Introduction to Script

Analysis:
LO2 Interpret and analyse scripts
Ensemble & 2. Ensemble Awareness Form / style Realism (naturalism): Language and dialogue, movement and settings
improvisation - Respond kinaesthetically would ideally reflect everyday life situations without any sense of
skills artificiality.

Character 1a Characterisation: Personality & Physicality Convention Entrances & Exits

1b. Characterisation: Actor’s Tools (Space) Stage Directions
3. Character Arc & Journey: Superobjective & Objective, Stakes
4. Role (function of character)

Space 2c. Spatial Relationship (Spatial Positioning) Making LO2 Interpret and analyse (local repertoire) scripts
ii) Actor in Space · Repertoire text
iii) Actor to Architecture
3. Architecture
4. Performance space

Time 2. Pacing / tempo / duration (acting) Presenting LO4 Apply suitable (expressive & modulated) Vocal and Physical (and
Spatial) Expressions and Performance Support in performance
Repertoire duologue performance

Structure 1. Dramatic structure (well-made play) Responding LO6 Express personal responses using appropriate terms and evidence
LO7 Reflect upon, analyse and evaluate processes and performances its
impact on the audience in conveying actor’s intentions (Intention,
Method, Analysis & Evaluation)

Dramatic the thoughts and feelings the creator wishes to conjure in the Exposure LO8 *Critique external performances
Meaning audience about the characters and the situation the characters are
in (repertoire drama)

S2 DEP: From Page to Stage I

Developing Meaning
Unit Outcomes

By the end of the lesson unit, you will know:

✘ What the structure of the well-made play is
✘ How it can be applied as a performer
✘ That it is also needed by the
- Director
- Designer
- Playwright (when devising)
Structure of the Well-Made Play

1. Exposition
2. Rising action
3. Climax (and catharsis)
4. Falling action
5. Resolution
Analysing Structure
Part 1
Beginning Middle End
 EXPOSITION RISING ACTION CLIMAX FALLING ACTION RESOLUTION

Emotional conflict: Consequences of the

Motivated revelation of
the backstory through
dialogue
Protagonist’s uphill
Final confrontation protagonist’s Transformation / new
journey, alternating
between protagonist & desperate choice & order
gains and setbacks
antagonist ultimate sacrifice

Protagonist (Underdog) Supporting characters Catharsis

Superobjective / Objecti Obstacles

ve / Motive / Goal / Wan
t
Stakes Conflicts

Inciting incident / Crisis Complications

Strategies
 7 Character Roles
(from Vladimir Propp)
1. The protagonist: the character around whom the action revolves
2. The antagonist: the opponent or adversary of the hero or main character of a drama, opposes the
hero
3. The helper/sidekick (aids the hero)
4. The false hero/the betrayer (often a helper who turns on the hero & is punished)
5. The donor/fairy godmother (gives the hero advice or a useful object)
6. The princess/the girl (motivation & reward for the hero)
7. The dispatcher/boss (send the hero on the quest)
Notes
✘ Not all character types will appear in all plays. The ones in italics are less likely to be found in plays
✘ Some characters make take on more than one role in the narrative.
✘ Some characters may be flat and static rather than dynamic and rounded. These can include stock
characters: characters who represent particular personality types or characteristics of human behaviour
 Activity 1: Table Read
1. Let’s identify these features in the realistic play, Don’t Know,
Don’t Care
2. As you read the play, use the handout to,
a. identify the features of the play (set, props, sound,
costume, setting, characters)
b. break up the play into scenes and units*
3. What roles do each of the characters play?
* the chunks of action separated by moments of internal change or external force. These units will help
you when you are blocking your scene and developing conflict
 Types of Conflict
Level Obstacle from: Tension

✘ Inner ✘ the self ✘ personal / social / moral dilemma

✘ Interpersonal ✘ other characters ✘ tension of Relationship: conflicts between the

characters in the situation/s: conflict +
misunderstanding

✘ Extrapersonal ✘ society / nature / ✘ Reveals itself as thematic concern -- would

technology / fate / need to be concretised into people / things to
the unknown etc have a conflict with

CHARACTER + WANT + OBSTACLE =

CONFLICT
 Levels of Conflict
Type of conflict Definition

Physical The outward physical manifestation of conflict between characters

Eg. from shouting to hitting etc

Interest A clash between the things characters want

Eg. Macbeth doesn’t want to kill Duncan but Lady M wants him to, Vivian & Wayne want to
move to Australia but Ma and Pa don’t want them to.

