Backwards Adn Forwards Test-RE23

7/26/2019 Backwards Adn Forwards Test-RE23

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1

What Happens that Makes Something Else Happen?

First, good Peter Qithice. say what the play treats on. .

A Midsummer Night's Dream ./.2.8

A play is a series of actions. A play is not about action, nor does it describe action. Is a fire about flames? Does it describe flames? No, a fire is flames_ A

play is action.

Why do you thin actors are called actors?

!hen "hat is action? #or script analysis, action is a $ery particular entity. Action occurs when something happens that makes or permits something else to

happen. Action is t"o %something happenings,% one leading to the other. &omething causes or permits something else. I let go of my pencil half an action() it

falls to the floor the other half of the action(. !ogether those t"o connected e$ents mae an action_

If I say %*o" are you?% it is half an action. !he second half is your saying, %#ine, than you.% !he first leads to the second) the t"o compose an action.

!he gasoline in a Mercedes is not action, nor is the caes nature its character(+ shape, mechanical configuration, specifications, color, seat co$ers of snail

darter hide. A Mercedes has to do "ith action only "hen it progresses-only "hen it goes 'from one place to another.

&o the first thing to disco$er is ho" a play goes from one place to another. #ind the first event of each action, then the second, then the connection bet"een thet"o. !he


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play's ourney is contained "ithin its actions, and getting there is half the fun. A fine play gets us there first class, complimentary champagne, e/0uisite

companionship, memorable ser$ice. A had play is a 1alcutta bus. 2ut for both "e must no" e$ery connection bet"een e$ery e$ent, from the start of the playon"ards or, as "e shall see, ust the other "ay around(.

!ry it. 3oo at any scene inHamlet. #ind out its ourney. What happens that maes something else happen! !o begin "ith, "orry about nothing else.

What happens that leads to something else happening? If you can ans"er that for e$ery e$ent in Hamlet, you "ill no" more about the play than years of seminars and

shel$es of boos can re$eal. And you "ill beginto master the play fir yourself, in your o"n terms. !his is essential if you intend to do anything "ith the play other

than muse o$er it,

If I 4( "al into your room shouting that the building is on fire and you 5( flee for your life, that is action.

If you 4( flee for your life lea$ing me free to 5( steal your stamp collection, that is another action,

If I 4( steal your stamp collection and then 5( sell it, that is yet another action.

&tealing your stamp collection is not an action until 4 sell it. 6ne e$ent re0uires a second e$ent, connected. *o" else can it be part of a play's progression?

An e$ent "ithout a second, connected e$ent, "ithout effe' ct or result, is either inade0uate play"riting or, more liely, inade0uateplay reading. In life and on

stage unconnected e$ents are irrele$ant. 3ife aside, it is hard to mae irrele$ance theatrically $iable.

If I do anything that leads you to do anything, together "e ha$e an action, If I fire a gun at you and you fall o$er in a dead heap, "e ha$e an action. 7our first tas

"hen reading a play is to find each action+ find each action's first e$ent its trigger", then its second e$ent its heap". 2oth "ill be there. !here is a heap for e$ery

trigger and $ice$ersa.

Instantbyinstant, momentbymoment, from start to


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finish, the play"right ClaftS a series of actions+ trigger and heap, trigrr and heap. #ind them all.

FOCUS:#n event is anything that happens. When one event causes or permits another event, the two events together comprise an action. #ctions are a play$s

primary building blocs.


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I you can disco$er such connections bet"een e$ents, you "ill be able to tae us, step by step, e$ent by connected e$ent, action by action, right to the heap of

bodies at play's end. 2ut if you can't, then no matter ho" much you under


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stand character or meaning or #reud or "orld $ie"s or philosophy, you can't stage the play. =nfortunately, that rarely stops anyone from trying.

!r(,an e/periment+ stand a domino on end. &tand another domino ne/t to it. >ush the first domino o$er, and it "ill, if cle$erly arranged, noc do"n the second.

A play is lie a series of dominoes+ one e$ent triggers the ne/t, and so on. At first, reading a play this "ay is difficult, lie learning to dri$e a standard shift mt. 2ut

learning to get out of first gear is ne$er easy_ 6nly practice teaches any techni0ue "orth ha$ing. Don't cheat the talent you belie$e you ha$e by sipping this first

step_ It is the foundation.

