques from…

Article analyzed the soliloquies in Hamlet and showed that Shakespeare used the device of the soliloquy not for clarification (as he did elsewhere) but for complication instead, so that the audience is made to see Hamlet's character as consisting of diverse ingredients, a personality fragmented rather than whole. (Editor/RK)

Celebrates the growing body of children's and young people's plays and touches on various aspects of producing plays with child actors. (GT)

Explores philosophies and practices of playwriting for young people, focusing on contemporary U.S. plays and projects that are aimed at improving the quality of theater for young audiences. Describes the New Generation Play Project. (PRA)

Offers advice from a playwright on how to use a play's stage directions. States that stage directions (1) are one playwriting technique for eliminating unnecessary words, (2) are strong suggestions from the playwright, and (3) often reveal character traits. Discusses script analysis. (PA)

Uses a dialogue between two aspects of the same person (playwright/director) to answer the question posed in the title. States that initial productions of a new play are important for rewriting and reshaping the material and that performance confirms what is healthy and alive about the play. Concludes that the time for enjoying the performance…

A list of plays having American premiers in 1973. (CH)

The contents of this book represent one critic's views on some qualities and questions in the theater between 1964 and 1975 and include relevant biographical (e.g., the career of Joseph Papp) and historical articles. The five parts of the book deal with theaters--American and foreign; productions--revivals and new plays; notes on music; stages of…

Responds to Catherine Dezseran's call for children's plays with "serious" subject matter, approves of her ideas, and suggests that more pointed criticism of the contemporary plays she mentions would be helpful to writers of children's plays. (JC)

Analyzes the black contribution to American theatre by citing some early black plays and the critics reactions to them. (MH)

Author defines the nature of the crisis in language; relates this crisis to a similar one in the life of an earlier civilization; and advances suggestions how present difficulties can be faced. (CB)

In a nation of over 200 million people, only two or three dozen make a good living writing plays. Of 16 playwrights interviewed for this article, only four have been making their living writing for three years or more. Presents insights and reflections. (PD)