<P> An act is a part of a play defined by elements such as rising action, climax and resolution . A scene is a part of an act defined with the changing of characters . </P> <P> To be more specific, the elements that create the plot of a play or any story, and divide a play into acts include the exposition, which give information, setting up the rest of the story . Another is the inciting incident, which starts all of the action that will follow . Going along with the inciting incident, the major dramatic question is formed; this holds the rest of the play . The majority of the play is made up of complications . These are the things that change the action . These complications lead up to the crisis, this is the turning point . Most of the time, at this point, the major dramatic question has been answered . Finally, there is the resolution . This is the end of the play where everything comes together and the situation has been resolved . This leaves the audience satisfied with the play as a whole . These more specific elements of plot in a play are the main things used to divide a play up into acts and sometimes scenes . </P> <P> The Roman theatre was the first to divide plays into a number of acts separated by intervals . Acts may be further divided into scenes; in classical theater each regrouping between entrances and exits of actors is a scene, while later use describes a change of setting . </P> <P> Modern plays often have only one level of structure, which can be referred to as either scenes or acts at the whim of the writer; and some writers dispense with firm divisions entirely . Successive scenes are normally separated from each other in either time or place; but the division between acts is more to do with the overall dramatic structure of the piece . The end of an act often coincides with one or more characters making an important decision, else having an important decision to make . A decision which has a profound impact on the story being told . </P>

Who are those who make up the parts of a play