Belief / Value A clash between the things characters believe or value, priorities
system Eg. Power vs self-interest, religion, power at all cost

Emotional The climax, where the protagonist has to make the last desperate choice
Eg, Anger, sadness, etc
 Activity 2: Going Deeper
Let’s identify the types and levels of
conflict in
Don’t Know, Don’t Care
From Page to Stage
Part 2
 Director

A director is responsible for the overall creative

Theatre Roles
The difference between the role
vision of the show. They have to bring the different
elements of the production together to produce a
cohesive final production, having meetings with the
design team at various stages during a production.
They will also direct the performers and help them
develop their characters in rehearsals ahead of the
final performance.

of
Performers
✘ a performer
A performer might be an actor, singer or dancer,
✘ a director whose job is to perform within a production. They
will usually audition in front of the director and a
casting director to get their part. They begin their
work in the rehearsal room with the director, before
performing on stage in front of an audience. They
must ensure to maintain a high-quality performance
each night, during the run of the show.
Difference between Performer & Director tools
Actor’s Tools Director’s Tools
✘ Physicality ✘ Space
- Shape & movement ✘ Time
- Gesture ✘ Actors’ bodies
- Facial expression
⇒ to create tension
✘ Voice
- Tone
- Pitch & volume
✘ Space (spatial relationship)
✘ Time (pacing)
✘ Emotional memory* optional
Analysing a Script as a Performer
Lesson Outcomes
By the end of today’s lesson you will know:
✘ How a performer analyses a script:
a. Identifying characterisation of character (How an actor uses
body, voice and thought to develop and portray a character)
b. Identifying character’s superobjective / motivation / want
c. Identifying character’s stakes
d. Identifying the obstacle in each scene
e. Pitching the scene
 The Character Arc
How your character STRUGGLES to
achieve what s/he wants
 Superobjective

WANT
(the journey to achieve the objective)
Obstacle 4
Obstacle 2 Obstacle 3 Obstacle 5
Underlying reason
Obstacle 6
Obstacle 1
1

Protagonist Objective
Activity 3: Mapping the journey
Let’s identify the wants, stakes, &
obstacles of the characters in
Don’t Know, Don’t Care
Mapping out a character’s journey:

1. Identify the objective

2. Identify the want (the series of steps in each scene to
achieve the objective)
3. Identify the underlying reason (superobjective)
4. Identify the internal (personality) and external (other
characters) obstacles to the objective
5. Depict the struggles in each scene in the process of
pursuing this objective / superobjective
The Character Arc

✘ Finding your character arc

- What your character wants
- The obstacles in each individual scene you
encounter in your pursuit of it.
- The various strategies you employ to achieve
your want.
- Do you succeed in each scene? Or do you fail?
Why?
Activity 4: Physicalising your
character
 Activity 6: Blocking
This is a director’s job using the tool of space

1. Discuss and decide on a performance space

2. Set up a simple set
3. Place the actors in the space to create tableau 1 for the opening scene
4. Do this for every unit in the whole play, creating tableaux that show the conflict and
power dynamics / status in each unit
5. Be mindful of entrances and exits and stage directions
6. The three most important units are the
a. Opening
b. Climax
c. Closing scene (which should show transformation)

