ANALYZING THE SCRIPTConstruction and meaning

From Patterson, Stage Directing, The First Experiences (Waveland Press, 2004)

Plays are made…

• CAUSALLY. This is the most common structure. One incident leads logically and linearly to the next

• BUT...Beckett’s Happy Days is an example of a play organized on its IDEAS

• Other plays are EPISODIC in nature, like works by Paula Vogel and Brecht. Aristotle described this form as the “epic”

READ AND RE-READ

To understand how a play works, the director must read and re-read the playscript.

STRUCTURE.• The heart of the modern

realistic script is people in CONFLICT.

• The way the conflict is arranged and developed is PLOT.

• Well-written plays have a beginning, a middle and an end.

IMITATION• to represent various objects through other means

• …As Aristotle understood the word, imitation is a creative act and not a copy

TRAGEDY“the imitation of an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear affecting the proper purgation of these emotions…”

COMEDY“…an imitation of characters of lower type…”

Aristotle’s elements

• PLOT is the imitation of the action...the arrangement of the incidences

• CHARACTER, the agents of the plot• THOUGHT (THEME) is a general truth enunciated• DICTION is the expression of the meaning in words• SONG is an embellishment whose sense everyone

understands• SPECTACLE is the least artistic, connected least with

the art of poetry

GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES• Time and place

• Social circumstances, age, sex, etc. of characters

• Prevailing mood/atmosphere

• In short, details provided by playwright to create the world of the play

GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES are uncovered by a careful reading of

• What the characters say• What other characters say about them • Stage directions

Often grouped as a series of W’s• When, where what, who • Why (discovered in rehearsal)

WHOThe people of the play (Characters)

Protagonist is who the play is about

(Central conflict)Antagonist is preventing the protagonist from getting what is wanted

WHEN--The specific time of the action and its elapsed time.

WHERE--The environment of the script. Geographical and exact

WHAT--The major conflict as expressed in previous actions

Three W’s

MIDDLEThe development of the obstacles and

complications that escalate the conflict

...sometimes called RISING ACTION

ENDThe END contains the CLIMAX and the FALLING ACTION.

The action of the plot leads to the climax and falls away from it (denouement).

RESEARCHMost plays will require some research.

In MASTER HAROLD and the boys, it is probably important to know something about South Africa. What is Apartheid? What is ballroom dancing? What are “donkeys years?”

Ultimately, the director must know everything there is to know about the script and the world of the play.

ACTS AND SCENESModern plays typically have a one or two act

structure. Shakespeare’s plays have five acts. Plays from other periods might have 3, 4 or

6 acts depending upon the conventions of the time.

ACTIONS, UNITS, BEATS

These describe ways in which we break down a script.

The smallest unit is a beat...several beats make a unit...units form scenes which form acts...several acts make a play.

ACTION UNITSAn individual and separate section of a play that comprises one part of the dramatic action. (Obviously, longer plays have more action units than shorter plays.)

Label each action unit...This label describes the action within the unit.

FRENCH SCENES• Sections marked by the entrances and

exits of characters. • Can be a single unit or comprised of

several units.

BEATSA beat is marked whenever a transition appears...when a character’s objective changes. In music, a measure is a group of related notes while a group of related measures is a musical phrase. In drama, a series of sentences makes up a beat and a series of beats makes up an action unit. Playwrights construct beats just as novelists construct paragraphs.

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OBJECTIVESTHE WHY

An objective is phrased using an active verb to express what the character wants or needs at that particular moment.

• So, objectives (why) become the fifth “W” of given circumstances.

• Identify objectives and beats with ACTABLE VERBS

CHARACTERDramatic action and character are intertwined almost beyond separation because the action of a modern realistic play is revealed entirely by what the characters say and do and by what is said about them by others. Character, then, is the instrument of the dramatic action; that is, all action happens through what characters do and say.

ACTION TRAITSACTION TRAITS illustrate character. Characters can be complex or simple depending on the number of defining actions.The director should begin a character analysis by making a list of what each character in the play does. Action traits are central to delineating character.

PERSONALITY TRAITS• The qualities that make a character unique.

They are discovered through the analysis of given circumstances such as age, education, social class, environment, appearance, language, etc.

• Personality traits not specifically indicated by the playwright can be fleshed out by the director through casting.

FUNCTIONAL TRAITS• These help to define how the character operates

in the world of the play.• Protagonist-antagonist are central characters• Other characters help to define or contrast the

central characters (Confidante, Foil, etc.)• Understanding the traits of each character helps

the director in casting

According the Stanislavski•Encompass all of the character’s

individual objectives•Be directed toward other

characters and not inward•Reflect the inner life of the

character•Relate to the play’s large issue•Be stated as a “to” construction

followed by an active verb. For example: to get back home to Kansas…to revenge my father’s murder, etc.

Minor characters may not have clearly defined superobjectives.

Directors can develop a superobjective that is in keeping with that character’s functional traits.

ACTOR AND CHARACTER

Character development is a partnership between the playwright and the actor.

SO--casting becomes an important tool for shaping character

MEANING• If plot is about what happens next;

meaning is the significance of those events in a wider context. This is often called theme, moral or message.

• ACTION AND MEANING. There can be many meanings to a play and different productions will emphasize different meanings.

CORE MEANING• Look at the play’s title• Examine key speeches• Evaluate the qualities of the play’s major

character• Research into playwright’s background

and other works

CORE MEANING should not be confused with what happens to central character. A script’s core meaning is greater than the conflict and realization of the main character. As such, it should be stated as a broad general statement.

For example, OEDIPUS’ core meaning might be “people who let their pride in themselves blind

them to reality are fated for tragedy.”

CORE MEANING

CORE MEANING

• Does the core statement accommodate the central action?

• Can the major characters be better understood in light of the core meaning?

• Does the core meaning reflect the given circumstances?

• CURRENT POLITICAL OR SOCIAL EVENTS guide our understanding of plays

• PERSONALITIES OF ACTORS AND DESIGNERS can influence a production

• OTHER INFLUENCES can shape the director’s approach

Other influences on core meaning

The CORE STATEMENT becomes a map for the production

• For example: Glass Menagerie - “Modern urban and industrial society leaves no safe space for the fragile and emotionally needy to live.” OR Oedipus - “People who let their pride in themselves blind them to reality are fated for tragedy.”

• Whenever a choice is made in production, the outcomes of those choices can be measured against the play’s core statement.