Oral Commentary Step by Step

1. Introduce the text stating reasons for the choice- why the “Tell Tale Heart” over
the “The Black Cat”, What dramatic potential did you see in it?
2. Aims—what impact/effect did you want to have on their audience? What ideas did
you want to get across? What atmosphere/mood did you want to create?
Identify Edgar Allan Poe’s intentions

- What was he trying to achieve?

- How did he do this?
- What does it mean by an unreliable narrator?
- What is the structure of the story- how does it build to its final climax?
- How does the pace of the text develop the narrative?
- What is the genre of the story? Did you stick to this in your interpretation?
- What themes run throughout the story- what was the writer’s intentions do you think
- Evaluate Poe’s work and show how this informed your own devising

What were your dramatic intentions?

- What did you want the audience to understand?

- Which perspective did you decide to show the story and why?

3. Start to look at the literary and structural devices in the text and make
connections with the way you chose to stage/perform it.
- What is the genre of the piece (Gothic) and how did this contribute to your performance?
- How does the tell Tell Heart start (in media res) does this link with your performance?
- It is a first person narrative- how did this change in your performance. Which characters
didn’t have a voice so you brought them to life. Which characters did you create and
where did they come from in the story?
- The voice is an unreliable narrator- how did that form your performance?
- Did you show the two sides of the narrator in your performance? Was there narration in
your performance?
- https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/p/poes-short-stories/summary-and-analysis/the-te
lltale-heart
- https://paulechoislandchang.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/literary-analysis-the-tell-tale-he
art/

4. Now start to make a rationale for decisions taken in the process of

transformation—what did you choose to present and how? How did you interpret
the text? How did you develop ideas/characters in the text? What did you
include/leave out/add and why— always justify.
What did you use from Poe’s story?
- Sound
- Volume/ Silence
- Heart (breathing)
- Time
- Pace
- Tension
 - Repetition- anaphora
- Madness
- Fear/ Anxiety
- Panic- exclamation marks
- The eye
- Senses
- Dehumanising- animal
- Narration- first person/choral/ conversation
For example:

The heart beat under the floor becomes a dramatic symbol in Poe’s short story. It not only shows
the conflict in the narrator’s mind- he expresses clearly in a short sentence so there is no doubt of
his feelings when the narrator says, “I loved the old man”. This love then morphs into guilt once
the cruel deed is done. The heart beating, it seems, is only in his mind as the men are unaware of
the sound that gets louder towards the end of the story. The unreliable narrator states “And still
the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not?” This rhetorical
question then starts his demise; he questions himself, repeats himself and slowly reveals
his actions. The sensory imagery of the heart beat and the repetitive imagery of the heart
beating recurs and therefore it was necessary for us to include the sound of it repetitively
in our performance.
A soundscape was created with the other senses from the text including laughter, groans
and the ticking of a watch at the start of the performance. To continue the gothic genre
and using the elements of Artaud’s “Theatre of Cruelty”, where the style encourages the
audience’s discomfort, we started the piece in darkness so that the audience’s sense of
hearing was as “acute” like the narrator’s.

5. Relevant research into characters, background, social/historical/theatrical

context).
Some of you look into the character’s mindset using Robert Hare’s checklist.
Remind yourself of it and see whether this featured in your piece.
Look at Poe’s background- did this feature in some of your work?
Did anyone use Antonin Artaud’s “Theatre of cruelty”
6. How did you contribute to the process of the transformation—script writing,
ideas, rehearsal process, props.

7. How did you develop and show a character?

Focus on 3 key moments in your piece
- What aspect of Poe’s writing inspired the moment? What were his intentions?
- What was your dramatic intention? How did this drive your narrative?
- Refer in detail to your movement, posture, gestures, facial expression, voice (pitch,
pace, power, pause, tone and intonation), positioning on stage, pace of the piece,
timing, use of pause/silence, focus, eye contact and concentration, lighting, sound,
set, costume and props.
Example: Poe’s use of the unreliable narrator to tell the story of the Tell Tale Heart is a dramatic
story-telling device; we witness the unfurling of the narrator’s thoughts and feelings throughout. I
wanted to capitalise on the use of a first person narrative in the performance to show the audience
his logical reasons for killing the old man. Therefore, when I was in the role of the narrator I took
moments from the text which were particularly effective at showing the narrator’s reasons. Poe
wanted tension to be created using the first person narrative by beginning the text in media res.
Eye contact shows the audience that he urgently needs to tell his story. When I said “I loved the old
man” I made sure I was directly looking at an audience member. My eyes were open wide to show
the sincerity of the narrator’s statement. Poe uses a short sentence to show the clarity of this
thought. I paused before continuing with the next line to make sure that the audience understood
that this character was unaware of their insanity. I stressed the word “loved” by making the tone
softer and the pitch higher. The vowel sounds were over stretched so that the word becomes
uncomfortable which is strengthened by the eye contact. This successfully allowed the audience to
able to grasp this key insight into the narrator’s mind; they would feel uneasy which was a key
dramatic intention of this performance.

8. Reflection/evaluation of the process of developing the work, and of the final

performance (3- 5 specific moments)
- What have you learned from the process?
- What were the particular strengths as a group and individually?
- What were the particular weaknesses as a group and individually?
- How specifically could you improve? What would they do differently next time?
- How did the audience react to your piece? Any Feedback?
Give precise details of the moment. Refer in detail to your movement, posture, gestures,
facial expression, voice (pitch, pace, power, pause, tone and intonation), positioning on
stage, pace of the piece, timing, use of pause/silence, focus, eye contact and
concentration, lighting, sound, set, costume and props.