Script Analysis for Actors - Five Steps to Building Your Foundation

Script Analysis for Actors - Five Steps to Building

Your Foundation
You’ve got the part! Congratulations. Your script is all clean and pretty. What’s the first thing
you should do? Read the script, of course! But what about after that? How about some
script analysis?

Script analysis gives you a foundation to build on for character development. Follow these
steps and you can begin rehearsal with confidence, ready to take on whatever challenge
comes your way. Get familiar with your character, get familiar with the text. It’s time to
explore.

Grab a pencil! Let’s make your script messy!

Why a pencil? Because nothing we ever do with script analysis should be set in stone. We
change our minds, we rethink things over and over as we familiarize ourselves with the
material. And once we get into rehearsal our work will have to mesh with the director’s
vision and every other actor’s work. Think of script analysis as a place to begin!

Our examples will be monologues but you can do the exact same work with dialogue.

Step One: Cross out any stage directions.

Stage directions in a script can come from a hodgepodge of places.

Sometimes they’re added by the playwright to give you a sense of his or her intentions,
sometimes they’re based on the blocking of the original production or are purely technical.
Other times they’re added by the publisher/editor to help clarify something for the reader.
I’d never tell you to ignore them completely but for the purposes of script analysis, cross
‘em out. You can always restore them after you’ve done this work. (You are using a pencil,
right?)

© 2013 Craig Mason.

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Script Analysis for Actors - Five Steps to Building Your Foundation

Step Two: Mark any significant changes/shifts in tone or character

development.

I like to use two forward slashes for this (i.e. //). These go any place in the text where there
is a change. A change in mood, a change in language, a change in tactic. We’ll call these
changes beats.

Here’s a totally contrived example to illustrate:

FRANK: I can’t believe you keyed my car. Why would you do something like that?

Becomes

FRANK: I can’t believe you keyed my car. // Why would you do something like that?

Do you see the beat? Frank goes from reflecting on the damage to the car to a demand for
information. First he’s in disbelief. Now he wants answers. The reason for the change will
be explored in rehearsal, but at this point we just want to note the beat.

If you haven’t done this sort of work before, you might struggle to find these. Here’s a quick
tip to finding them. Pick a random pair of sentences and put the marks between them. Ask
yourself, “What shift, what change, does the character make between these two
sentences?” If you can come up with a clear answer, they stay. If not, they go.

There’s no right or wrong when doing this kind of work. This isn’t science, it’s art. I
might mark my script up completely differently than another actor preparing the same role.
Who’s right? We both are. We are bringing our own interpretation to the role.

When you eventually stage the piece, these markings will serve as guideposts. They may
be times where you sit, stand, or move. You may speak louder or softer, faster or slower, or
pause. You get the idea. These markings will help make your character dynamic.  They will
lead you toward an interesting well­rounded performance.

© 2013 Craig Mason.

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Script Analysis for Actors - Five Steps to Building Your Foundation

Step Three: Mark significant words.

What are the most important words in the speech?

I like to mark these words with a “>” on top. I’ve borrowed this from the accent mark used in
music.

These are the power words of your speech. They’re the framework everything else is built
on. These are the words you want to make sure are heard. By the audience. By the other
characters.

When you’re done with this step, read the words you’ve marked in order. They should give
you a rough idea of what the piece is about.

Step Four: Understand the words.

It’s dictionary time! If you’re doing Shakespeare, this will be a very long step.

Go through the text and make sure you understand every word you speak. Look up all
unfamiliar words (or words you don’t often use in your personal life) in the dictionary. Make
sure you fully grasp what the character is trying to say. Jot the definitions in the margins of
your script.

If you’re confident you already know them all, pick a few of the words that you marked with a
> and look them up. Even simple words can have many meanings. And many words can be
used to mean the same thing. Try and understand why the playwright chose those words in
particular.

© 2013 Craig Mason.

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Script Analysis for Actors - Five Steps to Building Your Foundation

Step Five: Ask questions.

This is the last step and it’s not to be missed because it will lead you to all sorts of fantastic
exploration in rehearsal..

Read through your text and ask questions about your character. I tend to keep my
questions simple: “How?” or “Why?” or “Is this true?” are powerful questions.They are the
questions you’ll answer through the course of rehearsal. You might discuss some of them
with the director, you might not. You may still not have an answer for these questions on
closing night. That’s the beauty of theatre ­ there’s always more to explore.