1onsider the dominoes_ I rush into your room hollering fire. 7ou flee in panic_ I tae your stamp collection. I sell the collection at the pa"nshop for cash. I gi$e the

cash to the doctor for my baby's operation. !he doctor operates . . . and on and on until the heap of corpses or the "edding in the last act_

&ometimes the domino path di$ides to become multiple. A trigger leads to t"o or more simultaneous heaps.( !here is no need for confusion if you e/amine the

separate paths domino by domino, spotting the connection bet"een each adacent domino. Analyed this "ay, no complication of plot "ill defeat you.

!he ey is ad(acent dominoes+ the collision of each domino into the one right ne/t to it. Ne$er sip a step. If you cannot find the connection bet"een one domino and

the ne/t "hy or ho" one maes the ne/t fall(, then there is a problem either in the "riting or in your reading. :ither is possible, but at least the problem "ill he

located. !hat is the fast step to sol$ing it

&e0uential, dominobydomino analysis "ill help you a$oid misleading choices about the play. #or e/ample, generations of "ellmeaning commentators claim I Iarnlet

is incapable of action. 7et e/amination of e$en the first t"o acts domino by domino re$eals *amlet initiating more direct action than most people manage in a year.

I lo" insulting to the 2ard are these commentators@ 1ould &hae


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speare ha$e "anted his audience to spend hours "atching a character do nothing? #or that is "hat someone incapable of action does+ nothing.

If only those commentators ne" "hat you no" no", they "ould see that hamlet does almost e$erything but nothing_ &e0uential analysis of action is the door to the

play and protection against misinterpretation.

F)*+- #n action is comprised o% two events- a trigger and a heap. ach heap becomes the net action$s trigger, so that actions are lie dominoes

toppling one into the net. e0uential analysis means %ollowing the play domino by domino %rom start to %inish.


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!"ut #o It "ackwards

*ome, come, you %roward and unable worms. .

!he !aming of the &hre" 1.2.3'

can "al into your room, but I don't have to yell fire_ I can stab myself instead, or stub my toe, or read a boo, or compliment you on your shoes_ !hat is "hat free

"ill is all about. :$en if I yell fire, nothing predetermines that you flee the room. 7ou may instead thro" your stamps out the "indo" to sa$e them, then ail the fire

brigade_

An e/amination of dominoes only as they move %orward through a play lea$es e$erything arbitrary. 7ou 4( "al into a boostore, 5( find the drama shelf, 9( tae

do"n this hoo, B( pay for it, and ;( lea$e. 2ut you could ha$e 4( "aled into a boostore and 5( found the candy counter_ 6r you might ha$e 5( seen the place

full of boos and 9( fled in chagrin. :$en had you piced up this boo, instead of paying for it you might ha$e slipped it under your ethics te/t and sneaed out. And

you might ha$e got a"ay "ith it, or you might ha$e not. 3ife goes on4 it goesfor"ard-but ne$er predictably.

6nly "hen "e loo at e$ents in re$erse order can "e see, "ith cedainty, ho" the dominoes fell, "hich fell against "hich. !he fact that you B( stand at the cash

register paying for this boo re0uires that you 9( found the boo.


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5oing %orwards allows unpredictable possibility.

5oing bacwards eposes that which is re0uired,


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!he present demands and re$eals a specific past. 6ne particular, identifiable e$ent ties immediately before any other. 2ut "ho can say "hat comes ne/t? It can be

anything. !he ne/t thing you see may be the ne/t paragraph or it may be a little man from Mars. 7ou don't no" for sure until you can loo bac on it.

:/amining e$ents bac"ards ensures you "ill ha$e no gaps in your comprehension of the script. When you disco$er an e$ent you cannot connect to a pre$ious e$ent,

you no" there is a problem for either reader or "riter to sol$e.

:/amine the e$ents inHamlet in re$erse order. Don't complain that ifs difficult or timeconsuming) if doing theater "ere easy there "ould be nothing striing about

succeeding at it.

