Expectations: What do you expect

° from the title? from the first sentence, paragraph, or speech?

° after the first events or interactions of characters? as the conflict is

resolved?

Characterization: Who are the characters? Is there a list of characters

printed after the title of the play? What do you notice about their names or

any identification of their roles, character types, or relationships?

° Who is/are the protagonist(s)?

° Who is/are the antagonist(s) (villain, opponent, obstacle)?

° Who are the other characters?

° What does each character know at any moment in the action? What does

each character expect at any point? What does the audience know or

expect that is different from what the characters know or expect?

Plot: What happens in the play?

° Do the characters or situations change during the play?

° What are the differences between the beginning, middle, and end of

the play? Is it divided into acts? Would there be an intermission in a

performance?

° Can you summarize the plot? Is it a recognizable kind or genre such as

tragedy, comedy, farce, or mystery?

Setting: What is the setting of the play?

° When does the action occur? Do the stage directions specify a year or

era, a day of the week, a season, a time of day?

° Are there any time changes during the play? Are the scenes in chrono logical order, or are there any scenes that are supposed to take place

earlier or simultaneously? Does the passage of time in the lives of the characters correspond with the passage of time onstage? Or do we under stand that time has passed and events have occurred offstage and between

scenes?

° Where does it take place? Is it in the United States or another country,

or in a specific town or region? Do the stage directions describe the

scene that an audience would see onstage, and does this remain the

same or change during the play? How many scene changes are there?

Style: What do you notice about how the play is written?

° What is the style of the dialogue? Are the sentences and speeches short or

long? Is the vocabulary simple or complex? Do characters ever speak at the

same time, or do they always take turns? Does the play instruct actors to be

silent for periods of time? Which characters speak most often? How might

their speech patterns differ?

° Are there any images or figures of speech?

° What is the tone or mood? Does the play make the reader or audience

feel sad, amused, worried, curious?

Theme: What does the play mean? Can you express its theme or themes?

° Answers to these big questions may be found in many instances by return ing to your answers to the questions above. The play’s meaning or theme

depends on all its features.