ONE-ACT PLAY

ONE-ACT PLAY

     One-Act play is a play in only one act. Its action gets completed in a single act. The Mystery and Miracle plays of the Middle Ages in England and the short farces popular in Italy from the 15th to 16th centuries were the prototypes of the modern one-act plays. The development of the modern one-act play is the result of the Little Theatre Movement. Even a standard programme at a London theater consisted of a full-length play preceded by a one-act piece, usually of a different nature which was called a curtain raiser.

     The one-act play has a limited range and a restricted canvas. Yet it has its own distinct individuality. The difference between one-act play and a play in three or five acts is the same as that between a short story and a novel.

     One-Act play stresses on one aspect- character, action, atmosphere or emotion. It cleverly utilizes the principle of economy. It develops a single dramatic situation or idea. The number of characters is strictly limited to enable the principle characters to dominate the stage. The dialogue too follows the quality of brevity, where unnecessary dialogues are omitted.

       Technically the one- act play imposes severe restrictions on the playwright. He is unable to develop his characters and situations in a gradual manner. He must present them and the plot with a few suggestive strokes.

     Brevity is the soul of the one-act play; brevity in plot which cannot be complex, brevity in characterization, and brevity in dialogue from the beginning to the end. In the hands of a master playwright, this medium can be used to leave a lasting impression. It has a single main episode and is either a pure tragedy and is confined to a single space.

    In recent years the 10-minute play, known as flash drama, has emerged as a popular sub-genre of the one-act play, especially in writing competitions.

        In 1903 when W.W. Jacob’s “The Monkey’s Paw” was acted as a curtain riser, it appealed to the audience so much that most of the people left the theatre when the curtain descended upon this play without waiting to see the long play. Thus the one-act play became a serious rival to the long play. The one-act play may tragic as in Synge’s “Riders to the Sea”. It can be didactic as Willis Hall’s “The Day’s Beginning”. It can be comic and satirical as Stanley Houghton’s “The Dear Departed” Or it can be a fantasy like Lord Dunsany’s “The Golden Doom”. It can be farcical like Arnold Benet’s “The Step Mother” or melodramatic like “The Monkey’s Paw”.

Popular one-act plays

J.M. Synge- Riders to the Sea

Anton Chekov- The proposal

Arthur Miller-A memory of two Mondays

August Strindberg-Pariah

Lady Gregory- The Rising of the Moon

W.W. Jacobs- The Monkey’s Paw

(The note prepared based on Calicut university text book and study materials)