The goal of this research is to lay the foundations for a formal theory , that abstracts from the procedural and interactive aspects involved in the generation of dramatic content. Based on the structural accounts provided from traditional drama analysis, the theory proposed in this paper exploits an agent-based perspective on characters to provide a goal-based characterization of dramatic qualities. 1 Motivations Since the advent of digital media, character-based, narrative forms of communication have become commonplace in human-computer interaction, including user interfaces, entertainment, and education [1,2,3,4,5]. The need for autonomous behavior required by these applications has led scholars to adopt the agent techniques developed in artificial intelligence research to define and implement the virtual characters [6]. As applications have evolved into multi-character, interactive systems, the need for a centralized management of the plot execution has been realized by AI techni...