2egin at the end of act ;. Where did this heap of bodies come from? 3et's loo at one, for e/ample, the one "ith the cro"n ase" and the stab "ound. I le must ha$e

been the ing. 1laudius is dead, a felled domino. What felled it? Not %What might ha$e felled it all along,% but %What felled it right now!6 What "as adacent? Was it

not *amlet? 2ut "hat had (ust happened to *amlet?

3ots of things had happened to I Iarnlet but only one thing had (ust happened. Among the lots of things, for instance+ a ghost had taled to *arnt, but that "as a fe"

acts ago. And hamlet had fought "ith pirates not bad for a man incapable of action(, but that's long past, too. Neither pirates nor ghost "as the domino that felled

laint into felling the ing.# domino can %ell only the domino net to it, no other7(ust lie real dominoes_

3oo for the adacent domino. &ip nothing.

What is the adacent domino irrunediately before *amlet stabs 1laudius? :s it in 3aettes' speech?

*amlet, thou art slain.No ined'eine in the "orld can do thee good)

In thee there is not half an hour's life.C;.5_9494;


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What an astonishingly clear play@ *o" can it pule anyone? What need of con$oluted in$estigation or philoso


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phy? In less than t"entyfi$e "ords I Iarnlet is told three unambiguous times he's about to die. 2ut this is not 0uite the adacent domino) it's too far bac from

the stabbing of 1laudius. If the trigger domino "ere I lairilet finding out he "as al

out to die, he "ould stab 1laudius right then. 2ut he doesn't) he has not yetthe cue for action. #ortunately 3aertes continues+

!he treacherous instrument is in thy hand,

=nbated and en$enomed. !he foul practise

*ath turned itself on me. 3a, here I lie

Ne$er to rise again.

C944E

No one needs a footnote to understand that 3aertes too is dying. 2ut still *amlet does not ill 1laudius. We still lac the domino that turns *amlet intoregicide and a$enger. 3aertes continues to spea, but still no domino s"ays. &uspense builds+ "ill the domino ne$er fall?

!hy mother's poisoned.I can no more

C94E5F

No" e$ery goundling no"s that if 3aertes says no more there "ill be no more dominoes hence no heap. 2ut no" comes the domino. It is nothing

subtle. &haespeare, as al"ays, hands it to us, e/plodes it for us. 3aertes says,

!he Ging l !he Ging's to blame@C95F

At that instant, not before, *amlet does "hat he has been on the $erge of doing all along+ he ills the ing. !he illing a"aited the right domino, and that

domino could not fall until some preceding right domino fell first. And so on all the "ay bac to the beginning. Mo$ing bac"ards from the heap of bodies, "e

find the precipitating domino "ith ease.


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!ry it. What domino falls that maes 3aertes spea the speech 0uoted abo$e %*amlet, thou art slain%(? Is it the


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fact he is mortally "ounded? And "hat falling domino mortally "ounded him? 7ou can begin acting, directingH or designing 3aertes only if you ha$e

traced his dominos bac to his first in$ol$ement in the play. And until you can do that for lIamlet, you ha$en't read the play that is "orth reading.

!here is little in %amiet that a normal fifteenyearold cannot fathom. >ro$e it. !read "here "ise men ha$e trod "ith caution+ in$estigate Ilamlet himself.

Wor bac"ards on him, domino by domino, cue by cue, action by action, precipitous e$ent by precipitous e$ent. :nd "ith the true beginning of his

action+ the host impelling him to re$enge 4.;(.

!he comple/ity and depth of the play can unfotd itself to you "ithout lbotnotes, "ithout confusion. 7ou can comfortably understand e$ery unit part of the play

$ia the clear, simple stups &haespeare pro$ided_

2ut remember+ mae no hire umps. #ind the preceding adjacent domino_ Don't miss lins. hamlet does not ill 1laudius because the host taled to *amlet

in act 4, scene ;. *amlet ills 1laudius because of "hat 3aertes says the instant before the illing. )% such adacent lins is life-and drama-made up.

FOCUS: Sequential analysis of actions is most useful when done backwards: from the end of the play back to the start. is your best insurance that you

understand why everything happens.


