The exception is the closet drama, which is intended to be read rather than performed.Hamilton, Essential Literary Terms (1-31) -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)
When I read this, I was intrigued. Why would a writer choose to write a play that he never meant to be produced. Wouldn't he just write a novel. I got excited when I read Hallie's blog because she blogged about this passage too and even went as far as including a link to an example of a closet drama (Byron's Manfred) within her blog. I read a little of the play, and the first thing that I noticed was the extensive amount of monologues within the play. These lengthy speeches proved to me that the play was probably better read than heard. At the same time, the lack of having to choose a point of view allows the playwright to present his characters directly to his readers, as he would in a normal play.