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"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies... the man who never reads lives only one."
George R. R. MartinTips on Reading a Play
Tips on Reading a Play
"Reading a play is not like reading another form of literature. It requires different approaches and reading skills" (source). I remember in Chicago during the winter months - the snow covered everything a few inches and gave a reason to stay home - I'd make myself a cup of tea and curl up on a cozy chair with a blanket. Maybe I'd set a little music to get myself in the Mode, and I'd read a play in a two-hour sitting.
There's many suggestions on reading a play: to the left is good starter advice. For elaboration: How to Read a Play by Michael Bigelow Dixon
Read something about the play.
Get an idea of the principle characters, the story and the action of the play before you start.
Determine the run time (minute and a half / page)
Research past performance and cultural relevance
Set aside enough time to read the play in one sitting.
Most full-length plays run about two and a half hours.
A one-act play will run from thirty minutes to and hour and a half.
Read the play aloud, with a pencil.
Create a personality for each character: a voice, a color, or an animal. Something you can remember and use
Write down notes, reactions and questions
Try to visualize how the play might appear on the stage.
Visualize the action as it occurs.
Create the setting in your imagination.
Read all of the play, including stage directions and character descriptions.
Publishers and Editors
Publishers and Editors
Publishers make a BIG difference in the finished product of the play text. Not all play texts are actor friendly: some are meant to offer the audience/reader an immersive experience of past productions (like a glorified program bill); some are meant to be used as a blueprint for a future production; and yet others are used to teach.
Samuel French (Concord Theatricals), Dramatists Play Service: Typically $11.00/each - cheap in order to be bought in bulk for casts - these play texts come as black/white paperbacks and are labelled "acting edition." They typically provide past production information, playwright forward, acting notes from the premiere, prop/costume lists and birds' eye view schematics of the set. Newer, edgier playwrights as well as established works.
Foldger/Signet: These play texts are used for teaching. Cheap and barebones, these do provide information/background on context but the info is limited, the source material uncited and typically shallow. Established plays within academia.
Arden: Known for publishing Shakespeare's plays, Arden gives an immersive experience for the theatre goer - not the actor - which includes pictures of past productions and lesser-known references; Arden includes historical context and introductions, forwards and afterwards by luminaries in relevant fields.
Simon & Schuster, Smith and Kraus: Somewhere in between an Acting Edition and a glorified program, S&S and S&K publishes established plays in the context of their opening production. Lines, actions from the opening, reactions of critics, pictures from original productions. They also publish many actor- / craft-related, non-fiction material.
Past Productions
Past Productions
Typically the premiere - or the opening, or debut - is featured as "the way the play was intended to be produced." The playwright typically attends the first production and it's the director's discretion as to the amount of involvement the playwright has. The names of the production team and performers are featured at the top of the script.
A little research could yield photographic stills, designer sketches, artwork, reviews and criticism, interviews with actors/memoirs, even performance (if you're lucky). Past performance information could yield answers to confusing moments or perhaps influence and inspire your acting choices.
Creadeux Canvas by Keith Bunin, above; Taking Steps by Alan Ayckbourn, left.
Dramatis Personae
Dramatis Personae
Before you begin to read dialogue and action, the Dramatis Personae introduces the roles of the play as well as any facts - or given circumstances - the playwright requires.
Given Circumstances - the Rules or Facts of the play - are crucial to the audience's understanding of the playwright's expression. Gender, occupation/title, age, special physical characteristics, personality quirks, history, relation to other roles: if the playwright listed the fact, it is the responsibility of the actor to communicate this fact within their performance.
Frequently playwrights also list environmental facts like time and place. (If the date it other than contemporary the play is considered a period piece).
Going against a given circumstance is an insight into character.
In addition to the beginning of the play, other facts about roles, location, conditions, etc. may also be found at the top of each scene. When a role enters the play for the first time, playwrights will introduce the role with additional facts and descriptions.
from Oleanna by David Mamet. Notice the difference in information from Valdez' Bandido to the right.
from Bandido! by Luis Valdez
An understanding of structure reveals a character's struggle and can inform the actor of character objective (and the purpose of each scene within the narrative).
John Yorke who wrote Into the Woods, A Five Act Journey into Story states "...acts are bound by dramatic desire, with a turning point spinning the character off in pursuit of a new goal... A course of action, defined by one single desire, will be completed, whether successfully or not."
Finally, not all plays are written as a narrative story; some stories are episodic in nature, where scenes are not linked in sequential order. In these cases, acts/scenes are arranged more like independent examples of in a written essay.
The link above will take you to a more detailed analysis of the structure of a play, but regardless of the number of acts - sections of the script - the structure is basically the diagram to the left. Analyzing narrative plays that work in a sequential order (that is, where scenes are arranged in a specific order so the audience becomes empathically involved), throughout history there's been
Five Act structure: 1600s - 1760s.
Five Act structure: 1600s - 1760s.
Act 1: Exposition.
Act 2: Intrusion, intro of conflict, call to adventure.
Act 3: Last and largest of the trials. Contains the discovery of truth; reveals why the protagonist is less than/weak/non-complete.
