Playwright
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A playwright is a person who writes plays for the stage. Because the name of such a text is drama, another word for this person is dramatist. Sometimes, dramas are written to be read and not played. In that case, they are called closet dramas.
The word wright does not come from write. It is an ancient English term for a builder. For example, a wheelwright makes wheels. In a similar way, a playwright makes plays. When the term was first used, it was meant as an insult. Today it has lost this meaning.
[edit] History
The earliest playwrights in Western literature whose works still exist were the Ancient Greeks. The oldest plays were written around the 5th century BC. These playwrights are notable as they wrote in a way that is still used by modern playwrights. Notable among them are Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes.
The most famous playwright may be William Shakespeare. A lot of later work is based on his classical tragedies and comedies. For example, Kiss Me, Kate is based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, and his Romeo and Juliet has been remade more times than can be counted. Tom Stoppard created the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in 1966 which is a modern transformation of Hamlet.
