Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers / James Thomas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thomas, James, 1657 or 1658- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Drama--Explication.

Drama.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (247 pages)

Edition:

Seventh edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Routledge, [2024]

Summary:

"Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers, Seventh Edition, teaches the skills of script analysis using a formalist approach that examines the written part of a play to evaluate its potentials for performance and production. This new edition features new and revised content, including an analysis of two new plays, Kalidasa's Shakuntala and Federico Garcia Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba, information for the theatre designer integrated in chapters throughout the book, and an expanded appendix on critical approaches to Script Analysis. Explorations of both classic and unconventional plays are combined with clear examples, end-of-chapter summaries, and stimulating questions that will allow actors, directors, and designers to immediately incorporate the concepts and processes into their theatre production work. An excellent resource for students of Acting, Script Analysis, Directing, Playwriting, and Stage Design courses, this book provides the tools to effectively bring a script to life on stage"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

What is Formalist Play Analysis?

Action Analysis

Reading Plays

Special Expressiveness

Pattern Awareness

Mythological-Archetypal Awareness

Historical Awareness

Proactive Reading

Facts, Implications, and Inferences

Logical Thinking

Associative Thinking

Respect for Words

Reading Fallacies

Over-Personalizing

Relativist Fallacy

Faulty Generalization

Fallacy of Reductiveness

Biographical Fallacy

Fallacy of the Half-Truth (Debunking)

Frigidity (Insensitivity)

Imitative Fallacy

Intentional Fallacy

Literal-Mindedness

Genetic Fallacy (Second-Hand Thinking)

Ambiguous Terms

Naturalism and Realism

Presentational, Representational, and Non-Objective Design

Instinctive, Representational, and Experiential Acting

Summary

Chapter 1 Action Analysis

Why Action Analysis?

Thinking "Eventfully"

Chain of External Events (External/Textual Plot)

Reviewing the Facts

Subject

Chain of Internal Events (Subtextual Plot)

Three Major Climaxes

Super-Objective

Through-Action

Counter-Through-Action

Exercises for a Scene or Short Play

Chapter 2 Foundations of the Plot: Given Circumstances

Foundations of the Plot

What are Given Circumstances?

Time

Time of the Play's Writing

Time of the Play's Action

Dramatic Time

Place

General Locale

Specific Locale

Society

Family

Love and Friendship

Occupation

Social Status

Social Standards

Economics

Politics and Law

Culture

Spirituality

The Special World of the Play

Given Circumstances in Nonrealistic Plays

Atemporal Time

Unlocalized Place

Myth

Theme World of Nonrealistic Plays

Summary.

Exercises for a Scene or Short Play

Chapter 3 Foundations of the Plot: Background Story

What is Background Story?

Methods of Disclosure

Historical Method

Realistic Method

Minimalist Method

Identification of Content

Events

Character Descriptions

Feelings

Background Story in Nonrealistic Plays

Chapter 4 Plot: External and Internal Action in the Dialogue and Stage Directions

What is Plot?

External Action

Entrances and Exits

Blocking

Physical Production

Special Activities

Internal Action

Assertions

Commands

Plans

External and Internal Action in Nonrealistic Plays

Chapter 5 Plot: Progressions and Structure

Dramatic Actions in a Specific Order

Progressions

Beats

Units

Scenes and French Scenes

Acts

Digressions

Structure

Plot Formation

Point of Attack

Primary Event

Inciting Action

Conflict, Obstacles, Complicati

Climaxes

Recognition, Reversal, Catastrophe

Simple and Complex Plots

Resolution

Progressions and Structure in Nonrealistic Plays

Conflict

Endings

Chapter 6 Character

What is Character?

Subtext in the Characters-An Aside

Objectives and Super-Objectives

Action

Actor's Adaptations-An Aside

External Conflicts: Conflicts of Objectives

External Conflicts: Role Conflicts

Willpower

Values

Character Flaw

Character Complexity

Relationships

Character in Nonrealistic Plays

Chapter 7 Idea

Idea in the Words

Titles

Discussions

Sayings.

Allusions

Set Speeches

Imagery

Symbols

Prologue and Epilogue

Idea in the Characters

Narrator and Chorus

Raisonneur

Confidant

Norm Character

Idea in the Plot

Parallelism

Intellectual Conflict

Main Climax

Theme

Idea in Nonrealistic Plays

Final Note on Action Analysis

Chapter 8 Dialogue

What is Dialogue?

Words

Abstract and Concrete

Formal and Informal

Jargon and Slang

Connotation

Sentences

Length

Type

Rhythm

Speeches

Punctuation

Linking

Literariness

Poetry

Charm

Dialects and Accents

Dialogue in Nonrealistic Plays

Leisureliness

Incomplete, Rapid, Broken, Stream-of-Consciousness, Mistaken, Ambiguous, and Halting Language

Banalities and Clichés

Chapter 9 Tempo, Rhythm, and Mood

What are Tempo, Rhythm, and Mood?

Tempo

In the Plot

In the Characters

In the Ideas

Mood and Atmosphere

In the Given Circumstances

Tempo, Rhythm, and Mood in Nonrealistic Plays

Chapter 10 Style

Given Circumstances

Locale

Background Story

Content

Technique

Reasons for Disclosure

Plot

Text and Subtext

Genre

Organization

Scenic Linking

The Three Unities

Character

Objectives

Depiction

Persuasiveness

Scope

Dialogue

Literary Features

Atmosphere

Appendix: Conceptual Theatre and External Approaches to Play Analysis

Conceptual Theatre

External Approaches to Script Analysis.

Biographical Criticism

Deconstructive (Post-Structuralist) Criticism

Feminist-Gender Criticism

Historical Criticism

Marxist Criticism

Mythological-Archetypal Criticism

Philosophical-Moral Criticism

Psychological Criticism

Social Justice Criticism

Sociological Criticism

Structuralist Criticism

Textual Criticism

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Thomas, James Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers

ISBN:

1-000-98507-5

1-000-98508-3

9781003343936

OCLC:

1380753982