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$

Stasis and Intrusion

9 will not 96r%rom this place, do what they con!

A Midsummer Night's Dream :..222

Stasis is motionlessness% a condition o &alance among 'arious orces( a standing still( an unchanging sta&ilit)( a state in which all orces &alance each other*

resulting in no mo'ement.

Intrusion is a pushing* thrusting* or orcing in.

In a script's structure, dominoes are atoms. No" let +S step bac to e/pand our $ie" from atoms to planets.

!he course of a play charts the mo$ement of a "orld. !he "orld may be a royal castle in Denmar, or the top of a rubbish heap, or &cotland in turmoil, or

:ngland di$ided in three, or eorge and Martha's li$ing room in a small college to"n, or !hebes ra$aged by plague.

#irst the play"right presents the "orld instasis.

Hamletpresents Denmar., along time ago, at the palace of the ing. !here's a prince named *amlet. Iles unhappy because his father recently died and his

mother married again, rather soon. !hat is the static situation. Nothing is changing. !he balance of all the forces in$ol$ed has produced a complacent ne" ruler,

a melancholy prince, a "orried mother. None of them has sufficient reason to iry to change anything. It is absolute stabut something a"aits.


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)edipus ;yrannospresents !hebes, in reece, a long time ago, outside the palace of the ing. !he ing is inside, presumably asleep "ith his "ife.

6utside the populace suffers through a plague. !hat is the static situation_ =ntil the plague turns so unbearable that it impels the populace to "ail forhelp, this "orld too is motionless+ "ithout moti$e, reason or cue for change. It is absolute stasis.

earpresents :ngland, a long time ago, at the ing's castle_ !he aged ing, ready to retire, has arranged to cast off his burdens by di$iding his realm

among his three daughters. A public ceremony is in preparation for the ing to demonstrate that his three daughters are o$er"helmingly de$oted to him. !hat is

the static. situation. 2arring the une/pected, this "ill remain a predictable, unchanging situation+ stasis_

When 3eafs daughter 1ordelia is ased "hat she has to say to sho" ho" much she lo$es her father, she responds, %Nothing, my lord% 4.4.JK(. &tasis is

broen. 3ear is first puled, then hurt, then enraged) by the time of his rage the play is "ell in motion.

7ou sit in your room, reading_ 7ou glance from time to time at your treasured stamp collection, secure in the no"ledge it is safe from me because you are

there to guard it. !his is stasis.

!he "orld presented at play's beginning is in stasis. 6ccasionally stasis is broen before the play starts, but e$en then "e no" "hat stasis "as. We understand

"hat life "as lie in &alem before the first reports of "itches_ If "e didn't, the "itches "ould seem no intrusion_#nd %or a play to begin to play, there must be

an intrusion.

:n e$ery play something or someone comes along to shatter stasis. A ghost says your father "as ibully murdered by your =ncle 1laudius, no" ing. A populace

ho"ls from the


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#or e$ery play, scrutinie the differencebet"een the "orld in stasis and the "orld in action. !his difference "ill illuminate the forms that dri$e the play and ensure that

you a$oid depression.

#irst conies stasis, then intrusion-and then all the resources of the play's "orld s"ing into gear. *ighenergy forces battle each other until a ne" stasis comes about.

Intrusion upon stasis is an e$ent see section 1* abo$e(, an e$ent that causes another e$ent-hence+ action. A character or characters try to right things. 7ou 5( rush

out of the room to sa$e yourself aiier I'$e 4( yelled 'fire.% 3ear, trying to establish ne" stasis, banishes the recalcitrant 1ordelia and di$ides his ingdom bet"een

oneiil and


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#ramatic stasis occurs when things would go on the same ore'er i something didnt come along and happen.

#ramatic intrusion is the thing that comes along and happens* setting ree the irresisti&le orces that run a pla) rom that point on.

As )ou &egin topercei$e of *amlet lie 3ear, lie 6edipus, lie I Iedda, lie Willy 3ornan, lie


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stupidly refer to death as %the undisco$ered country from "hose bourne no tra$eller returns%? 1an *amlet ha$e forgotten "hom he sa" in act 4, scene ;?

