mood

The overall feeling of a scene or the entire play

location
Where the events of the play take place. Room, State,
time period
When specifically the story take place , time of day, time of year, what year
plot line (mountain)
The path that the story follows
protagonist
A main character that grows and develops by overcoming obstacles.
antagonist
A main character or force that places obstacles in the path of the protagonist
static
a character that does not change during the story
dynamic
a character that changes from the beginning to the end of the story
round
a character with a backstory and history
flat
a character with no history no details given
sub-plot
a secondary strand of the plot that supports the main plot
character line
any lines spoken during the play that describe any character in the play
backstory
Information about a character that helps to round them out. Things that happened before the
play started.
character relationship
How characters feel about other characters, who they are close to, indifferent about or hostile
towards
internal qualities
Those qualities of a character that cannot immediately be observed or otherwise detected by
others
external qualities
Those qualities of a character than can easily be detected by the appearance
Given Circumstances
-a fact about something that we know is true from the play
-Stanislavski used the facts of the text turning them into "What If" questions to unlock truthful
acting
Action
Stanislavksi doing; what decisions move the story forward, encourages actors to figure out the
task (verb)
Spine of the Play
Stanislavski's super-task; an action that encapsulates the theme of the play
Given Circumstances
The specific Conditions in which the action of the play occurs
Mise-en-scene
Aristotelian term for scenery, costumes, lighting, properties, sound, makeup. (Lit, "putting on
stage")
Dramatic Time
The amount of time that passes within a play
Social Rank
Distinguishes a character's position or standing in society
Social Standards
Codes of conduct and shared beliefs regarded necessary by the characters and to which they
are expected to conform
World of the Play
The cumulative effect of all the given circumstances of a play
Plot
The story line and sense that the play is getting somewhere
External Action
What characters are physically doing on stage
Internal Actions
Psychological impulses of characters which can be verbally expressed as assertions, plans, and
commands
Progressions
Sections of the play that move things forward; composed of beats, units, scenes, and acts
Formal Scene
A collection of related units marked by a change of time or place
French Scene
A collection of related units ended by a change of characters onstage
Structure
The arrangement of the parts of the plot and their relationship to each other and to the whole
play
Character
The pattern of action that identifies a person
Main Idea
A specific view of the world illustrated by every aspect of the play
Production Concept
An original idea, design, or plan for performing a play and governing its mise-en-scene.
(Metaphor)
Tempo
How much and how often elements of plot, character, and the main idea are conveyed in the
play
Dramatic Rhythm
A pattern of tensions in the beats, units, scenes, and acts
Mood
The particular feeling of a character
Atmosphere
The general feeling of a scene or play
Timing
The temporal relationship between spoken words and/or physical actions
Speed
The measurable rate of movement or speech in real time
Pace
The observer's subjective perception of speed
Theme World
The world of a non-realistic play, determined more by thematic issues than by plot or character
beat
A beat is a small division of a scene usually identified by a short term objective or action.
Climax
The point of highest tension in a play; the peak of a line of conflict.
objective
A character's goal or intention
Plot
Arrangement of events or incidents on the stage. Differentiated from the story, which is
chronologically detailing events that happened on and off stage. Playwright must create a
credible and astonishing this
Character
Agents/ players of the plot. They provide motivations (reasons) for the events of the plot, due to
their actions/thoughts/feelings.
Theme
Reoccurring ideas that come up in the play, can be described in one word
beats
specific, measured, and spaced to create a pace that moves the progress of the story forward.
Act
Beat --> Scene --> __________ ;
3 Act Structure
A story with a beginning, middle, and end.
4 Act Structure
A story with a beginning, middle, new middle, and end.
Exposition
Information the audience needs to understand the story.
Theme
"Moral of the story";??????????
Genres
tragedy
comedy
farce
drama
melodrama
tragicomedy
Tragedy
A serious form of drama dealing with the downfall of a heroic or noble character
Catharsis
Comedy
Happy ending --> to deligjt
Gamos (runs off and gets married)
Farce
exaggerates characteristics, many doors (door slammers)
-Guffaw: pure entertainment--> to make you laugh
Drama
travesty
Melodrama
music driven, tell you how to feel , characters simply drawn, no moral complexity, poetic justice
Tragicomedy
always deals with heavy themes, doesn't remove obsurdity
Ex: Goerge Tabori "Cannibals"
pose difficult and existential questions

Progression
A continuous growth that is designed to ensure maximum dramatic effect in a play. Arranged in
groups according to their size: acts, scenes, units, beats.
Beat
The smallest dramatic progression in a play. Like a paragraph in writing. In each new beat, a
new topic emerges
Unit
A group of related beats.
Formal Scene
The author names each new scene (Scene 1, Scene 2, etc.)
French Scene
Created any time a character enters or exits.
Act
The largest dramatic progression in a play. Further characterized by the dramatic quality of its
ending.
Thematic Statement (TS)
Describes your interpretation of the story's meaning.

