Play Analysis for Analytic Exercises
Name:________________________________________________Date:____________
1) Title of the Play:
2) Significance of the title? (What does it refer to?)
Genre
3) Genre of play: drama, comedy, tragedy, farce, agit-prop, tragic-comedy, other (musical, melodrama, experimental, etc.) _______________
Physical Setting
4) Where is the play set?
- a) Place?
- b) Time?
Plot
5) Plot Summary (3 – 5 sentences)
Precipitating Context/Material that comes forth in exposition (rising action)
6) What is the inciting event?
7) Point of attack: early or late (circle one)
Major Characters
8) The Major Characters list: For casting purposes, place an “L” next to leading roles an “S” next to supporting roles
- a) Male roles:
- b) Female roles:
Impelling Agent
9) Which of the main characters acts as the Impelling Agent for most of the play?
Dramatic Activity
10) Choose a specific dramatic segment in the play, identify an important dramatic activity initiated by the impelling agent. What is the dramatic activity (i.e. baiting, shaming, etc.) that the character engages in?
11) Does the impelling agent make the play happen? Yes or no. If yes, how?
12) If not the impelling agent, who does make the play happen? How?
Resistance
13) The greatest resistance in this play comes from what or who? Explain.
Character’s Energy
14) Impelling agent’s energy: active or reactive (circle one). Give an example of an incident in the play that supports this claim.
Objective (Pro’ject)
15) What is the impelling agent’s objective?
16) During the course of the play, does the objective remain constant or is it altered? If it is altered, what is the impelling agent’s new objective?
Structure
17) Structure of the play by type: intensive or extensive (circle one).
Crux, most intense moment (Climax)
18) Does the movement of the play suggest a central discovery (obligatory scene)? If so, what is it, and why is it obligatory?
19) Is there a reversal of fortune? What is it?
20) Is there a turning point in the play’s action? What is it?
21) Does the playwright make use of foreshadowing? If so, give an example.
22) Does the playwright make use of dramatic irony? If so, give an example.
23) Does the impelling agent recognize his or her change in circumstances? Explain.
The Memorial Experience
19) What was your impression left by the play?
Outside the play but relevant
20) Is the play concerned with a specific historical event/set of circumstances? (For example, Les Miserables is concerned with the French Revolution.) Explain.
21) In the original production, was the audience set (see definitions) important to the way the play works? Explain.
Spectacle or what the audience sees, the physical production
22) How important are the set, costumes, and lighting to the basic understanding of the play? Mention any special requirement the play requires.
Language and Imagery, or what the audience hears
23) Language: Is the play in verse, prose, or dialect (circle one).
24) Discuss significant literary elements, such as motifs, images, metaphors, symbols.
Modes and Style
25) Style of production: presentational or representational (circle one).
26) Style of presentation: realism, naturalism, absurdism, poetic drama, historical drama, artificial (comedy of manners, musical, etc). or other ______________
Thought or Meaning
27) What is the playwright’s message (theme)?
Evaluation
28) Has this play withstood the test of time?
29) What might need to be done to make the play more relevant to a contemporary audience? If nothing needs to be done, explain why.
30) If you were a producing director, would you mount this play in your theatre? Why or why not? (Persuade us one way or the other.)
Goldstein's Grill 