Backwards and Forwards: Notes
PLOT
- Stasis- What would keep happening if something new didn't come along and cause something new to happen?
- Point of Attack – the place where the play starts and why it specifically starts there
- Exposition – When/Where is it delivered and by whom? Who know what & who doesn't?
- "Triggers & Heaps" (series of actions) – Dominoes. What Actions lead to a following action, which in turn leads to yet another action?
- Forwards – Arouses audience interest in things yet to come.
- Opposing Forces – Identify the forces attempting to dominate in the world of the play
- Conflict – The want of the major character/s VS. the obstacle/s
- Climax – The moment when the opposing forces reach their critical mass and a resolution is formed. The reversal.
- Denouement – The final unraveling or solution to the plot
- New Stasis – Where does the world end up? Where does the movement stop until the next intrusion comes along?
CHARACTER
- Character(s) Motivation – What do they want in a big bad way? Their desire
- Obstacles – What opposes the motivation? What are they – actions, choices, circumstances, or what?
- Action/What? – What the characters does or is willing to do to satisfy the want
- Action/Why? – Why the character chooses these actions?
- Avowed Action/Why? vs. True Action/Why? – Why does the character SAY he does an action compared to the truth un why he does an action.
IMAGES
- Dominant Images – Images/motifs in the play that underscore or augment the play's action
- Repeated Images – Images that reappear throughout the course of the play
- Images in the Title – Is there a dominant image in the Title? What is its importance?
THINGS THEATRICAL
- What elicits a strong audience response?
THEME
- Interpret the author's potential messages – what issues is the author exploring
- What are the abstract concepts which part of all of the play is "about?"
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Background information on the playwright, era, and artistic environment of when the play was written
- Assume what's in a script is there on purpose
- Explore the family relationships in the script (customs, politics, laws, tastes, styles . . . )
- What makes the play unique? Why does the action occur on that specific day and time as opposed to the next day or the previous day?
- It takes more than one reading to get it all!