What is a scene in a play?

Answer 1

where they go into a different act in a play

A scene is actually a subdivision of an act. Within a scene the setting doesn't change, which is possible from scene to scene, and thus makes it possible to change the setting within one act.

A scene is characterized by dialogue, character development, creation of suspension and giving information. The parts of a play where the author simply gives the information without character dialogues or monologues may be called exposition.

With using scenes, an author wants the reader to forget that they are reading, but rather live the story.

The meaning of 'scene' has changed over the history of acted drama. It is convenient to think of a new scene beginning when there is a transition from the time or place of the current scene - as in a flash-back scene, or where the action jumps from following one set of characters to following another set of characters in a different place.

Often, historically, scenes were not included in the original manuscript of plays but these divisions were added later by editors (with the input of actors and directors who had worked on the play) when the plays were prepared for printing.

Scenes are a useful aid to rehearsal time management. It is not unusual, apart from the first read-through, for the complete cast of a play to all rehearse together until later in the rehearsal process.

Nowadays at the first read-through a play will be often be divided into Units of Action. A new Unit of Action beginning with the entrance of a new actor onto the stage on the basis that as new characters arrive, each with his own objective, they will change the emotional direction and shape of the scene in progress. The determination of these Units of Action may then be lumped together into larger Rehearsal Units and drawn up into a schedule for each actor showing when they are called to rehearse the Units of Action (or scenes) in which they appear.

Answer 2

A scene in a play is a self-contained unit within the larger structure of the play, usually representing a specific time and place where the action unfolds. It involves a sequence of events that advance the plot, provide insight into characters, or establish setting or mood. Scenes are often defined by changes in location, time, or the entrance and exit of characters.