A convention is a reusable way of working inside drama — not a play, not a script, but a repeatable structure you can pick up, use, and put down. Freeze the action. Tap a shoulder. Form two lines. Each one is a tool, and like any tool it exists because some job comes up again and again.
Conventions are how we practise the elements without needing a finished play to practise on, and they are the working vocabulary of the creative process: when your group is stuck, the right convention is usually the way out.
| When you need to… | Reach for… |
|---|---|
| Control exactly what the audience sees, and hold it still | Tableau |
| Hear what a character is thinking but not saying | Thought Tracking |
| Question a character directly and watch them answer | Hot Seating |
| Stage the moment of a hard decision | Corridor of Voices |
| Reorder time to build tension or irony | Flashback and Flash-Forward |
| Slow down and get private with a character | Writing in Role |
| Set one voice against many | Choral Speaking |
| Say it without words | Mime |
None of these lives alone. Thought Tracking rides on top of Tableau; Corridor of Voices ends where Hot Seating could begin. And every one of them asks you to take a small risk in front of other people, which is why Why Trust Comes First is the page of this course worth rereading first.