Q: I can't figure out a good title for my play.  You probably read lots of plays and see lots of good titles.  How do you pick a good title?
          from a Padua Academy student, asked during a classroom visit

A: A good title can be the cherry on top of a great play.  Don't feel like you have to have the title of the play right now.  Playwrights often have "working titles" of their plays, a kind of place holder until they really figure out what they want to call their play.  Sometimes you can't really come up with a title until you are all the way done with your play and have a better idea what it's all about. 

One way to think about a title is giving an audience member an idea of the theme of the play.  For instance, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman was originally called The Inside of His Head.  Which title gives a better clue that this is a play criticizing the American dream of getting to a better place in life by earning more money?

Another way to think about a title is as a way to get the audience in the mood that you want them to be in when they sit down to watch your play.  The title might be the only preparation an audience member has before the play begins.  What do you want them thinking about?  How do you want them to feel?  How can you use your title to start helping your play have the impact you want it to have?

One final hint - titling your play Untitled doesn't really do much for your play.  You should use every avenue you have to help tell your story, help create the mood.  So, unless the mood you want to create is that of an absolute blank slate, try to stay away from Untitled.

Q: Can finalists be from the same school?
        from a Tower Hill School student, asked during a classroom visit

A: Yes.  There is no rule that says a school can only have one finalist.  We have had two finalists from one school, but never have all three finalists been from the same school.  This year, we have sixteen middle schools and twelve high schools participating in DYPF.  This represents students from all three counties in Delaware and includes public, private, and parochial schools. 

Q:  What is the difference between a scene change and an act change?
          from a Caravel Academy student, asked during a classroom visit

A:  When we ask students to write a "one-act play" for DYPF that means a play that an audience can sit through without a break.  In our case, a one-act play will last about 20-30 minutes.  Some one-act plays last up to 90 minutes long.

In modern theatre, if a play has more than one act there is normally a break called an intermission where the audience can get up and stretch their legs.  Playwrights try to put the intermission in the place that helps them tell their story in the most exciting way.  For instance, in a mystery the act break might happen right when a particularly surprising plot twist happens. 

Scenes are what makes up an act.  A one-act play can have several scenes in it (see last week's question!).  You change a scene when you've told as much of the story as you can during that scene.  Maybe to move on telling the story, you need to change the scene to another day or to another place.  However, each scene should still have a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Here's one metaphor for the difference between a scene and an act (this will only make sense if you buy your music as a CD rather than just downloading songs from iTunes):

A scene is like a song on a CD, and an act is a whole CD.  You can listen to a one-act play in one sitting, just like you can a single CD.  However, if you've got a two-CD set, you've got to get up and change the CD - just like you have to get up and stretch your legs in a two-act play.

Question for you: Why is it that you can sit through a 3-hour movie like LORD OF THE RINGS without having an intermission, but sitting through a 3-hour play without having an intermission would be really hard?

Q: How many scenes should there be in a one-act play and how long should they each be?
            - from a Charter School of Wilmington student, asked during a classroom visit

A:  Like a lot of things in playwriting, there is no hard and fast answer to this question.  In any play, one thing you don't want to do is have too many really short scenes, particularly if you are changing locations with each scene.  Short scenes (a page or less) chop up the action of your play.  It makes it hard to write a scene in which much of anything happens and it makes it hard to build momentum in your play.  Right as you start a scene, you are already stopping it!  Each scene should have a clear beginning, middle, and end - just like the whole play should have a clear beginning, middle, and end.  If you have several one-to-two page scenes, see if there is any way for you to combine the action of some of those scenes into one longer scene.

If your first draft for DYPF ends up being around 10 pages, a decent amount of scenes would three to five.  If your play is around 20 pages, you could end up with around five to seven scenes.  Plays can also be one long scene. 

But again, rules are made to be broken.  You might be able to find a way to have short scenes be very effective.  As a general rule though, look to avoide the very short scene.

A: Most students participate in DYPF as part of a class whose teacher registers for DYPF.  However, it is perfectly okay for stduents to participate individually.  Simply email us at dypf@delawaretheatre.org and we'll send you all the information you need to participate.  Hopefully, this website will help you as well.