University of Tikrit

College Education for Women Majeed Hammadi Kahalifa Class: Second class

English Department Assistant Lecturer Subj: Drama

The main characteristics of One-Act Play

The One Act play is often thought to be a short form of the long play. But the
question is not one of length. A One-Act Play is a separate literary form by itself. It is
not a condensed three or five Act Play, nor can it be elaborated into a three Act play.
The very nature and structure of the two are entirely different. A One-Act Play deals
with a single dominant situation, and aims at producing a single effect, though the
methods used may vary greatly from tragedy to face, according to the nature of the
effect desired. As the play is short and the action takes place within a short period of
time, greatest economy and concentration is required. Everything superfluous is to be
strictly avoided. The play must be close knit and the greatest attention must be paid to
its structure. This makes the One-Act Play a difficult form of art and much training
and practice is required to master it. It is a highly artistic form and has immense
possibilities for development.

Though short in form the One-Act Play can have as its theme a large number of
varied subjects. In fact every subject between heaven and earth is fit for the One-Act
Play. It, of course, deals with only one action to produce the maximum of effect.
Some tense situation or some particular phase in the life of an individual is chosen
and is depicted in an effective manner. All attention is concentrated on that particular
moment and the story of the play hangs on it.

Various problems connected with the life of the individual are discussed. Thus
various sort of things love, marriage, divorce, justice, crime, punishment, law,
superstitions, customs and manners are all suitable themes for a One-Act Play.
According to its theme the One-Act Play can be divided into different types as –
realistic plays, problem plays, phantasies, costume plays, satire, romance, etc. In
short, the playwright has a large and varied choice of subjects which can be discussed
equally well in the One-Act Play.

The One-Act Play, like the longer drama, should have a beginning, a middle and an
end. It may be divided into four stages: The Exposition. The Conflict, The Climax
and The Denouement. All these stages may be distinctly marked as in the larger
play, but more often than not they tend to over-lap in a One-Act Play.
The Exposition serves as an introduction to the play. The situation and the themes of
the play are explained to the audience and the important characters are also
introduced. The part of the story that has already happened and which it is necessary
to know for an understanding of the play, is also told to the audience. But as the One-
Act Play is very short, the dramatist cannot devote much time to this introduction-and
explanation. Hence the exposition of a One-Act Play is usually brief.

The exposition is followed by the conflict. It is through the conflict that the action of
the drama develops. The conflict means a struggle between two opposing forces. The
conflict may take different forms. There may be a struggle between two opposite
interests, ideas, persons, group of persons, or the hero and his fate or circumstances.
There may also be an inner conflict between two opposite ideas or urges in the mind
of the hero, who may not be able to decide what to do and so may suffer great agony
of spirit as a consequence. The conflict is the very back-bone of the One-Act Play.
Complications after complications arise and the readers are in constant suspense
about the outcome of the conflict.

After the conflict comes the climax. It is the turning point of the drama. One of the
two contending forces now gains supremacy over the others. It is now clear which of
the two would win in the end. The climax is an important part of the One-Act Play
and constitutes its moment of supreme interest.

The Denouement is the next and the final stage of the One-Act Play. The play now
reaches its end. One of the two contending forces now definitely gets victory over the
other and the action of the drama concludes. As the space at the disposal of the writer
of One-Act Plays is limited, the denouement is very brief and often overlaps with
climax. The plays come to an end just after the climax.

Dramatic unities

There are three dramatic unities which are observed in the One-Act Play as far as
possible. The unities are – the unity of time, unity of place and the unity of action.
If the drama is to be probable and natural, these three unities are to be observed by
the dramatist. Of course, sometimes it is difficult to observe these unities, but effort is
to be made to observe them as far as possible.

The characters in a One-Act Play are limited in number. The space at the disposal of
the playwright is limited and if he introduces too many characters, it would result in
overcrowding and lessen the effect of the drama. Of course, there is no hard and fast
rule as to the number of characters in a play. But generally there are not more than
two or three principal characters.

Not only are the characters limited in number, there is also no full development of
character. The dramastist has no time to present the characters through the different
stages of their development. All the different aspects of a character are not presented.
The attention is focused on only one or two salient aspects of character and they are
brought out by placing the characters in different situations and circumstances.

Besides this, the characters in the modern One-Act Play are ordinary men and
women. They are neither saints nor devils. They have all the faults and weaknesses,
as well as all the virtues that ordinary human beings have. If they are otherwise, it
would make the play unnatural, unrealistic and unconvincing.

Dialogue is of the greatest importance in the One-Act Play. As the drama is short, all
superfluity is to be avoided. Absolute economy of means should be used. Every word
is to be carefully chosen and sentences must be compact and condensed. Effort
should be made to say, whatever is to be said, in the least possible words. Thus the
language of the dialogue should be simple, brief and easy to understand. Long
speeches and arguments and long sentences would be out of place and would lessen
the charm and interest of the play.

Detailed stage-directions are invariably introduced by the dramatist in the One-Act

Besides, the play is not meant only for acting but for reading as well. The reader can
know of the entire scene through the stage direction and can, to a great extent,
appreciate the real spirit of the drama. These stage directions make the play perfectly
clear to the reader. They impart realism and verisimilitude to the One-Act Play.