Play-Making

William Archer (1856 -1924) was a Scottish critic born in Perth, and educated at the University of Edinburgh. In 1879 he became dramatic critic of the London Figaro, and in 1884 for the World. Archer is known for introducing Ibsen to the British theater. Play-Making was written in 1912. The book gives advice to dramatists. The Table of Contents includes The choice of a theme, Dramatic and undramatic, The routine of composition, Dramatis personae, The point of attack: Shakespeare and Ibsen, Exposition: its end and its means, The first act, "Curiosity" and "interest", Foreshadowing, not forestalling, Tension and its suspension, Preparation: the finger-post, The obligatory scene, The peripety, Probability, chance and coincidence, Logic, Keeping a secret, Climax and anticlimax, Conversion, Blind-alley themes--and others, The full close, Character and psychology, and Dialogue and details.