In theatre and script writing, these are a short, impressionistic, scenes that focus on one moment or gives one impression about a character, an idea or a setting. This type of scene is more common in recent postmodern theater, where adherence to the conventions of theatrical structure and story development are jettisoned. It is particularly influenced by contemporary notions of a scene as shown in film, video and television scripting.

Unlike the traditional scene in a play, the vignette is not strictly linked in with a sequential plot development but establishes meaning through loose symbolic or linguistic connection to other vignettes or scenes. It is a snapshot that is often incomplete and fragmentary.

The use of vignettes is suited to plays in which theme, image, emotion and character are more important than narrative, though this doesn't mean that a vignette is out of place in a more narrative play.