Ne$er accept commonplace or e$en sophisticated assumptions about any play. 7ou are an artist) do your o"n interpretation_ !hat doesn't mean no$elty for its o"n

sae, or t"isting the "or beyond itself'. It means mastiff( ,of analytic reading techni0ues to help you to your o"n conclusions, conclusions that illuminate, not

$iolate, the script_

:/amine ten fa$orite plays. #ind initial stasis in each, then intrusion, then discern the forces that dri$e the play from intrusion to final stasis at play's end.

>lays do not "ander. No irresistible forces do. A play's unleashed force is sufficient to dri$e it through the e$ening. It "on't allo" for "andering. @uild your

awareness around the rush and collision o% con%licting %orces. If you don't, you "ill slumber the poor fols in the audience "hose only error "as to trust your

ability to interest them.

FOCUS: &tasis is the status 0uo that has eisted in the play$s world up through its beginningA Intrusion is something that upsets the status 0uo, causing orreleasing %orces that compose the play$s con%lict and progress. When the %orces no longer con%lict, new stasis is achieved and the play ends.


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/

0&stacle* onlict

Fie, Aloan, that thou wilt he so obstacle.

*enry I,Part 9 1.BA&

>eople "ho tal about, "rite about, or do theater agree on little. 2ut there is one thing+ %Drama is con%lictC6 we all cry in rare unanimity. !hen "e go hac to

s0uabbling o$er "hetheresticles, he "ho 0uelled the hordes from the north, he $$ho defeated the ra$aging ships from the sea,he "ho ...% and on and on till there's not a dry Athenian eye listening. %6h >esticles, son of >anticles, son of >edicies, son of. . .% the chant continues.


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&o far there is no dramatic conflict-hence, no drama.

!here is no drama e$en though the chanters chant in front of an audience, no drama e$en if they tell a story %6h >esticles, you "ho mounted your horse one

stormy night arid "ith your mighty s"ord too the head from the Mongolian sa$or%(, no drama e$en if the chanters are ceremonially dressed, e$en if a hard

"oring Athenian has painted up some bacdrops "ith garlands, pillars, and lea$es. !here is no drama e$en if the chanters bo" arid recei$e applause at the end_

;here is no drama because the elemental ingredient is missing !hose "ho call !hespis the%irst actor ust because he stepped out in front of the chorus miss the

point. &omething is still lacing, the crucial e$ent at the heart if drama that has shaped drama from the start_ &nout, in# yramus and !hisbe,

Did "hisper often, $ery secretly.

!his loam, this roughcast, and this stone cloth sho"

!hat am esticles ne$er pretends to be anyone hut himself. !he great in$ention "as more than stepping

to the front of the chorus to tal alone. ;he great invention was to pretend to he someone else. !hespis "as no actor until hepretended to be Pesticles. I Cis garb

"as not theatrical costume until its puipose "as to mae the audience thin he "as >esticles_ And painted bacdrops became %scenery% only "hen intended to

represent a place other than the stage, such as the shore "here >esticles repelled the barbarian in$aders.

!he actor implicitly maes a re0uest of the audience, and in that re0uest lies the foundation of drama+ %>retend 4 am


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>esticles, this chiton his chiton, this chlamys his chlamys, and this place the blc/id$ sands "hereon he fought%

When !hespis stepped do"nstage and said, %I am >esticles,% it "as a giant step. It "as a ne" step, a cle$er but difficult step, because pretending to be someone else

presents some absolutely inalterable re0uirements.

!he most important re0uirement is plausibility. 7ou must do as little as possible to remind the audience you are actually not the character you represent. When playing

a lion, if you let your face sho" through your mas the audience "ill be continually reminded you are no lion.

When pretending to be someone else, you must portray belie$able human beha$ior. If you do things human beings or lions, as the case may be( do not do, the

audience "ill not belie$e your impersonation. 7our pretense "ill fail. 6$er the ages there ha$e been $ariations in the e/tent actors ha$e fried to be plausible, but e$en

at the lo" end of the scalesupport o% the impersonation, support o% the pretense, has been theater's first order of business.

