This website is undoubtedly about movies and cinema, but sometimes it’s good to touch on a topic that can be a connection. One such topic involves famous playwrights, since some of them have also been screenwriters.
Let’s begin immediately to see what playwrights are, how they are different from screenwriters, and address several of them who also wrote great film scripts.
What Is A Playwright?
Playwrights, who are also called dramatists, are people who write plays. Primarily in a form of drama, that’s mainly made of dialogue and is for theater plays rather than for reading. The first person to refer to playwrights separately from poets and to coin the term “playwright” is Ben Jonson.
The earliest evidence of surviving playwrights dates back to the Ancient Greeks. Of course, one of the best playwrights, if not the best, but undoubtedly most famous is William Shakespeare.
Playwright vs Screenwriter: The Difference
The essential difference is that a playwright writes plays, while a screenwriter writes screenplays.
However, it’s not that simple.
Even though dialogue is essential in both, the primary tool in playwriting is also dialogue, while in screenwriting is action. Of course, you also have to explain what’s happening on the stage to a certain degree, but not as much as in movie screenplays. Playwrights rely on dialogue, essentially in character lines. There’s no camera, there are no visual elements, and there’s no detailed explanation of movement, unlike in screenplays.
Still, it’s fair to say that excellent playwrights can also write screenplays, and vice versa.
Best Playwrights of All Time Who’ve Written Screenplays
Many names would fit perfectly on a list of the best playwrights of all time. However, we are here to address those who’ve also written screenplays for movies.
Certainly, the list is made according to my tastes. Here are famous playwrights who’ve also used their quill pen to write or co-write for the big screen. Some of them also became good directors, so let’s see some of the movies they’ve worked on:
- Goran Stefanovski
- To the Hilt, Hi-Fi, Wild Flesh, Tomi from the Gas Station, The Black Hole, Frau Ajnstajn
- Martin McDonagh
- In Bruges, The Banshees of Inisherin, Seven Psychopaths, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
- Tennessee Williams
- A Streetcar Named Desire, Baby Doll, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Rose Tattoo, The Fugitive Kind
- David Mamet
- Glengarry Glen Ross, Wag the Dog, The Verdict, Homicide, The Winslow Boy, House of Games
- Aaron Sorkin
- A Few Good Men, Being the Ricardos, The Social Network, Moneyball, Steve Jobs
- Elaine May
- Primary Colors, Heaven Can Wait, A New Leaf, Mikey and Nicky, The Birdcage
- Harold Pinter
- Betrayal, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, The Go-Between, Accident, The Pumpkin Eater, The Servant
- Ben Hecht
- Notorious, Angels Over Broadway, Wuthering Heights, The Scoundrel
- Kenneth Lonergan
- Gangs of New York, Manchester by the Sea, You Can Count on Me, Margaret
- Arthur Miller
- The Crucible, Death of a Salesman, After the Fall, Everybody Wins, The Misfits
- Neil LaBute
- In the Company of Men, Black Chicks, Sexting, Your Friends & Neighbors
- John Patrick Shanley
- Doubt, Moonstruck, Five Corners
- Paddy Chayefsky
- Network, The Hospital, The Goddess, Marty, Altered States
- Noël Coward
- In Which We Serve, Easy Virtue, Blithe Spirit
- Dejan Dukovski
- Cabaret Balkan, Balkan Is Not Dead, As a Bad Dream
- Gore Vidal
- The Best Man, Caligula, Suddenly, Last Summer, I Accuse!, The Catered Affair
Final Words on Famous Playwrights Who’ve Written Screenplays
All of these famous playwrights are known because of their writing wit, creativity, imagination, and knowledge. They weren’t celebrities, nor did they want to be. Still, the words that came from their hearts and minds through their hands onto the paper touched millions of people.
Most of them were undoubtedly underpaid, and paradoxically, they probably made the most money by writing screenplays. If Shakespeare were alive today, he would have made a lot of money just from directors making films from his plays, but it is what it is.
If you’re in the mood to read some more, here are my other articles.
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