How To Read A Play

How to Read a Play is an introductory guide to the art of translating the printed page of a play or screenplay into dramatic mental images; it has been a classic among actors, directors, and writers for the past twenty years. Now fully updated and revised, the book devotes a chapter exclusively to screenplays, noting the intrinsic differences between a screenplay and a playscript and thus bringing this invaluable classic up to date.

Now in a fully updated second edition, How to Read a Play offers methods for analyzing play scripts from a diverse range of perspectives, giving directors practical tools as they prepare for production. Based on interviews with award-winning directors, university professors, and experimental theatre companies, How to Read a Play provides practical advice on how to first approach a script, prepare for design meetings, get ready for casting sessions, and lay the groundwork for rehearsals with actors. The book starts with a brief historical overview of famous directors, surveys the work of experimental theatres that devise their work, and ends with twenty-one practical exercises. The second edition includes material from interviews with a diverse range of directors and features perspectives on identity, race, trauma, and joy in working on new plays and redefined classic works. How to Read a Play is written for anyone who loves studying the craft of directing. Students and early career directors will be introduced to basic techniques for breaking down a script for production. Established artists will enjoy a behind the scenes peek at the methods and processes of directors with a diverse range of perspectives.

THE STORY: The play takes place on Labor day Weekend in the joint backyards of two middle-aged widows. The one house belongs to Flo Owens, who lives there with her two maturing daughters, Madge and Millie, and a boarder who is a spinster school tea

In this interactive video-game-inspired picture book perfect for fans of Press Here and Tap the Magic Tree, Blip needs to reach the bar to win his game—but he needs the reader’s help. If he wins, he gets a surprise! Tap, tickle, and shake Blip. Tilt, turn, and bounce Blip. Help Blip win the game in this spirited interactive book, perfect for reading—and playing—again and again!

How to read a play is an introductory guide to the art of translating the printed page of a play or screenplay into dramatic mental images; this book includes a chapter about how to read a screenplay, noting the intrinisic differences between a screenplay and a playscript.

An invaluable introductory guide for students on how to engage with the original printed texts of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

'Could be read with profit and pleasure by any theatregoer.' -Steven Poole, The Guardian'A good basic introduction for first year students to problems of reading plays as performance texts, i.e. reading theatrically.' -Professor R. A. Cave, Royal HollowayA compact, wide-ranging, and accessible guide to reading plays, The Drama Handbook stresses the importance of understanding performance conventions and production processes through history, and offers clearly defined and presented critical vocabularies.

"Considered an essential text since its publication thirty-five years ago, this guide for students and practitioners of both theater and literature complements, rather than contradicts or repeats, traditional methods of literary analysis of scripts

Designed for readers who want to know how to go about reading Shakespeare's works for pleasure, this work offers readings of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Henry IV Part I', 'Hamlet', 'King Lear' and 'The Tempest'. It also talks in theatrical terms about producing the plays on stage or screen.

The Well Read Play, deepens our appreciation and enjoyment of drama. Clear and practical guidance helps the reader to understand the workings of a play, spot clues that the playwright has planted, imagine how it can be staged, and decide whether it will stand the test of time. Absorbing and informative, whether for purposes of study, staging or simply leisure, it is the ideal guide for students, directors, teachers and anyone who loves the theatre.