A playwright is an author of plays for performance in the theater.

The earliest playwrights with surviving works are a group of playwrights from Greece during the 5th century BC, notably Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. The term dramatist is sometimes synonymous with playwright, but often is not meant to include playwrights whose focus is comedy.

The modern playwright has an unusual degree of power. In the professional theater, the director and producer may not alter the script without the permission of the writer if his copyright is still in force (the actors may ad-lib if absolutely necessary). This is in stark contrast to the screenwriter, whose words may be changed by anyone in the course of the production. As a consequence, playwrights are generally held in very high esteem, while screenwriters are well-respected only if their work generates enormous profits.

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Playwrite is not a variant spelling of the word playwright. The -wright suffix implies building something; the homophone with write is in this case ironic, and possibly intentional.

See also

• List of playwrights

de:Dramaturg fr:Dramaturge ja:劇作家 zh:剧作家