Has three parts

Identification of the script and playwright. Ex. Arms and the Man
Identification of the thematic subject. Ex: Love and war.
An interpretation of what the story shows you about the subject. Ex: We are all children in
matters of love and war.
Thematic Subject (TSub)
Issues that the script explores.
The Main Action
The main action is the most significant source of meaning and thus the best clue to the thematic
statement.
Title
It more that just give a script a name but also clues to the script's meaning and theme
Levels of characterization
Physiological, sociological, psychological
How many levels of characterization are there?
3
Physiological
physical characterization: knee problems?, short or tall, fat or skinny
Sociological
social characterization: friends, family, economy
Psychological
Mental characterization: nice, mean, educated, dumb
Given Circumstances
plot, period, time, place, conditions, environment, interpretation
Time
Specific time a scene takes place
Period
A more general or historical time setting for a play
Place
A specific place where the action of the play takes place
Locale
A general region where a play is set
Mood
How the reader feels about the text while reading.
Theme
Ideas or morals a play might make you thing about as you are reading or viewing
Inciting Indecent
The event that starts the action
Crisis
A decisive point in the plot of a play on which the outcome of the remaining action depends.
Climax
Most exciting moment of the story; turning point, point at which the crisis reaches it's peak
Given Circumstances
Time
Place
Society
Economics
Politics and Law
Learning and the Arts
Spirituality
The World of the Play
3 Background story appearances
Historical Technique- in extended passages near the beginning of a play
Modern Technique- in fragments distributed throughout the action
Minimalist Technique- buried beneath the onstage action.
Primary Event
is the most important incident in the background story, one that so energizes the characters that
it produces in them the conditions necessary for the play to take place.
SCENE
a unit of a story told in a script. A scene takes place during a certain place and time, often as the
place and/or time change, it will become a new scene.
SCRIPT
a written version of a play or other dramatic composition; used in preparing for a performance.
ANALYSIS
Script analysis is the close reading of a text to establish its intended meaning, including a
thorough understanding of the setting, the subtext, and the characters' objectives.
Events
turning points in the course of the stage action that change the behavior of all who are present.
Seed
the main emotional and conflictual essence and the source of the author's perspective.
Place
refers to the general and specific locations of the stage action.
General locale
is the neighborhood, district, city, etc. in which the action takes place (Kissimmee, Florida).
Specific locale
denotes the particular spaces in which the stage action takes place (Abby's home in Kissimmee,
Florida.)
Society
refers to the closed social system of the play.
Family
refers to parents and their children.
Love
denotes intense feelings of family.
Friendships
sympathetic social bonds outside the family.
Occupation
refers to what the characters do to earn a living.
Social status
refers to the position the character holds in the social hierarchy of the play.
Social standards
are the behaviors and beliefs that characters uphold and are expected to defend.
Economics
signifies the large-scale monetary system the characters live under and smaller-scale financial
dealings in which they engage.
Politics and law
refers to government institutions or activities, including the rules of conduct or legislation
established by political and legal authorities.
Culture
relates to the arts and other signs of intellectual sensitivity and achievement.
Spirituality
refers to the beliefs in dive, spiritual, or supernatural powers.
Plot
means an account of connected events.
Progression
is a piece of dramatic action with a beginning, middle, and end.
Beat
the smallest progression, the smallest piece of dramatic action.
Scene
a group of units marked by a change of time or place.
French scene
a new arrangement of characters on stage indicated by an entrance or exit.
Acts
primary and most substantial progressions of a play.
Primary event
a crucial event in the background story that produces the conditions necessary for the play to
take place.
Chain of events
List of most important events in order
theme
an abstract concept which part or all of the play is "about"
DRAMA SCRIPT ANALYSIS
Seed
The essence of the author's plan, or the basic subject that holds the play together. Think, "for
the sake of which the play was brought to life". How to find it? It can be found within violations of
one of society's moral standards (if not, then it is the violation).
Chain of Internal Events
The expression of the seed planted within an external event. How the seed is present/revealed
throughout the play.
Three Major Climaxes
How the play...Emerges, Develops, and Concludes- E: dramatizes the overall goal of the main
character, D: shows the hardships encountered by hte main character in pursuit of the goal, C:
how the main character comes to terms with the play's particular reality
Theme
Like a seed, the theme passes through the entire play BUT the theme is what the play shows
about the seed. It is directly expressed in the actions of the main characters, or the mindset of
the characters towards the seed
Super Objective
The main character's all inclusive goal: the theme expressed in terms of what the main
character is striving to accomplish
Through Action
AKA through-line action, a one sentence discription of the main conflict, expressing what the
main character actually does in the play to accomplish their super objective
Counter Through Action
The source of conflict through the play, one sentence discription of the main conflict and what
the ANTAGONIST does in the play to accomplish their SO (which blocks the main character)
Chain of External Events
An event that changes the characters because it normally would not or should not happen
Progressions
Dramatist's method of always making the next event more interesting and significant than the
last
Structure
Arrangement of the parts of the plot and thier relationship to each other and the whole play

Introduction, then rising action, climax, falling action, catastrophe

Point of attack
The moment when the play begins in relation to the timeline of the BACKGROUND STORY at
one end and the end of the play at the other

Late point of attack: when the onstage action begins late in the background story and close to
the final climax

Early Point of attack: little background story and a long stretch of dramatic time between the
opening curtain and the final climax
Primary Event
The most important incident in the background story; it is NOT performed, it is narrated
Inciting Action
The single event in the play that sparks the main action, the main conflict. It happens when
something happens to the leading character that sets conflict to motion
Climaxes
Prominent peak of emotional intensity that produces a significant change in behavior of
characters
Recognition, Reversal, and Catastrophe
Recognition is a change from ignorance to knowledge on the part of the character. Reversal is a
drastic change in fortune. Catastrophe is the change from good fortune to bad fortune
Brecht
Epic Theater consists of:
fragmentation, contracts, contradiction, interruptions

Alienation effect: makes audience feel dettached from the play so there is no immersion in
fictional reality/ prevents overly empatic feelings of characters

Breaking the fourth wall, by speaking to audiance

Formalist Play Analysis
the search for playable dramatic values that reveal a central unifying pattern which in turn forms
or shapes a play from inside and coordinates all its parts