CHAPTER 10

CUE

CUE PICKUP

DENOUEMENT

FOURTH WALL

NONREALISTIC PLAY

PRESENTATIONAL

REALISTIC PLAY

REPRESENTATIONAL

SUBTEXT

OBJECTIVES

• To understand a character in relationship to the play as a whole
• To understand the style of the play and how it affects character choices
• To learn traditional play structure and how it reveals the character's journey
• To act in a scene incorporating specific character choices based on text analysis

PREVIEW: STAYING IN STYLE

• Actor's must understand the style and tone of the play.
• A realistic play shows recognizable characters in dramatic situations.
• Realistic plays utilize the "fourth wall."
• Realistic plays are are performed in a representational style.
• This means that they do not acknowledge the audience.

PREVIEW: STAYING IN STYLE

• Nonrealistic plays depart from reality.
• Characters and situations are exaggerated.
• These include fantasy plays & symbolic plays (where characters/settings represent ideas.)
• Romantic plays where life is presented ideally, dreams come true, and language is poetic.
• Often played presentationally: directly addressing the audience by breaking the fourth wall.

PREVIEW: PLOT AND STRUCTURE

• Complete character analysis includes analysis of a play's plot and structure.
• A play's plot is made up of a series of incidents linked by a theme.
• It involves conflict, leading to the dramatic turning point, and to a resolution.

PREVIEW: TYPES OF CONFLICT

• Character vs Character
• Character vs Object
• Character vs Event
• Character vs Self
• Determine your character's role in a conflict and their actions/reactions

PREVIEW: CHARACTERIZATION

• Identify plot, mood, and play structure before you focus on your particular character
• Read the play once to understand these elements, then again to identify your role.
• Visualize the action through your character's eyes.
• Understand your behavior and dialogue in view of your motivations.

PREVIEW: CHARACTERIZATION (INTERNAL/EXTERNAL TRAITS)

• Utilize your knowledge of observation, personal exp., imagination, int./ext. traits
• Use clues in the script to identify your character's internal/external traits.
• Think about people you know who remind you of your character.
• Identify how your character is like you and unlike you.
• Research aspects of your character that are unknown to you.

PREVIEW: CHARACTERIZATION (CHARACTER NEEDS)

• What does your character want?
• What does your character do to get it?
• Does your character want different things from different people?

PREVIEW: CHARACTERIZATION (SUBTEXT)

• As in real life,what isn't said is often as important as what is said.
• What is said in a play is only part of a story.
• Information implied but not stated is known as subtext.
• A character says "I hate you! I'm leaving!" but stays onstage.
• Subtext conveys more important information than what they say.

PREVIEW: CHARACTERIZATION (ACTIONS)

• Pay attention to stage directions.
• What does your character do?
• Why do they do what they do?

PREVIEW: CHARACTERIZATION (OTHER CHARACTERS)

• How do other characters feel about your character?
• What do they say about your character?
• How do they treat your character?

PREVIEW: CHARACTERIZATION (CHANGES)

• How does your character change over the course of the play?
• Do they experience a change of attitude or circumstance?
• How will you convey this?

PREVIEW: CHARACTERIZATION (CHARACTER ROLE WITHIN PLAY)

• Whose side is your character on?
• Is your character the central character?
• Does your character oppose the central character?
• Does your character assist the central character?

PREVIEW: CHARACTERIZATION (CHARACTER HISTORY)

• Have a clear sense of what happened to your character before the play.
• Some actors create complete histories of their character.
• Identify your character's family life, friendships, employment, etc.
• The more details you create, the more lifelike your character will be.

PREVIEW: CHARACTERIZATION (CHARACTER RHYTHMS)

• Pay attention to your character's rhythms.
• Do they speak in short, choppy sentences or fragments?
• Do they speak in long, fluid sentences?
• The way a character speaks often reflects the way they move.

PREVIEW: USING THE RIGHT TOOLS

• An effective actor understand the relationship a character has to the play as a whole.
• Thoroughly study the play's other characters, its plot, structure, and theme.
• This gives you the tools needed to portray your character as the playwright intended.

PREVIEW: THE ACTOR AND THE TRADITIONAL PLAY STRUCTURE

• Actors must have an understanding of the importance of a play's structure.
• A play's structure holds together a character's actions and words.
• Analyzing story structure gives actors insight into plot, theme, and character motivations.
• The plot is built around a conflict (a problem or struggle)

PREVIEW: RISING ACTION (COMPLICATIONS)

• Additional events that stem from the conflict
• How do they affect the forward movement of the play?
• What is your character's role in this?

PREVIEW: TURNING POINT

• This is the highest point of emotional intensity in the drama.
• It ususally occurs near the end of the play.
• At this point, the main character usually takes action to end the conflict.
• All the play's action leads to this point, so performance intensity must be adjusted accordingly.

PREVIEW: FALLING ACTION

• Also known as the denouement.
• These are the events that happen after the turning point.
• Performance must reflect the atmosphere of the denouement.

PREVIEW: RESOLUTION

• This is where all the complications are worked out.
• Though the play is winding to a close, performance energy must remain high.

PREVIEW: MOOD

• The mood of the play is its emotional texture.
• The audience should sense the mood of a play early on.
• Characters, plot, and design elements help establish mood.