Classroom Exercise Playwriting

4 Great Picture Prompts for Playwrights

Written by Lindsay Price

Ideas can come from anything and everything. But it’s always a good idea to give students a jumping off point. Picture Prompts are a great tool in a playwright’s arsenal to inspire creative thinking, or to use in the classroom with your student playwrights. We’ve got 4 of our favourites to share – and each includes a downloadable PDF as a free bonus!


Picture Prompt: The Unexplainable

You just have no idea what’s going on in some pictures. They are unexplainable. Any explanation you come up with is the right one.

Picture Prompt: The Unexplainable
Picture Prompt: What are they Talking About?

In this exercise, we’re looking at a conversation. It’s two guys, looking out. Who are they? Where are they? What are they talking about? The possibilities are endless.

Picture Prompt: What are they Talking About?
Picture Prompt: The Aftermath

This exercise examines The Aftermath – a picture that shows the aftermath of an event. Something has clearly happened – so let’s decide what that is, and how a character might react to what has happened.

Picture Prompt: The Aftermath
Picture Prompt: The Portrait

This exercise looks at the portrait. There are so many things that can go on behind the scenes in a happy smiling picture. Just because they’re smiling in the picture doesn’t mean everything is okay. And what if they’re not smiling at all? What does that mean? What is the story behind the picture?

Picture Prompt: The Portrait
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About the author

Lindsay Price