About the Book:

Do you have an idea for a play? A situation or experience from your home or work life? Fantasy? With helpful, clear examples, taken from his own experiences in teaching, directing and playwriting, Milton Polsky shows you how to find and shape a dramatic idea and bring it to fruition. In addition to providing many practical exercises, suggestions and tips, he discusses and illustrates with examples from established playwrights "the importance of giving shape to your idea so that what is in your head and heart can be expressed to the fullest."

To facilitate this creative process, there are What if?, Just for You, Playwright's Page sections; diagrams, journal exercises; and for this revised edition, end of chapter Suggested Activities for the Classroom (solo and group); additional appendices, including one on feedback; and over 50 new photos.

This invaluable and basic guide to writing plays is ideal for teachers, students, camp counsellors, community theatre leaders – and for anyone who knows there's a play inside, trying to get out!

What people say:

"The perfect instrument to encourage people to love the theatre and to become a part of it. It will help the new American dramatists. Excellent!" — Mario Fratti, playwright, Nine (Tony for Best Musical)

"The book will, I feel, meet a real need as it could be used for independent study or as a text in a playwrighting course… The instructions to Read, Act, and Write (RAW materials) are inspiring." — Anna May Hughes, Region II Governor, Secondary School Theatre Association

"Students for the first time see improvisational techniques integrated into classic playwrighting methods by professional playwrights. Professor Plosky, a playwright himself, adds a clear presentation of structure and form in relation to content to the field of drama-in-education." — Shirley Harbin, Phd., President, American Community Theatre Association

About the Author:

Milton E. Polsky (1935-2021) was an American author, playwright and arts educator. He served as a drama specialist with the New York City Board of Education and also taught playwrighting in the public school system, at City University of New York and at New York University, where he was a Shubert Fellow in Playwrighting. His plays have been widely produced and published, and he is the author of numerous articles and books. Dr. Polsky has received the Rod Marriot Award of outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Theatre Education presented by the New York State Theatre Education Association.