Script Terms | Part 1

ANTAGONIST: A character who acts in opposition to the main character, or protagonist. Often the ‘bad guy’ of the play.

COMEDY: A humorous play. Traditionally, comedies ended in marriage, which implied birth and new life, as opposed to a tragedy, which ended in death.

CONFLICT: A situation that arises when the objectives of two or more characters or forces are at odds(=in conflict). Good plays and stories are built on conflict.

DIALOGUE: Written conversation between two or more characters.

DRAMATIC STRUCTURE: The structure of a play. This form was established based on classic Greek and Roman theatre; not all modern stories fit into this structure.

EXPOSITION: This establishes the setting and characters of the play.

INITIAL/INCITING INCIDENT: The moment that introduces the primary conflict of the story.

RISING ACTION: The build in the action between the inciting incident and the climax. Most modern plays are made primarily of rising action.

CLIMAX [ˈklʌɪmaks]: The moment of highest tension in a play. The moment in a play when the protagonist makes a decision that makes the end of the story inevitable(=certain to happen).

FALLING ACTION: The part of the play which follows the climax. In modern stories, the falling action is frequently quite brief.

DENOUMENT ❗️ [deɪˈnuːmɑːŋ]: The end of the play, when conflicts are resolved and the ultimate fates of characters are revealed. Generally, comedies leave their protagonists in better situations than the ones they started in, while protagonists in tragedies are usually worse off.

FARCE: A type of comedy that seeks to entertain its audiences through a series of extravagant and improbable situations.