For Example:

I’ve attached two monologues from the Theatrefolk Free Resource page, one for a guy and
one for a girl. On one page is the monologue as it is and the other page has my own
markings to show you how I would tackle the script.

And remember, acting is about interpretation.  This not a “correct” version of how these
monologues should be mark. Do the exercise yourself: how would you mark the script?

© 2013 Craig Mason.

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 Monologue – Darcy from Moving
by Lindsay Price

Use this monologue for Play Moving

your next IE! by Lindsay Price
Stats Serio-comedy – Simple Set – 25 minutes
Casting 5W
Description Darcy is preparing for a date with her best friends. Her
friends are shocked when the truth comes about her date’s
age–ten years older! Darcy explodes, telling her friends
exactly what she thinks.
Get the Play www.theatrefolk.com

Maybe I’m special, ever think of that? Huh? Maybe he likes

me. Me. Maybe we connected and he’s got crap parents
too and he knows what crap parents can do to you when
they try and run your life till you can’t see straight. Maybe
that’s why he’s going out with me. Maybe age has nothing
to do with it.
You think I’m moving too fast? You have no idea what
you’re talking about or what any of it means. Maybe I
should be sitting on the front porch sucking on a popsicle
and holding hands with some cutie who blushes when you
say his name and never looks you in the eye.
Moving too fast? You bet I am. If I could move faster I
would. I’d fly right out of here. You wouldn’t see my feet.
I’d be gone. The less time I have to spend in this house,
this place, this town, this stupid sixteen-year-old body, the
better.
The sooner I get out from everyone’s thumb, everybody’s
expectations, the better. And you can sure as hell believe
I won’t look over my shoulder. Not once. I’ll be gone and
I won’t look back. I don’t know. What about you? You’re
not moving fast enough. None of you. ❧

Theatrefolk The Fine Print Copyright © 2010 by Lindsay Price, All Rights Reserved
You may freely copy and share this document, as long as the document is distributed in its entirety,
Original Playscripts
including this notice. Please forward corrections and/or comments to the author.
PO Box 1064
Crystal Beach, ON, L0S 1B0, Canada Performances for an audience (whether paying or not) are subject to a royalty. Contact us for details.
1-866-245-9138 The text may be performed without royalty for auditions, in-class work, and Thespian IEs.
www.theatrefolk.com
Get more free stuff at: theatrefolk.com/free
 Monologue – Henry from Hall Pass
by Lindsay Price

Use this monologue for Play Hall Pass / Ten Minute Play Series:
your next IE! Be Challenged
by Lindsay Price
Stats Drama – Simple Set – 10 Minutes
Casting 2M
Description A confrontation between hall monitor and slacker.
Get the Play www.theatrefolk.com

HENRY: You go ahead and try. You’ll find I’m pretty

much unhurtable, Brady Cutter. You couldn’t hurt me if
you left me a bleeding heap on the floor. You gonna hurt
me so bad? Is that what you’re gonna do? You go right
ahead.
You think you’re different, OLD friend? You think you
can swing your way by with an easy wave and get what you
want? You can’t. And the sooner you learn that message
baby, the better.
I’ve met you a million times before in a million different
empty-headed losers who love calling me dude. You go
ahead and hurt me, it’s happened before and it’ll happen
again. All you’ll do is prove you’re the same kind of monster
I meet every day.
You’re no different. You’re the same empty dusty shell of
a human being and all you have ahead of you is a wasted
life of nothing. You’re nothing, Brady. You’re no one and
you’re no one I would ever want to know. You’re no friend
of mine. Got it?
Cat got your tongue, dude? Got nothing to say to me now,
do you? Do you?! Say something! ❧

Theatrefolk The Fine Print Copyright © 2010 by Lindsay Price, All Rights Reserved
You may freely copy and share this document, as long as the document is distributed in its entirety,
Original Playscripts
including this notice. Please forward corrections and/or comments to the author.
PO Box 1064
Crystal Beach, ON, L0S 1B0, Canada Performances for an audience (whether paying or not) are subject to a royalty. Contact us for details.
1-866-245-9138 The text may be performed without royalty for auditions, in-class work, and Thespian IEs.
www.theatrefolk.com
Get more free stuff at: theatrefolk.com/free