LITERARY FEATURES OF STAGE DRAMA
Remember to treat the text as stage drama. It should be clear from your analysis that you are dissecting a PLAY, as
opposed to another literary form. Thus, incorporate these terms or techniques unique to stage drama into your Paper 2
response where applicable.
Audience (as opposed to “reader”)
French Scene: a director’s tool, breaking scenes into sub-scenes designated by the entrance or exit of a significant
character. Each French Scene creates its own effect.
Set design (Note significant contrasts from Shakespeare’s simplicity to Mielziner’s complexity)
Lighting design (Jo Mielziner was both set & lighting designer for Death of a Salesman)
Sound design: diegetic vs. extra-diegetic sound cues (e.g., Alex North’s compositions for Salesman)
Costume design (Note significance of Western vs. traditional Yoruba costumes in The Lion & the Jewel)
Areas of the stage:
• Upstage, downstage, down center, stage right (actor’s right), stage left (actor’s left), etc.
• Levels (high vs. low; lying down, sitting, kneeling, standing, on an elevated platform, etc.)
• Planes (downstage, upstage)
Tonal qualities of each area of the stage
Scrim: gauzy fabric screen that is opaque when light is shone in front, semi-transparent when light is shone in front &
from behind, & virtually transparent when light is shown from behind (used to great effect in Salesman)
Movement:
• Blocking (bigger movements, often movement from one area of the stage to another or from one level to
another)
• Crossing (moving from one area of the stage to another)
• Stage business (gestures & movements that don’t entail crossing)
• Entrances & exits (consider the different tonal qualities of location of entrances & exits)
• Levels, either through blocking or through a multi-level stage, as in Mielziner’s set for Death of a Salesman
Dialogue & monologue (also called soliloquy)
Characterization: objective (what a character wants in a scene), obstacle (something that hinders a character from
achieving an objective), & tactics (what a character does to achieve objective), & super-objective (character’s
ultimate goal for the whole script)
Text (what is stated by characters & stage directions) vs. Subtext (what is implied beneath what is said by characters &
the character dynamics implied by stage directions)
Foil
Irony:
• Situational
• Verbal (sarcasm, litotes, meosis)
• Dramatic
Tragedy:
Classical tragedy: historical or mythic past (audience typically already knew the plot)
Classical comedy: contemporary plot
Aristotelian terms:
• Mimesis
• 3 unities (time, place, action)
• Tragedy elicits pity & fear
• Plot
Desis à exposition, complication, rising action, anagnorisis
Lusis à peripeteia, falling action, catastrophe, scene of suffering
• Scene of suffering is what usually elicits the most catharsis
• Tragic hero
ü Of high estate
ü Renowned & prosperous
ü Has hamartia
No deus ex machina events in well-constructed tragedy
Non-Aristotelian: Comic relief (Specify relief from what. Always put in context.)
Comedy:
Straight Man vs. Fall Guy
Pratfall & Slapstick (boisterous comedy characterized by broad farce & physical horseplay; used throughout
Godot)
Stichomythia (used throughout Godot)
STAGING CONVENTIONS
Adapted from William Ball’s A Sense of Direction: Some Observations on the Art of Directing (1984)
Types of Stages
PROSCENIUM (e.g., Si Siverson Theatre)
THRUST (e.g., Globe)
ARENA (e.g., ACT, Seattle)
Areas of the proscenium stage:
APRON
Stage Movement
Stage drama is about action—characters doing something within the context of a setting. Sometimes those
characters are speaking, sometimes not. With this in mind, dialogue supports action.
1.
Movement helps interpret and communicate the characters’ objectives and tactics as well as dynamics
between characters.
2.
Blocking: big movements, generally a “cross” (X) from one area of the stage to another.
3.
Stage business: small movements; gestures and movements that don’t entail crossing.
Different areas of the stage have different “tonal qualities”.
DC: hard, intense, harsh, strong, climatic, great
formality
UC: regal, aloof, noble, superiority, stability
DR: warm, informal, tender
DL: not so warm as DR: distant intimacy, introspection
UR: soft, distant, romantic
UL: infinity, ghostliness, depression
Use for quarrels, fights, crises, climaxes
Use for formal and romanticized love scenes, scenes of
domination, court center, royal dais
Use for intimate love scenes, informal calls,
confessions, gossip, long narratives
Use for conspiracies, casual love scenes, soliloquies,
formal calls, business matters
Use for romantic scenes
Use for supernatural scenes, background scenes, scenes
of isolation and despair
Tonal Qualities of Movement
! Movement from L to R gives a stronger effect than movement from R to L, a direction that follows Western
society’s reading direction and thus seems more “natural,” more “downhill”. If an actor or group needs to
convey a sense of strength—e.g., going to something definite or important with the anticipation of success—
the entrance or exit should be from L to R. An army exiting to an anticipated victory or entering from a
victory should X from L to R.
! Movement from R to L is weaker, suggesting retreat or going to defeat or to something indefinite and
uncertain. A defeated army entering from R and X-ing L reinforces this sense of defeat.
! Movement from a low level to a higher level is strong; however, an actor exiting UC on a high level will not
gain dominant strength unless he or she turns before exiting.
Physical Levels
Physical levels refer to the height of an actor above the stage floor. Ordinarily, the higher the level, the stronger
the position, the exception being a low level of one actor being in sharp contrast to high level of other actors, as
when one actor is lying prone on the stage while others are standing.
Emotional Levels
Emotional levels refer to the emotional intensity of the scene, which ideally should change in the course of a
scene, either escalate or de-escalate. Staging—using particular areas of the stage, blocking, stage business,
and the use of physical levels—work with line delivery and facial expressions to establish emotional levels
and characterization.