What has this to do "ith conflict? !his+ characters in plays tal a lot. !aling is drama's most common acti$ity. !aling con$eys nearly all "e are liely to no" about aplay, its people, its progress. All this taling, of course, must occur in a "ay thatsupports the pretense o% impersonationA &o play"rights try to reflect recogniable

human beha$ior in ho" their characters tal. >lay"rights may heighten language, or lo"er it, or fragment it, or mae it as artificial as can be, but because they "ant to

support., not undermine, the pretense of impersonation, they al"ays try to present taling as recogniable human beha$ior.

What is it about taling that connects it to recogniable human beha$ior?# human being tals in order to get what he or she wants.

!hat is the ey to dramatic language, a language 0uite distinct from poetry and nondrarnatic "ritten prose.

And it is the ey to a child learning to tal. 2abies team "ords as tools to control their en$ironments____to get what they want. >erhaps maturity is nothing more than

learning


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better "ays than yo"ling to get "hat "e "ant. When the infant screams and turns red, or "hen the adult intones. %l prithee, gentle mortal,% both want something.

What a character wants motivates taling A human being thins many things ne$er spoen. #rom the many things one thins, one selects "hat to say accordingto "hat one wants.

>ut another "ay+ if you "ant nothing, yousay nothing.

Not e$erything in drama mirrors real life, but this does. A character "ho speas "ants something or "ould not spea. !his common element of human nature

is the basis for all drama.

!hat "as a long "ay around to understand so concise a fact. !he fact's uni$ersality is not based on aesthetics but e/ists because drama in$ol$es impersonation,

because impersonation must a$oid the blatantly implausible, and because speech de$oid of a moti$ation of "anting is blatantly implausible.

&o the had play"right sets do"n, for some poor actor to recite, e/position lie, %7ou are my brother, as you no"_% !hese are "ords forced into a character's

mouth that ha$e to do "ith the playwright "ant con$eying information to the audience( instead of the character$s want

Whether I "ant something determines "hether I tal. What I "ant determines "hat I say. >lay"rights "ho don't no" this "rite endless chatter'. Actors "ho

don't no" it turn taut drama to chatter. Designers "ho don't no" it use theater for a place to hang their patterns. Directors "ho don't no" it should be

hung. !he gallo"s "ould be filled for a year.

An o&stacle is an) resistance to m) ha'ing what I want. What I want and "hat resists my ha$ing it ?obstacle" "or against each other to create dramatic

conflict

Dramatic conflict is distinct rom other kinds o conlict. A no'els conlict might he ree will 'ersus destin). A poems conlict might &e )outh 'ersus oldage* or the cit) 'ersus the countr). "ut a pla)s conlict is &etween what someone wants and what hinders the want% the o&stacle.

Whether I "ant something determines "hether I tal.


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>recisely "hat I say depends on "hat I "ant and "hat is in my "ay obstacle(. I spea "hat I consider the most efficient possible "ords to remo$e or get around the

obstacle.

!he baby is thirsty_ *e "ants to drin. 6bstacle+ the nearest li0uid is across the room "here he can't get to it. !o o$ercome the obstacle the tye screeches, %Wa"a@%

or %Mama@% !hirty years later he is capable of more articulate e/pression+ %ohnny Waler


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someone else "ants. Moti$ation+ I "ant to be ing. 6bstacle+you "ant tostay ing( 6bstacle can also stern from circumstances, or one's o"n inabilities or

misgi$ings, or liuui chance or fate. In e$ery case, the obstacle must be something I am "illing to fight. If I am not. I do nothing-so there's no action. &o the audience

goes to sleep.

I lo$e you moti$ation(. 7ou thin I am a creep obstacle(. &o I say something to try changing your attitude %1are for a ride in my Mercedes?(

7ou desperately "ant a ob moti$ation(. !he inter$ie"er must select from thirty applicants obstacle(. &o you try to impress the inter$ie"er %I'$e done this ind of

"or before%(.

ac cannot stand ill so "ants her to go a"ay_ ac's obstacle+ ill "ill not lea$e him alone. &o ac says something intended to get rid of her %o a"ay,% or %I ha$e

the measles%(.

