the unwritten rules of the game in theatre

In playwriting, “the rules of the game” are the internal laws that govern how reality operates inside that specific play. They’re not moral rules or plot beats — they’re the physics of the world you’ve built.  Once established, they must be obeyed, or the audience feels cheated.

What “rules of the game” means in a play

The rules of the game answer: What is possible, allowed or meaningful in this world?

They determine:

• What characters can do

• What actions cost

• What actions change things

• What actions are irreversible

The audience learns these rules early — often unconsciously — and then judges every moment against them.

Core categories of rules

1. Rules of reality

What kind of world is this?

• Is it strict realism?

  → No monologues unheard, no ghosts, no coincidences without consequence.

• Is it expressionistic or symbolic?

  → Time can bend, the dead can speak, objects can talk.

• Is it mythic or ritualistic?

  → Actions have spiritual or cosmic weight.

Once set, don’t switch modes mid-play without paying for it dramatically.

2. Rules of speech

Who can say what — and when does speech matter?

Examples:

• Confession changes everything (e.g., Long Day’s Journey Into Night).

• Silence is more powerful than speech (e.g., Pinter).

• Public speech is performance; private speech is truth.

• Lies are detectable / undetectable / self-deceiving.

If a character could say something but doesn’t, the audience assumes a rule prevents it.

3. Rules of power

Where does power actually live?

• In money?

• In language?

• In sexuality?

• In social position?

• In belief?

• In violence — or the threat of it?

Plays feel fake when characters act as if they have power they don’t, according to the world’s rules.

4. Rules of action and consequence

What actions matter?

• Does leaving the room change the balance?

• Does a promise bind?

• Does violence escalate or reset the game?

• Can things be undone?

Great plays make small actions costly because the rules amplify them.

5. Rules of time

How time behaves onstage.

• Linear and continuous?

• Fragmented?

• Circular?

• Suspended?

Is the past:

• Fixed?

• Reinterpretable?

• A weapon?

Time rules dictate pacing and inevitability — especially crucial in Act II.

6. Rules of knowledge

Who knows what — and what does knowing do?

• Is knowledge liberating?

• Is it paralyzing?

• Is ignorance protective?

In some plays, discovery equals doom; in others, it’s the only escape.

How rules are established (and should be)

Rules are set through:

• Early irreversible actions

• Consequences shown, not explained

• What never happens

• Who gets punished and who doesn’t

If an action happens twice and matters only once, the rule is broken.

Breaking the rules (when it works)

You can break the rules — but only if:

• The break is the point of the play

• The cost is catastrophic

• The audience understands the rule before it’s violated

Otherwise, it reads as sloppy writing or false hope.

A diagnostic test

Ask of any moment:

“According to the rules of the play, could this happen — and if it does, what must it cost?”

If the answer is unclear, the rules aren’t clear yet.

For an example of a play set in an alternate world, see the sample preview of my play An American Century.