We will be reading the play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller. This play is set in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The characters are Puritans who fled from England to achieve religious freedom. As you will soon discover, they use their "freedom" to get revenge on anyone they choose.
The parts of a play are:
1. characters
2. stage directions
3. dialogue
4. acts and scenes
1. Characters are the individuals who are performing each part. Consider the age, gender, nationality, and situation the character is in.
2. The stage directions are usually in italics and sometimes enclosed in parentheses or brackets. They can describe the setting and situation, the set, sound effects, lighting and placement of props. They also describe the characters' appearances, emotional states, and movements.
3. Dialogue is the directly quoted words of conversation between two or more characters. Dialogue helps reveal characters' personalities, thoughts and motivations.
4. The play is divided into acts and scenes. These are dividers like chapters in a book. It allows the reader to separate the play into portions that can be easily identified.
When we read a play we must visualize or "picture" what is going on in the act or scene. What does the stage, costumes and props look like? How do the characters act and look? What facial expressions are they making? How do the characters sound? Are they talking? Yelling? Whispering?
Plays are also written differently than a narrative text. Plays are written in dialogue form. This means that each line must have a character's name and then the EXACT line the actor/actress is to say. The following is an example of the opening lines of the play "The Crucible."
http://content.screencast.com/users/mrspinney/folders/Jing/media/1b29a4ca-a036-4cb2-a4a5-4d28a4b7a7e1/Crucible%20Text%20Page%201.png
Please notice some features of a play text that are different than a narrative.
1. The stage directions are in parentheses and explain action that is occurring away from the actual dialogue.
2. The setting is described as to where, when, and who is involved in the action in this particular scene.
As we begin reading the play, "The Crucible," pay close attention to the names of the characters, how they are speaking, and the dialogue they are saying. It will make the play so much more interesting than just reading the lines straight through without any inflection in your voice or understanding what action is occurring in the scene.
Here is a short glimpse of the movie so you will have an idea of what to expect when reading this fantastic play.
