Raising the Dramatic Intensity of Your Play

How do you make your play(s) more dramatic?  Direct them!  When I have the opportunity of directing one of my plays, I discover as I sit down for the first reading of the play as director my play appears like someone else wrote it.  This is because I look at the play totally differently—as how the play looks on stage.  Of course this should be how we consider all our plays as we write them, but a director carries with him the additional responsibility making the play come alive with real actors in real costumes, real staging, real props, and real lighting.  Directing my plays has made me look at my plays with the eyes of a director.  Directing my plays has made me think right from the first words on the page how much more dramatically my play can be.  As a result directing my plays has made me a better playwright.