Introduction to Play Analysis

Introduction to Play Analysis

• Scripts are literary and paraliterary texts that underlie a performance. They depict a story, can be in verse or prose, and include speech as well as stage directions.
• Performance involves semiotic codes, which are non-literary elements like makeup, costumes, hairstyles, body language, movement, and sound effects.
• Dramatic text refers to the written dialogue and stage directions of a play.
• Speech covers every word spoken by a character in a play.
• Dialogue is a conversation between two characters.
• Monologue is a long speech delivered by one character to others on stage.
• Soliloquy is a long speech delivered by one character alone on stage.
• Aside is a way a character can address the audience directly.
• Stage directions are short instructions within brackets that outline actions and indicate how the actors and play should be performed.

Scenic Arrangements

• Stage layout includes walls, entrances, exits, and other elements.
• Furnishings are specific pieces of furniture on stage.
• Props are objects actors use that are separate from furniture.
• Costumes and accessories (like hats or socks) are also considered props.

Actors/Characters

• Dialogue delivery describes the manner in which a character speaks their lines.
• Bodily state focuses on the physical position of a character during dialogue.

Dramatic Characters

• Stock characters are simple, stereotypical characters with very little development (like a hero or villain).
• Archetypal characters embody universal themes and qualities.
• Plot function refers to how a character contributes to the plot's progression.
• Protagonist is the main character driving the action.
• Antagonist opposes the protagonist.
• A confidant is a character that provides support and information to another character.
• A foil contrasts with another character to highlight particular traits.
• Raisonneur is a character that explains the central ideas and themes of the play.
• Utilitarian characters simply serve to move the plot forward.
• Comic relief provides a humorous contrast to serious scenes.

Dramatic Structure

• Plot encompasses how the playwright organizes events in a play.
• Story and plot are distinct; plot deals with cause-and-effect relationships.
• Aristotle's three-act structure includes set-up, confrontation, and resolution.
• Freytag's pyramid is a five-act structure with introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.
• Acts are larger divisions of a play.
• Scenes are smaller units within an act, usually taking place in one location.
• Action is the period of time an event occurs in a scene.
• Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces.

Conflict & Theatrical Contracts

• Action is a change in a play's situation.
• Dramatic plot is how the story is arranged for stage performance.
• Scene is a dramatic unit.
• Introductory incident is where the conflict is introduced.
• Moment of engagement is when a character commits to his/her goals.
• Climax is where the conflict resolves or a goal is achieved.
• Denouement clarifies misunderstandings after the climax.
• Theatrical contracts is the informal agreement between a play and the audience.
• Presentational involves characters addressing the audience directly.
• Representational involves characters that don't acknowledge the audience.
• Realistic presentation attempts to realistically portray real life elements.
• Non-realistic presentation elevates or distorts reality to create a particular effect.