Terms and Definitions

What is an act?
A way of organizing the play into a logical sequence of events. Usually each act (except the final act) ends with a question that will be answered in the next act.

What is a scene?
A part of the act in the same location occurring in "real-time" (no time jumps within a scene).

Change scenes
• after a dramatic moment to give the audience time to think about what happened.
• when the action ends and new action will take place somewhere else or at a different time.

How is a character developed?
A character defines her/himself by what s/he says, does, and reacts. The character does not have to give a verbal biography to let the audience know him/her. Dialect, slang and idioms give a character depth. Suggested costumes tell much about a character. Audiences become most involved in a play when the main character is someone about whom they care what happens.

How is the plot developed?
In a mystery the audience and some of the characters learn during the course of the play something they didn't know at the beginning. It could be, for example, a theft or a guarded secret. It does not have to be violent. For this project, plots and language must be rated G or PG.
NOTE: Any group or classroom submitting a script violating the G or PG rating will be dropped from the project.

To keep the plot moving, each scene should make another step toward the solution, giving new information. To keep the plot interesting, you can purposely give false clues, add comic relief, or reveal "twists" (surprising new information that complicates the solution).

Developing visual interest
Character entrances and exits (generally the director and actors develop character movement and motions).
Picking up and using props

How to use props
Each time a character picks an item up or gets something out of a pocket, it is a prop. Props make your play look more realistic and reminds the playwright to move the characters around the stage. They can be key elements in a mystery.

Making the technical list
Every play includes following items, which must be compiled after the script is finished:

• The play synopsis, which doesn't reveal the ending.
• Cast of characters: character name and short description e.g. Snidely Snide, mean and despicable, owner of the mortuary.
• Acts and scenes list includes the setting and time of each scene
    e.g. Act 1: Scene 1: outside the castle at midnight.
• Props list includes anything the actor touches or indicates by speech. Making this list requires combing the script thoroughly.
• Suggested costumes should help define the character.
• Sound effects, if any. Includes music, dramatic emphasis (like howling wind).