Pace longer, more complex plots with a three-act structure. Though not all plays need a happy ending, the audience should feel as though the tension you’ve built throughout the play has been released. Relax the audience into the ending with falling action and resolution.Present multiple second-act scenes that raise the stakes in the conflict toward the story’s climax, or the highest point of tension and conflict, just before the end of the play.You want to ease the audience back into the story and its conflict. Begin the second act at a lower point of tension than where you left off with the first act.The audience will be left wanting more at intermission, and they’ll come back eager for the second act. End the first act just after the highest point of tension in the story to that point.These scenes should build toward a point of conflict that will end the first act. Follow the inciting incident with multiple scenes that raise the audience’s tension - whether dramatic, tragic, or comedic.
The “inciting incident” should occur about half-way through the first act, after the background exposition.When they come back from intermission, they should immediately be drawn back into the rising tension of the story. You must structure your story around the intermission to leave the audience tense and wondering at the end of the first act. Because the audience has a break in the middle of the play, you can't treat the story as one flowing narrative. X Research source The two-act structure changes more than just the amount of time your crew has to make technical adjustments. This is how you make the audience care about the events that are transpiring on stage.Īdjust the plot to fit the two-act structure. At the same time, you must show how the actions are all causally linked through your plot development. You must develop a story that’s compelling and moves the action of the play along quickly enough to keep the audience’s attention.
Heartbroken, he had an emotional breakdown at work that resulted in his firing.