How to Cite a Play in MLA Style | Format & Examples
When citing a play with numbered lines, the MLA parenthetical citation should include the author name and the act, scene and line number(s). If the lines are not numbered, include the page number instead.
When quoting dialogue, include the character names in all capitals followed by a period, and pay attention to indentation.
DUNCAN. What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won. (Shakespeare 1.2.94–95)
Citing plays in MLA
An MLA in-text citation contains the author’s last name and a page number:
If the text of the play includes act, scene, and line numbers, replace the page number with the act, scene, and line numbers, separated by periods:
If the text uses lines only, clarify what the numbers mean by writing “line(s)” beforehand in the first citation of that play, separated from the author name or title with a comma. Subsequent citations of the same play can omit “line(s).”
(Aeschylus 35–40)
Citing multiple plays by one playwright
In papers focusing on multiple works by one playwright (for example, the works of Shakespeare), use the italicized play name instead of the author name in each citation:
To avoid repeating play names throughout your dissertation, the MLA style guide recommends writing the full name in the first citation, then using abbreviations for subsequent mentions.
If your research is focused on Shakespeare, there are universally accepted play name abbreviations you can use. Do not devise your own, as your supervisor will be expecting these standard abbreviations:
How to quote dialogue from a play
When quoting multiple lines of dialogue from a play or screenplay:
- Set the quote on a new line, indented half an inch from the left margin.
- Start the dialogue with the character’s name in capital letters, followed by a period.
- If a character’s dialogue runs over one line, indent subsequent lines a further half inch.
- Add the citation at the end, after the punctuation mark.
Throughout the play, memory is connected with both religion and fantasy:
ESTRAGON. I remember the maps of the Holy Land. Coloured they were. Very pretty. The Dead Sea was pale blue. The very look of it made me thirsty. That’s where we’ll go, I used to say, that’s where we’ll go for our honeymoon. We’ll swim. We’ll be happy.
VLADIMIR. You should have been a poet. (Beckett 5)
Plays in an MLA Works Cited list
The Works Cited section is where you list the full references for sources cited in the text. The reference for a play looks different depending on whether it was published as a whole book, collected in an anthology, or performed live.
Book
If the play is published as a stand-alone book, it looks the same as a standard MLA book citation.
| MLA format | Author last name, First name. Play Title. Publisher, Year. |
| MLA Works Cited entry | Friel, Brian. Translations. Faber and Faber, 1981. |
| MLA in-text citation | (Friel 57) |
Collection or anthology
If the play is published in an anthology or collection, place a period after the play’s title, followed by full details of the book in which it appears.
| MLA format | Author last name, First name. Play Title. Collection/Anthology Title, edited by Editor first name Last name, Publisher, Year, Page range. |
| MLA Works Cited entry | Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, edited by John Jowett et al., 2nd ed., Oxford UP, 1998, pp. 2501–2565. |
| MLA in-text citation | (Shakespeare 1.2.20) |
If there is no named editor, simply omit this part and proceed straight from the anthology name to the publisher information.
Live performance
| MLA format | Author last name, First name. Play Title. Directed by Director first name Last name, Publisher, Day Month Year, Theater Name, City. Performance. |
| MLA Works Cited entry | Parker, Trey, et al. The Book of Mormon. Directed by Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, 20 Feb. 2019, Prince of Wales Theatre, London. |
| MLA in-text citation | (Parker et al.) |
16 comments
HOLLY GALLAPOO
December 16, 2021 at 8:14 PMhow do you cite a play when it only has acts and no page numbers no line numbers.
can you give an example
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
December 20, 2021 at 2:51 PMHi Holly,
In that case, you would just have to use the information you had, so just the act number. For example, (Shakespeare, act 1).
Kjirsten
December 8, 2021 at 11:05 PMIs there an example of how to continue text after the quotation has been inserted? Does it need to be indented like a new paragraph?
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
December 13, 2021 at 2:16 PMHi Kjirsten,
No, you don’t need to indent the text following a block quotation unless you intend it to act as a new paragraph (i.e., if you would have started a new paragraph at that point anyway). Normally, the text following the block quotation is written without any special indent, as it’s just a continuation of the paragraph from before the quotation.
Ariel h
November 21, 2021 at 10:23 PMCan you show an example of citing one character's line?
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
November 22, 2021 at 12:35 PMHi Ariel,
When your quotation only includes one speaker, rather than a dialogue between two or more speakers, you can usually just integrate it in the same way as you would a quote from any prose text. For example:
Duncan replies, “What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won” (Shakespeare 1.2.95).
Samuel Kugbiyi
June 21, 2021 at 3:58 PMHi,
Please I want to confirm if its MLA 8th edition that you're referring to here.
Thank you.
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
June 23, 2021 at 4:37 PMHi Samuel,
We've recently updated these articles to reflect new information from the 9th edition of MLA. But if you're told to use the 8th edition, don't worry—the rules are the same, the 9th edition just provides some additional information and examples, so the information here is still accurate to the 8th edition too.
Lawrence
April 25, 2021 at 10:34 PMHow do you cite a play found on a website, such as Susan Glaspell's Trifles, which is found on one-act-plays.com?
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
April 27, 2021 at 3:14 PMHi Lawrence,
I'd suggest the following citation format for that play, based on the information provided on the page:
Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. Frank Shay, 1916. One-Act Plays, www.one-act-plays.com/dramas/trifles.html.
Sam
April 2, 2021 at 6:26 PMHow do I quote just one line from the play? Do I still start it on a new line and indent it? Or do I cite it like a book in MLA?
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
April 6, 2021 at 3:29 PMHi Sam,
If you're just quoting a single line spoken by one character, then it's fine to just integrate the quote into your sentence in the same way as you would for a prose quotation.
Jaya
January 13, 2021 at 8:34 AM1. How do we in-text cite if the play is divided only into acts, but has page numbers instead of line numbers?
2. If the play is translated and does not include any acts, scenes, line or page numbers, how do ee in-text cite it?
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
January 26, 2021 at 2:45 PMHi Jaya,
If the play does not use line numbers, it's best to just use page numbers alone, e.g. (Beckett 8) for page 8 of a play by Beckett.
For a translated text, include the translator's name in your Works Cited entry, as shown here. In the in-text citation, however, use the original author's name, not the translator's.
If a text has no page numbers or other locators, the in-text citation just consists of the author's name, as covered here.
Bea
June 19, 2020 at 6:32 PMHow do you cite line numbers when a play doesn't have acts or scenes (I'm doing Medea)? Would it just be (Euripides 152) or does there have to be some indication that you're citing a line number and not a page?
Shona McCombes (Scribbr Team)
June 25, 2020 at 8:18 PMHi Bea,
In this case, you can take the same approach as you would when citing a poem – specify that you're referring to line numbers in the first citation: (Euripides, line 152).
In subsequent citations, you don't need to include the word "line".