A play gi$es only result+ the "ords spoen. 7ou must figure out the moti$ation and obstacle that lead to %1are for a ride in my Mercedes?% or %I ha$e the measles.%

:$en habitual, tri$ial actions rest on moti$ation and obstacle, though it may be harder to find them out. #or e/ample, you say good morning to your neighbor. 7ou

ha$e said goid morning to your neighbor e$ery morning for eight years. Moti$ation? 6bstacle? !o find them out, consider the conse0uences if you don$t say good

moniing+ your neighbor may thin something you do not "ant him to thin.ven habitual actions %*i,% 'Nice day,% etc.( must he launched %rom the attempt to

get something you want against something resisting your getting it.

Dramatic conflict-"ant $ersus obstacle-can be of four types. &ome or all appear in e$ery play. #rom the main character's point of $ie", these t+yrpes of dramatic

conflict are+

9.


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ing(. !he conflict is bet"een me and my o"n reser$ations+ me against myself.

2.


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F)*+- # character$s "ant is opposed by some hindrance7by some obstacle.# character tals to maneuver another character or characters in such a way

that the obstacle to the want is removed. ;o understand a line o% dialogue you Mai now what the speaer wants and how the speaer intends the words

spoen to overcome the obstacle to what is wanted,


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ing(. !he conflict is bet"een me and my o"n reser$ations+ me against myself.

2.


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F)*+- # character$s "ant is opposed by some hindrance7by some obstacle.# character tals to maneuver another character or characters in such a way

that the obstacle to the want is removed. ;o understand a line o% dialogue you Mai now what the speaer wants and how the speaer intends the words

spoen to overcome the obstacle to what is wanted,


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4

Ignorance Is "liss 50r% 6he 2er) ause o E'er)ones 7unac) a&out Hamlet8

Alack, for lesser knowledge

!he Winter's !ale ".#.$%

>oint by point through the script, no" "hat information has been re$ealed, and "hat has been "ithheld. In production, do not re$eal information prematurely or you

might undermine the foundation of the play lie highspeed termites. !he gap bet"een "hat the audience 'mo"s and doesn'tyet no" can be crucial. 2ridge it too early

at your peril.

Don't spill the beans too soon@

What could be more ob$ious? 7et people direct Hatnlei or "rite boos about it "ithout e$er considering at "hat point the audience disco$ers that 1laudius is guilty_

&o the actor playing 1laudius portrays him ob$iously guilty right from the start. !he cat's out of the bagH the audience cheated by no"ing too soon.


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he does nothing. !his may be one source of the lunatic $ie" that hamlet is incapable of action.

2ut # lamlet "ors hard, from the ihost's tale on"ard, to disco$er "hether the spirit he sa" "as the de$il "ith false information or a true spirit "ith facts. If youconsider I Iamt's situation, if you consider "here po"er lies in that Danish court, and if you consider the fact that you ust can't 0uery someone about "hether he or she

illed your father it's a breach of eti0uette e$en in Deranar, and in any case not liely to get a straight ans"er(, you Cnay see "hy hamlet begins his maneu$ering "ith a

protecti$e mas of madness. It helps him sol$e the mystery of "hether or not 1laudius is guilty, and that mystery is the mainspring of the play's first half hamlet "ants to

sol$e it and the audience does too. &o don't dress 1laudius in $illain's clothes or ha$e him beha$e firrti$ely. Don't shortcircuit the main current.

&ome "ellmeaning teachers do their pupils gra$e disser$ice by maing them read a play "hen the students are about to see it in a theater. Do such teachers thin plays

on stage are better i f you already no" them? ho" contrary to a play"right's intentions@ 6r do such teachers belie$e students can't comprehend "ords spoen out loud,

and might be confused "ith all that color and mo$ement? Alas, poor student@

Don't depri$e students or anyone else( of theater's greatest pleasure+ the delicious, often suspenseful thirst to no" "hat comes ne/t. Imagine seeing ;he


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1herish the audiences ignorance9 #ont impose )our knowledge o the pla)s end upon its &eginning.

FOCUS: )%ten the core o% dramatic tension resides in eeping in%ormation %rom the audience. on$t negate the tension by premature revelation,

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Backwards Adn Forwards Test-RE23

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