Consolidation Checklist – basic tools for text analysis prior to exploring the

unconscious Can you match up the tool with the description?

No. Tool No.? Description
1 Observation and re-living 6 Explains ‘why’ your character says the
a sense memory (not thought. They can be ‘wants, ‘needs’ or
mime) ‘drives.’ Either they are resolved or
blocked. They must be coherent
throughout the play.
2 Present Circumstances 8 Things that prevent you from achieving
your objectives.
3 Previous Circumstances 13 When the public persona vs. unfulfilled
needs create such inner conflict that
the character becomes stressed and
makes a mistake.
4 Lines/moves 3 Information about what happened
before the scene – given by the author
in stage directions and character
comments. Especially what moments
just happened before the scene.
5 Units 7 A way for the actor to generate logical
previous circumstances which are
missing from the play text.
6 Objective and through- 4 The actual things the character
action says/does – the ‘what’ you say/do.
7 Hot seating 11 Unfulfilled desire and unresolved
conflict from the character’s childhood
which are impossible to fix now.
8 Obstacles 9 ‘how’ you say the text.

9 Actions 1 Helps to artistically recreate a real life

activity as specifically as possible.
10 Thought process 15 The (conscious, subconscious or
unconscious) real meaning behind an
apparently straightforward statement,
often revealed by physicality.
11 Super-objective 10 The chain of events in the mind started
by a stimulus, ending in an action
12 Public persona 2 Information about the current scene
you are exploring – given by the author
in stage directions and character
comments. Especially who you are
talking to.
13 Tragic flaw/error 14 The actor summoning up a life
experience of their own (not the
character’s) which somehow parallels
that of the character.
14 Emotion memory 12 The social mask the character wears to
disguise their unfulfilled childhood
needs.
15 Subtext 5 Where the subject of the
conversation/activity changes.