Act 4: Realization after win/loss of climax, trigger for catharsis (release). Connection made between personal objective and higher cause.
Act 5: Resolution.
Three Act structure: 1860s - 1910s. Longer, denser, wordier, plays as literature.
Three Act structure: 1860s - 1910s. Longer, denser, wordier, plays as literature.
Act 1: Exposition, intro of conflict/trials (series of cause/effect trials). )
Act 2: Continuation of cause/effect trials leading in to the climax, realization (JC's steps 6 - 9ish)
Act 3: Reflection and resolution.
Two Act structure: 1940s - now. Used with respect to contemporary theatre traditions (one intermission in the middle).
Two Act structure: 1940s - now. Used with respect to contemporary theatre traditions (one intermission in the middle).
Act 1: exposition, intro of conflict/trials (series of cause/effect trials) leading to the climax (JC's steps 1 - 8 ish). Right after the truth is revealed, a cliffhanger introduces the intermission.
Act 2: realization, resolution.
DID YOU KNOW...?
DID YOU KNOW...?
If there's no time or money for a fully produced play - or perhaps a new, original play needs to be heard - we'll put together a STAGED READING, which features the actors standing behind music stands and scripts, "reading with feeling".
Italics and brackets: Notes on design, emotions, reactions and subtext
Italics and brackets: Notes on design, emotions, reactions and subtext
Throughout a script, notes from the first production (or most well-known production) are either italicized, [bracketed] or both. These notes come from results of the actor's first performance as well as design choices from the first envisioning of the playwright's expression. After the opening, the official text - with interpretations of actors and designers - may not be changed.
Due to the nature of different acting techniques, some actors choose to ignore these interpretations (while still honoring their characters' lines).
If you choose to recreate emotions described by the play or not, at least a note of emotion marks where the actor is intended to try to release (but maybe not like how the script describes). Ultimately, performance depends on theory/style and wishes of playwright.
from Proof by David Auburn. Notice "Startled", "self-conscious", "...stops, embarrassed". These types of descriptions come from the original actor. An original interpretation of Hal may find a different way to show his subtext.
Lines and Dialogue
Lines and Dialogue
Characters talk a lot. Talking is drama’s most common activity. Playwrights support the theatrical pretense that the audience must believe in the pretend. Human beings talk in order to get what he or she wants. This is Dramatic Language. In Backwards and Forwards, David Ball advises "Trust the playwright".
3 Ways Language is Used in Dramatic Scripts
3 Ways Language is Used in Dramatic Scripts
Given Circumstance (function, language of science)
Heightened/Subtextual (form, language of art)
Directive (function, language of science)
"This conflict between who a character is, and who they want to be, is real life's gift to drama. Writers have always known that when their characters act in a manner they profess to disapprove of... when they... act contrary to their concious proclamations and beliefs, they are far more interesting... and feel far more true to life."
What stays the same every time the play is produced? The Text.
What stays the same every time the play is produced? The Text.
To an actor play texts and screenplays aren't books, movies nor plays: the text is an instruction manual that sets up a recurring game that people have liked to watch. An athletic analogy would be being able to recreate a favorite bowl game, anywhere from "getting it generally right," to controlling every step, gesture and- if you're a Method actor, every drop of sweat.
The text is doing something.
An action is taken to achieve a need, step by step.
Motivation and Action
Motivation and Action
Understanding motivation (the why), objective (the want), and action (the how) inspires theatre practitioners to create.
Designer: Macbeth wants to lure Duncan into his home to kill him: make it look beautiful and inviting
Actor: I want her to fall in love with me, I’ll compliment her and make her think I’m a great guy
Although a bit confusing, the Romantic Era, heightened acting and its non-subtextual language is considered classical; from here on out modern acting is characterized by its use of subtext.
Although a bit confusing, the Romantic Era, heightened acting and its non-subtextual language is considered classical; from here on out modern acting is characterized by its use of subtext.
Classical, non-subtextual example
Classical, non-subtextual example
from Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 4 Scene 4 line 95 - 112, William Shakespeare
Modern, subtextual example
Modern, subtextual example
from Mercy Seat, Neil Labute
Aspects of Design
Aspects of Design
In the final pages of a Samuel French (now Concord Theatricals) or Dramatists Play Service (DPS) publication are consolidated lists of props, costumes, set pieces and a birds' eye schematic of the set(s). These are based on the original production listed at the top of the publication.
from Confusions by Alan Ayckbourn, above. From Eccentricities of a Nightingale by Tennessee Williams, left.
Realistic Design or Heightened Design?
To explain visual aesthetic I've always pictured a spectrum...
Expressionistic (Blatant) Impressionistic (Subtle)
...where design choices in Realistic Theatre fall tend toward the impressionistic. However, a theatre audience handles pretense and abstraction than a film audience; we're allowed artistic interpretation; the closer we get to the expressionistic, the more symbolic the production will get. The director and designers will decide on aesthetic together.
RESOURCES
RESOURCES
“Inspired acting, design and direction depend on technical mastery, so does intelligent and imaginative script reading.”
“Inspired acting, design and direction depend on technical mastery, so does intelligent and imaginative script reading.”
David Ball, Backwards and Forwards
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