While there have been times when the director or the actors were responsible for creating the script, the function of the playwright remains essential no matter who is providing it. That function involves developing the subject of the play, the purpose, the point of view, the dramatic structure, and the characters. The first task of the dramatist is to decide what aspect of people and their concerns to write about. After the subject is chosen, the playwright also determines who and what to focus on, as well as the purpose a production of a play is intended to serve. It is then expected that the playwright will make the purpose of the event clear, so that the director, performers, and designers are able to achieve it. Drama is written and produced for different purposes: to move us, to involve us, to amuse us, to entertain us, to inform us, to shock us, to raise our awareness, to inspire us. Audiences, too, go to the theater for different purposes. Under ordinary circumstances, those who attempt to influence our point of view attempt to disguise their motives; but in the arts, the imposition of a point of view is direct and deliberate. We value art precisely because it presents its own point of view, giving us a fresh look at ourselves and the world around us. This begins when a dramatist takes a strong personal view of a subject, deciding that it is grave, heroic, or humorous. However, while the author's personal viewpoint is important, so too is the role that society plays in the viewpoint adopted by the playwright. By combining the two elements-the view of society and the individual outlook of the artist-a wide range of serious and comic points of view are incorporated in individual works. Plays that share a particular outlook and approach are frequently considered as forming a group, or genre. However, while examining genre can shed light on individual works of art, an overemphasis on categorization can be a hindrance to the development of a free and open understanding of theater.