Screenwriting : Difference between a play and screenplay by Theresa Drew

Stage directions are the first thing that comes to mind, you have to consider it will all take space in a limited space with limited scenery. Have to consider the sides of the stage to have the action flowing to and flowing from, lots of which you probably wont be able to tie down until you have an idea of the venue you are using.

Also despite being a visual medium also, showing something on stage will be less nuanced and more obvious people are literally in the room with you watching your every move, so try and keep it tight and the acting between the actors and the audience, keep dialog compelling but compact and despite the tradition of monologues don't have one character speak for too long or have one on stage for too long in an ensemble.

For voice overs you can either have an off stage narrator that acts as a kind of voice over, on stage one, who comes to the stage between scenes to explain and move the story forward with their interjections, they can be part of the cast but don't have to be or you can use the good old Shakespearean tradition of soliloquy.

For formatting, read other plays, often it is simpler in terms of dialogue because you need to be considering less in the surroundings cameras et el, so lines can run down the page actor after actor without much break, however each should be clearly demarked and indented, with whom is speaking clearly indicated and any stage directions breaking the dialogue centred in italics generally at least this is the most basic way I have seen it and there was no troubles in reading the script and understanding what was what. The traditional way is still pretty good beware of not bunching up dialogue on a page and follow standard practices about lines per page.

You have to remember, in stage writing, to tell more than show. It can be a hard habit to break.

Thanks! That’s all really helpful.