4.7 Lesson

Plays and Drama

Target


Assignment


Plays are narratives intended to be performed and viewed by an audience.

The script is the written basis of a play. It contains many components (plot, characters, setting, point of view, music, atmosphere, and theme).

In a play, nearly all the information is communicated through dialogue.

Playwrights do not tell the audience what is happening (unless they use a narrator or alter-ego); they use dialogue, sound, and action to show the audience what is happening.

Stage Directions


A script is usually divided into acts and scenes. It also uses stage directions that tell the director and actors:

  • what to do as they speak
  • give hints how actors should say their lines
Stage directions are not spoken to the audience.

When you read a play, you can tell which are the stage directions because they are usually either in italics or appear between parentheses () or both.

The following example of dialogue contains stage directions:

Scene One

Tina is at the park watching her younger sister play on the swings.  Luke walks up and stands beside her. 

Tina: Why did you come here? (She turns away from Luke, refusing to look at him.)

Luke: I wanted to see you. (He walks around to face Tina. She turns immediately so that her back is to him again.)

Tina: Well, I don't want to see you. Go away!

Luke: This is a public park. You don't own it.

Jason enters, bouncing a basketball and whistling. He stops when he notices Tina and Luke.

Jason:  Hey, Tina. Everything okay?


Notice that in a play script the dialogue tags do not use words and quotation marks are unnecessary because a character's name is always indicated.



props: objects carried or handled by the actors
(these might be purses, basketballs, telephones, tennis racquets, books, or shopping bags)

costumes: clothes worn by someone who is trying to look like a different person or thing

set: materials on the stage that suggest the setting

(these might be pieces of furniture, painted backgrounds, or plants)


A prop can be an effective tool to develop character.

Example:
  1. A red hat may reveal a character's dramatic side.
  2. If it becomes part of the action, the hat becomes even more meaningful.
  3. It may reveal a character's emotion such as
      • anxiety if the hat is twisted in the character's hands
      • excitement or victory if the hat is tossed into the air
  1. It may reveal an idea such as
      • bullying if another character sits on the hat



In this lesson, you will...


  1.   learn about the structure of plays and read a short story that has been adapted into a play

  1. use props, costumes, and gestures appropriately

  1. identify symbol, mood, and atmosphere




  Please contact your teacher if you have questions.