The Art and Craft of Playwriting

by Jeffrey Hatcher

Jeffrey Hatcher knows the nuts and bolts of writing for the theater. Here, he shares his views on it all--from building tension and plotting a scene, right down to moving a character from one side of the stage to the other. From crafting an intriguing beginning to delivering a satisfying ending.

In Hatcher's one-on-one discussions with acclaimed American playwrights Lee Blessing, Marsha Norman and Jose Rivera, you'll find a wealth of practical advice, tricks of the trade and insight that will help you in your own creative efforts.

Genres: Writing, Theatre, Nonfiction, Plays, Drama, Reference

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The suggestions and observations in this book are spot on. I reread the book every few years, taking something different away depending on where I am in my development as a writer. Very useful.

But, oh my stars, the Love Letter to Manness this is! It's not so much that Hatcher dislikes women so much as that he rarely seems to think of us at all. The few occassions when he uses female pronouns instead of male to talk about "what playwrights do" feel forced upon him by an editor, rather than organic to his thought process, and his paean to the masculine glories of Glengarry Glen Ross gave me a second-hand testosterone buzz.

This isn't entirely Hatcher's fault; playwriting is predominantly a man's game. But the question of the chicken and the egg is here particularly troubling for women playwrights: does Hatcher (and others like him) write as he does because women are so underrepresented in American theater, or are women underrepresented in American theater because books like Hatcher's reinforce the perception that this isn't our world?

[C.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because, surprise, I'm thinking of writing a play. Not the liveliest writing I've ever read, but excellent information and background on playwriting and structure. The author goes over the history of plays, how they how evolved over time, and how to go and reverse engineer an existing play to understand how its structured. A valuable first introduction.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for what it is. A beginning playwright could get a lot out of this book.

[jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only if you’re serious to do the playwriting, read this. It’s not how to write a good play, it shows why some writings are good plays. What qualifications are in there.

[Alex Roma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first craft book I've read about playwriting and I've yet to try to write a play, so I can't say for sure I guess if it was a good craft book, but I enjoyed it and found it helpful.

[Mikennah Oleson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me 🤝 Jeffrey Hatcher

[Julian Munds · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jeffrey Hatcher does dispense come knowledge here on what make Aristotelian style plays work. And yes, should you be interested on being picked up and performed fast you could learn a basic insight into how a play is conceived. HOWEVER, this book does not dispense information that could not be gained from reading a large amount of plays and seeing work. Not to mention some of the info is not accurate... when he brings up The Changeling by Middleton and Rowley, he says that Tomazo and Beatrice are in love. Alsemero and Beatrice are in love. She is betrothed to Alonzo Di Piracquo by her father. She hires Deflores to kill Alonzo. Tomazo does not enter the story till the 4th act and then he is looking for his brother. In many ways because these accidents made it through editing I question how many other unresearched ideas are here. I have read most of the plays Hatcher refers too and he is often way off in understanding the basic character names and plots. Read plays. Ignore this book.

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was only halfway through this book before I needed to return it to the library. I've made several notes and decided that I should probably own this. It has given me a fair deal of insight into the writing process that I hope I will be able to make use of.

Update: I now own this book and finished it. Totally worth it. I'm already planning my re-read. I disagreed with some of the things said in the interviews (but everyone is entitled to their opinion), but not much.

I'm totally pumped to write that break-out hit now!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is there a special place in hell reserved for people who rip pages from a library book? I hope so, because some hell-bound idiot left this book a few pages lighter - those pages being the exercises on coming up with drama worth ideas! I might have to follow the excellent advice in this book to stage a play in which a diligent young reader (the "young" part is the fictional part) turns vigilante, policing her fair city against the scumbags who would deface public property, especially library books. ("I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats.")

[Kylie Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book was not as practical as I hoped it would be. If you have read a book about playwriting, you have covered what will be said in this book. This wouldn't be such a problem, but the way the writer discuss subject matter is rather unbecoming. They speak as if there is only one way to write a play, and that one way is extremely straightforward. If you want a book on the basics of storytelling and how to write a very by the books play, this could help you, but that is all.

[Stephanie Sun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has useful tips that I might actually utilize at some point when I'm writing.

[Jerry Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I've turned to for a while now when dealing with any narrative issues, not just playwriting. This was the book that made structure begin to work for me.

[Alyx · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an interesting read (not dry and boring like many similar books) and an asset not only to aspiring playwrights but to story writers in general.

[AnnaRose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book is amazing. If you are any type of writer (playwright or journalist), you can learn something from Hatcher in this book.