Quick Picks: What is a Character in Plays?
 
Sign In Sign Up — It's Free!

What is a Character in Plays?

Viewing videos requires the latest version of Adobe's Flash Player.
Get the latest Flash player.
Showing 1-5

Part of the video series: How to Write Plays in the Playwright Format

left_arrow right_arrow
Add to My Playlist What is a playlist?

Summary: Learn the importance of well-developed characters in a play with expert playwriting advice in this free play production and theater video clip.

Views: 487 | Tags: art, theater, acting, writing, write, plays, playwright, playwrights

Get the latest Flash player.
Email Video Add to Favorites
About the Expert

Steve Caverno Steve Caverno attended the University of Southern Mississippi where he received a BA in theatre. Since graduating he has had several plays produced across the... read more

Hide Comments

Conversations About This Video

  • Comments
    (0 comments)
  • Questions & Answers
    (0 questions) (0 answers)
Be the first to comment on this video.
Have a question about this video topic? Ask our community members and let them share their knowledge with you!
Ask A Question

Video Transcript

What is a Character in Plays?

STEVE CAVERNO: I'm Steve Caverno on behalf of Expert Village, here today to talk to you about building a character. What is a character? A character could be defined as lines spoken by an actor. So, one actor will speak one set of lines and another actor will speak set another set of lines, and those lines denote that there are separate characters in the play. Character is also defined by actions, the actions that character takes. So, a character will have intentions, a character will have a motive, will have an objective that they want to accomplish. A character will also be defined by their biography, by who they are, so you know a doctor is different than a trash collector, a lawyer is different from a sports figure. So, when we look at a character, we want to think of all the different things that make up that character, the world they live in, their economic background, where they grew up, what part of the region of the world or the country they're from. These are the things that build a character. These are the things that they go into fueling a character. Above all the actions, the dramatic need, you can build a character, you hear of actors who say the lines with intensity and the character is revealed. You can say, "Wow! That is such an amazing dramatic portrayal." And you can ask, "Alright, how did you come into that character?" And the actor will basically just say to you, "I just had a strong intention." And with the intention and with costume and with the lines being written the way they are effectively, the character comes through without the actor really having to adopt a new persona. These are some of the ways to get character in place.

Watch these related videos

Theater Ads

Community Members who...

  • Favorited this Video
  • Rated This Video
Read these related articles
See more articles

Top Tags

accent accents act acting actor actors actress actuary adirondack annuities applying art auditions building characters comedian comedy crafts dialects drama exercises games ideas improv improvisation improvisational joke telling jokes laugh makeup making monologues moving online patterns performance play plays puppet puppeteer puppets show stage stand stand up comedy techniques theater theatre theatrical up
Check out what people are watching now
left_arrow right_arrow