The Production Analysis should not be confused with calendaring though it should factor in to the planning process. The production analysis lays out the production in bite sized bits of information that you can use in planning your meetings with the artistic staff, creating the calendar, and providing the lists you'll need to start developing as you work through preproduction on your way to rehearsal. After reading your script it should be the first thing you do when you start prepping for the show.

It is important to read the play for enjoyment first. Once you have read the play read it again. What is important about this play? What is the playwright trying to say? I try to get an idea about the larger issues of the play so when I discuss it with the director I am coming from and informed state of mind. I will even include period research if the play is historical in nature. I want to know as much as I can about the world of the play before I start working on it. Once I feel I really know the play I get prepared to analyze the play. I think Tom Kelly first coined the phrase “production analysis[1]” in his book, The Back Stage Guide to Stage Management, and there really is no better phrase for it. I have been providing a production analysis of my scripts ever since I began stage managing as a career. I never used the phrase until I began teaching, but I would be hard put to come up with a better way to say it. When I do my production analysis I get ready to read the play again. This time I will concentrate on the physical elements physical elements as described in the script. I will include the stage directions as a resource as well, and I will begin the “documentation” of all of these elements in chronological order as I reread the script.

When I first began analyzing scripts I armed myself with colored highlighters, a yellow legal pad, lots o’ pencils, a good cup of coffee and settled myself for several hours worth of detective work. Now I find I can forgo the legal pad and pencils, keep the coffee hot, and crank up the laptop to replace the need for the colored highlighters. I first put the departments I will be tracking across the spreadsheet program I am using.

I include the Act and Scene and then a breakdown of the departments I will be using. The attachment below shows you a sample lay out for Miller's All My Sons. Note there is a column for character as well. In this column I use descriptions the playwright uses apart from what the costume information may be. Remember, this document is for you. You will use this as the basis for your meetings with the director and designers. Overlooking the importance of reading the script to prepare yourself for the production is myopic at best. Read it. Analyze it. That fits with rule #2 in Stage Management; your paperwork in one phase is your preparation for the next phase.

Once I have established my layout in my spreadsheet program I begin to reread the script. This time I am looking for information the playwright has used to help define his or her production. Sometimes you have to look very carefully in the text of the play. It is not always evident what the actors are carrying on and off the stage. This is especially true if you are working on plays before the 1900’s. They often didn’t use stage directions and your information is buried in the script itself. For example, they may talk of a sword fight later in the script but never have mentioned that they are wearing swords earlier. Obviously, in your analysis you would account for the swords earlier in your analysis.

But for now let's take a look at the opening stage directions for All My Sons. There is a lot of good information here:

Scenically we know that it is the back yard of the Keller House. We know that it is in an American Town. We know that it is a secluded yard, etc. In addition to the scenic elements we also know that there are properties included in the description. There are garden chairs, a Sunday newspaper, a table, and a pipe. It is morning in August in our American town.

Therefore our production analysis begins to look like the picture in attachment 2. As you can see I have begun analyzing the play for the needs of all the departments. We learn a little about Keller, we know the time and place, we understand what is necessary for the play to begin.

I've not added to this page in a long time. As I have continued teaching the process of breaking down a script I realized that while I explained the process, I did not go through it with them. This semester (fall 2014) I chose to go through the beginning of the production analysis with my juniors on a production of O Beautiful. It had occurred to me that what was happening was that they were doing the work as an assignment but did not see the value in the assignment. By doing it with me they began to get the point of the analysis. It's to find out not only what you know but WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW in reading the script and analyzing what you read to what is being drawn.

In our case we had a floor plan, section, and detail plates from the designer (a second year MFA Candidate). The designer was a skilled drawer but not a skilled drafter yet. So while the show was episodic in nature we had only one floor plan with no details for how each scene was to play in the floor plan. While doing the analysis it became clear to them that they needed to schedule another meeting with the director and the designer to go through each scene with all the significant scenic pieces on the table to discuss where the scenes were going to take place. Then using some additional software we were able to create floor plans for each scene that could then be used for blocking and props tracking charts.

In the sophomore class I showed them the work we had done on O Beautiful and asked them to team up to do an analysis on Spring Awakening. Again, we had some details that could be discerned from reading the script but there were many details that begged further explanation. On the floor plans it appeared the designer had created some sight line issues for the house that could affect the ticket sales on the show, a piano was called for but no definition of what kind of piano. Why is that important, the theatre is played in an extreme thrust creating a size of piano issue for sight lines and the audience. Therefore, what size is the piano, etc. The analysis is invaluable for creating the what you know-what you don't know lists that you can then take to your director and designers to further refine the information in the production.

This hands on doing approach in class worked very well and I need to keep them to it. Reinforce the detective nature of the stage manager. Refer to the information available to you when you do your analysis. Do you have the costume renderings? If so refer to them when you are looking at the set. Do you have a complete set of floor plans for each scene? Refer to them when you read that section. Based on the information you pull from your production analysis you can then determine the next steps you need to take. Not all of them are essential nor sequential. For example; in our production of Spring Awakening with the extreme thrust theatre, it was not as important for us to go through "where the walk in the woods" was to take place as it was to define what kind of piano is going to be used and where it is coming from. The same with the desk chairs, do they stay on stage or are they brought it. At last count there's about a dozen cast members not counting the band on stage. It could get crowded pretty quickly on stage if all of the factors are not taken into account. We were fortunate in having a skilled director at the helm and much of this was thought through but that is not always the case.

It is also important to use this analysis to build the list of questions and meetings that will help fill all of those holes. When you meet with the director, if you have the floor plans, take time to have him/her walk you through the various scenes locations on the set. On a multi-set show sit down with the scenic designer and have them walk you through how the show is shifting from one scene to the next. It is an easy step to overlook, but please don't make this mistake. A designer would not design a show without breaking down the script nor would a director start staging without first doing the necessary work getting the environment of the play solid. The same holds true with the stage manager. Do your homework first. Then start to work on the other parts of getting ready for your production.

[1] The breaking down of a script into its various departmental parts; i.e. scenery, props, lighting, sound, etc.