In spite of the importance of the one-act play as an art form and as a tool for teaching playwriting, authors of playwriting texts have devoted little space to the study of the form. Because of this neglect, there is no definition of the form that is simple and specific enough to undergrid efforts to teach or write it. In the absence of a solid…

That a play has one central action which is its formal cause is the most influential interpretative idea to emerge among theatre writers since the old model of situation/incident/complication/climax/denouement. Unfortunately, the action concept has been insufficiently developed, excessive hopes have been pinned on it, and it has become a reductive…