SYSTEM A / ENGINE
🎭 Playwright
How tests drive browsers, describe expectations, manage environments, and expose failures.
SYSTEM B / DESIGN LANGUAGE
🎬 Screenplay
How tests express behaviour through actors, goals, capabilities, and observable answers.
SCREENPLAY PROVIDES THE LANGUAGE
“A customer completes checkout.”An Actor performs a Task, using Abilities and Interactions, and answers Questions.
⇄
PLAYWRIGHT PROVIDES THE MECHANISM
“Click. Fill. Assert. Trace.”Locators find elements; browser actions perform operations; assertions verify visible outcomes.
Conceptual synthesis from Playwright documentation and the Serenity/JS Screenplay handbook. Screenplay is an architectural pattern, not a built-in Playwright feature. Individual teams may implement it differently. · Playwright docs · Screenplay handbook