Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers
- 2nd Edition - November 19, 1998
- Latest edition
- Author: James Thomas
- Language: English
Based on the premise that plays are objects of study in and of themselves, Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers, teaches a traditional system of classifications… Read more
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Description
Description
Based on the premise that plays are objects of study in and of themselves, Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers, teaches a traditional system of classifications that examines the written part of a play, excluding such considerations as performance, scenery, or costuming.
This book applies directly to the experience of theatrical production; students will immediately be able to relate the concepts and procedures they learn to their artistic work. The author's procedural method is detailed and precise. The parts of a play are learned progressively, which fosters an understanding of the concept of artistic unity. Examples are clear and comprehensive. Actors, directors, and designers will benefit from end-of-chapter questions and summaries meant to stimulate their creative process as they engage in production work.
An updated appendix includes introductions to additional critical theories in widest use today. Examples from contemporary theatre, including three plays written since 1990, bring this edition completely up-to-date.
This book applies directly to the experience of theatrical production; students will immediately be able to relate the concepts and procedures they learn to their artistic work. The author's procedural method is detailed and precise. The parts of a play are learned progressively, which fosters an understanding of the concept of artistic unity. Examples are clear and comprehensive. Actors, directors, and designers will benefit from end-of-chapter questions and summaries meant to stimulate their creative process as they engage in production work.
An updated appendix includes introductions to additional critical theories in widest use today. Examples from contemporary theatre, including three plays written since 1990, bring this edition completely up-to-date.
Key features
Key features
Updated to include examples of contemporary plays
End-of-chapter questions and summaries stimulate creative process
Formalist approach provides an excellent foundation for using a wide variety of critical approaches
End-of-chapter questions and summaries stimulate creative process
Formalist approach provides an excellent foundation for using a wide variety of critical approaches
Readership
Readership
Students in script analysis courses in theatre programs, as well as acting and directing courses, and some design courses. Also useful for lit courses in drama and literary criticism.
Table of contents
Table of contents
Introduction; Foundations of the Plot; Foundations of the Plot 2; Plot: Physical and Psychological Action; Plot: Progressions and Structure; Character; Idea; Dialogue; Tempo, Rhythm, and Mood; Style of the Play; Appendix A: Supplementary Considerations; Appendix B: Introduction to Genres and Styles of Drama; Selected Bibliography
Product details
Product details
- Edition: 2
- Latest edition
- Published: November 19, 1998
- Language: English
About the author
About the author
JT
James Thomas
James Thomas, Professor of Theatre at Wayne State University and Head of its PhD Program in Directing and Theatre Scholarship, is a graduate of St. Ambrose College (BA), Villanova University (MA), and the University of Texas at Austin (PhD). Thomas has also taught theatre at Mount Holyoke College, Marquette University and Florida State University, where he was Associate Dean. His recent directing credits include Six Characters in Search of an Author and Cymbeline at Detroit’s Hilberry Theatre, and Ah, Wilderness! and The Skin of our Teeth at the Bonstelle Theatre. He is also translator of texts about modern Russian acting and directing technique and Director of the Department’s Study Abroad Program with the Moscow Art Theatre School. He is currently at work on a study of Shakespeare’s plays for actors, directors and designers.
Affiliations and expertise
Professor of Theatre, Wayne State University; Head of the PhD Program in Directing and Theatre Scholarship, Detroit, MI, USA