Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers, 5th Edition

Appendix A

Further Questions for Script Analysis

Throughout this book a play has been treated as an independent object with its own self-contained context. A good play becomes even better, however, when its external associations as well as its internal features are understood. After studying the life of the author, his or her other works, and the author’s world, a play becomes more fascinating, the characters grow, the plot thickens, and the whole work becomes more voluminous. It becomes part of something on a scale greater than itself. In other words, while formalist analysis and action analysis can reveal the internal qualities of a play, outside information is always necessary for a completely professional understanding.

Topics to guide the ...