How are plays constructed? Taking this essential question and looking at a broad range of Western plays, from Greek tragedies through Ibsen, we can discern a remarkably stable set of dramaturgical principles.

Some dramatists adhere to traditional principles to create meaning, while others delight in bending or breaking these conventions, seeking new ways to express meaning. In this book, Michael Evans discusses what he calls “standard dramaturgy” – a set of seven principles upon which most plays, from ancient Greek dramas to modern works, are based. He teases out seven traits found in most plays written before 1900 – and many popular plays and films since then. The book then looks at these key traits and how the playwrights of the Modernist era deliberately subvert them to create new methods of meaning. Examining each of these traits with well-chosen examples from dramatic literature, the book highlights these traits and illustrates how dramaturgs can understand instances of meaning within plays.

Part of the Routledge Focus on Dramaturgy series, this book will interest scholars and students of dramaturgy, directing, and theatre studies.

Michael Evans has been staff dramaturg and translator in Norway. He has guest lectured at universities in Oslo, Stavanger, Aarhus, Guelph, and Kabul. His translations of Scandinavian plays have been seen in London, Chicago, and Toronto.