Ths blocking will form the outline to guide the individual actor’s choices later on
Space (S1DEP to S2DEP)
1. Setting: the fictional place where the drama is taking place
2. Spatial Relationship: the spatial signifiers of the relationship between characters
a. Stage Positioning (Stage Right, Stage Left, Upstage, Downstage, Centestage, etc)
b. Body Positioning (levels and angles)
c. Spatial Positioning (Proximity & Blocking)
i. Actor to Actor (extreme proximity, extreme distance)
ii. Actor in Space
iii. Actor to Architecture
3. Architecture: the physical surroundings, visible to the audience, to inform them of the contexts in which
the action of the play takes place
a. Set (design)
4. Performance Space: the physical place of the performance and where the audience is (eg. Site-specific,
black box, proscenium arch theatre)

*orange = S2DEP curriculum

 Activity 6: Scene Studies
In this activity, we will look in detail at a few scenes to explore their acting possibilities.

For each scene, consider and identify the following

1. Why this scene is important

2. Key lines
3. Sources of conflict
4. Turning point
5. Staging possibilities
6. Set possibilities

Be sure to annotate your script as you go along

Scene Studies:
Acting Exploration Tasks
Consider:
1. What has happened before this scene?
2. Try different pre-scene improvisations. Explore the different energies these experience
create for the characters as the scene begins.
3. How do characters enter and position themselves on stage for the scene?
4. Use tableaux to explore movement. Create tableaux that show the characters’ stage
positioning, gestures, and facial expressions for key moments. Remember to include
the responses of other characters to each action.
5. Discuss what moments are important and what effects you wish to create for the
audience.
The next few slides guide the key considerations in the key different units of the play.
Exposition

✘ The inciting incident

✘ The superobjective
✘ The stakes
Rising Action:
The Obstacle & Scene-objective

✘ Strategy employed by the character to surmount the

obstacle of the scene
✘ The obstacle is created by a clash between the
character’s want with other character's wants
 Rising Action:
Internal & External Conflict: Obstacles are both internal (self) and
external (others)
1. What strategies do you employ to address the obstacle:
- Identify the actions (verbs)
- Identify the emotion that accompanies the verb
- Select a body language in space to accompany the verb
2. Repeat steps 1-3 to develop your journey through the different units
to reach the climax
3. How are you using pacing in your delivery?
4. Think about how you want the audience to feel for you
Rising Action:
Staging the Relationship Journey

✘ Play the scene without words, using only spatial

relationship to show
- the interaction of the characters
- the development of their emotional journey
Developing intensity: Pitching a Scene

✘ What happened 30 minutes before the scene

opened?
✘ What is the character’s emotional state of mind
when s/he enters the scene?
✘ There are 10 emotional levels to enter a scene: at
what level does your character come in? Why?
Climax: Emotional conflict

✘ At what emotional level is your character now?

✘ What does your character stand to lose?
✘ How do you use space to show that this is the height
of the conflict?
✘ How do you want the audience to feel for you?
What is their catharsis because of the climax?
Conclusion & Transformation

✘ Did you character gain or lose what s/he wanted?

✘ How do you use body language and space to show
that the emotional world of your character is
irrevocably changed?
✘ What is that change / transformation?
✘ How do you want the audience to feel for you?
Assessment
Part 3
 Application for Examination
1. In your groups, apply your learning to the assigned scene.
2. You will be assessed on your use of actors’ tools include spatial
relationship and pacing to the scene to life.
S2DEP Glossary
✘ Kinaesthetic awareness ✘ Exposition
✘ Realism (naturalism) ✘ Inciting incident / Crisis
✘ Pacing ✘ Superobjective / Objective / Motive /
✘ Units Goal / Want
✘ Roles: protagonist & antagonist ✘ Obstacles
✘ Stage directions ✘ Stakes
✘ Performance space; ✘ Conflicts
- End-on / proscenium ✘ Rising action
- Traverse ✘ Complications
- Thrust ✘ Strategies
- Theatre in the round ✘ Climax
✘ Catharsis
✘ Falling action
✘ Resolution