Understanding Plays
A play is a written story meant to be acted out on stage.
How is a play different from a story?
Most of a play is
dialogue, or the
conversation between
characters, and stage
directions.
Stage Directions Describe the Scene
Gives information
that helps readers
“see” the scene.
Notice how the stage
directions on the next
slide help you picture
the scenery as you
begin to read the play
“Star Sisters”
Characters:
Bear
Lynx
Wolverine
Trees
Narrator
Red Star
White Star
Little Star
Red Star Sister
White Star Sister
Star People
Star Grandmother
(Setting: the forest at night. The night is clear and
stars shine in the sky. The sisters lay on blankets
looking at the sky. There may be a forest backdrop
and/or trees and bush sets. Stars may be attached
and hanging over the sisters.)
Stage Directions: Describe the Action
• A play is mostly dialogue but the
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playwright still needs to describe
what’s happening.
Stage directions describe the
action.
They give information about how
characters should sound, how
they should move, and how they
should handle props.
Notice how the stage directions on
the next slide describe the action.
SCENE I
NARRATOR: One night, two sisters went outside to sleep under the
stars.
RED STAR SISTER: (Gestures towards sky) Look up into the sky.
WHITE STAR SISTER: It is beautiful up there.
RED STAR SISTER: I would like to marry a star.
WHITE STAR SISTER: I, too, would like to marry a star.
RED STAR SISTER: Which one would you marry?
WHITE STAR SISTER: I would marry that big white star.
RED STAR SISTER: I would marry that bright red star.
WHITE STAR SISTER: I am feeling very tired (sighs).
RED STAR SISTER: (Yawning) I am tired too.
The two Sisters fall asleep. As soon as they do so, Red Star and
White Star enter and walk quietly towards the Sisters.
RED STAR: This is my wife-to-be.
WHITE STAR: This is the one who wants to marry me.
RED STAR: Let us take them to the Sky Land now!
How Dialogue is Used
• You often judge your friends
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and learn about them by
listening to what they say,
you do the same with
characters in a play.
Dialogue tells you who the
characters are, what they
think, how they react to each
other, and what’s happening.
Focus on the dialogue on the
next two slides.
SCENE II
White Star Sister and Red Star Sister are asleep on the bare stage.
They are surrounded by a crowd of Star People.
RED STAR SISTER (waking): Where are we? Sister, wake up!
WHITE STAR SISTER: I dreamt that a star came down from the sky.
Ah, who are these people?
ALL OF THE STAR PEOPLE: We are the Star People.
STAR GRANDMOTHER: You are not dreaming.
LITTLE STAR: You are in the sky.
Red Star Sister and White Star Sister stand up.
RED STAR SISTER: How did we get up into the sky?
RED STAR: Do you not remember? You said you wanted to marry me.
I am Red Star.
WHITE STAR: And your sister said she wanted to marry me. I am
White Star.
WHITE STAR SISTER: Where is our wigwam?
LITTLE STAR (pointing towards the floor): It is way down there.
STAR GRANDMOTHER: Every night our job is to look down through
the holes in the sky.
ALL OF THE STAR PEOPLE: When people look up, they see our faces
looking at them.
WHITE STAR (taking White Star Sister’s hand): Come with me, my
wife. I will show you your new home.
RED STAR (taking Red Star Sister’s hand): My wife, come with me. I
will show you your new home too.
SCENE II dialogue describes the action and makes clear what
characters are thinking.
Dialogue explains action: how and why sisters were brought
to Sky Land and the job of the Star People.
Dialogue explains characters thoughts: sisters were
surprised to be in Sky Land and Red Star and White Star
want to share their homes with the sisters.
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Focus on Key Lines and Speeches
• Every play has key lines and
speeches.
• These parts of the play usually
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come at important moments and
suggest the playwright’s message.
To find key lines and speeches,
look for parts that tell you
important things about the plot or
characters.
Read Scene III. Can you identify
a key line or speech?
SCENE III
White Star Sister and Red Star Sister are walking around the stage.
The basket is on one side of the stage. All around them Star People
are kneeling or lying on the stage with their faces looking down
through the holes in the sky. As White Star Sister and Red Star Sister
walk around, the Star People look up at them and then look back
down again.
WHITE STAR SISTER: We have been in the sky for a long time,
Sister.
RED STAR SISTER: Has White Star been kind to you?
WHITE STAR SISTER: He has been very kind to me, but there is
nothing to do here in the Sky Land.
RED STAR SISTER: Red Star has been kind to me too. But I miss my
home.
LITTLE STAR: Are you sad?
WHITE STAR SISTER: I miss my mother and father.
RED STAR SISTER: I miss my home and my friends.
LITTLE STAR: Come with me. I will take you to my grandmother.
Little Star leads the Star Sisters across the stage to Star
Grandmother. Red Star and White Star and nearby, looking through
holes in the sky.
LITTLE STAR: Grandmother, they are sad. They miss their families
and their friends.
STAR GRANDMOTHER: Look down through this hole. What do you
see?
RED STAR SISTER (looking): I see my family’s wigwam.
WHITE STAR SISTER (looking): I can hear my people singing.
STAR GRANDMOTHER: You are ready to go home.
RED STAR (standing up): If you are ready to go home, we will help
you.
WHITE STAR (also standing): We will miss you.
RED STAR: But you should be with your family.
STAR GRANDMOTHER: Get into the basket. We will tie a long rope
to it.
The Star Sisters climb into the basket.
ALL OF THE STAR PEOPLE: We will lower you to the world below.
Theme
• Plays have a theme.
• Can you identify the playwright’s
message?
• Remember to pay attention to the
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“big idea” of the play, what
characters say, do, and think, what
characters think about each other,
and what important lesson about
life you can learn from the play.
Finish reading the play and identify
the theme.
SCENE IV
White Star Sister and Red Star Sister are standing in the nest,
peering upward. The Trees stand in the background.
RED STAR SISTER: Wait, Star People! Don’t take the basket away.
We have not reached the ground yet. We are in an eagle’s nest at
the top of the tree.
WHITE STAR SISTER: They can’t hear you.
RED STAR SISTER: How can we get down from this treetop?
WHITE STAR SISTER: We will call for help. Look, there is bear.
RED STAR SISTER: Come up here and help us get down.
BEAR: Who is asking for help?
WHITE STAR SISTER: We are! Up here, in the eagle’s nest.
BEAR: I am too busy to help you. I am looking for honey.
WHITE STAR SISTER: He is going away. Oh, how can we get down?
WHITE STAR SISTER: Look, there is Lynx.
RED STAR SISTER: Please help us get down.
LYNX: My claws aren’t sharp enough. That is too far to climb.
RED STAR SISTER: He is going away too.
WHITE STAR SISTER: Who is that coming?
RED STAR SISTER: Oh no, it is Wolverine. If Wolverine helps us, he
will make us live with him.
WOLVERINE: Did I hear someone speak my name? Ah, looook.
Twoooo pretty sisters in a tree. I will help them get doooown.
RED STAR SISTER: Go away, we do not need any help.
WHITE STAR SISTER: Shh. Let him help us down. I have a plan.
Wolverine helps the Star Sisters climb out of the eagle’s nest and
down the tree.
WOLVERINE: There, I have helped you doooown. Now you can come
and cooook my fooood and live with me.
WHITE STAR SISTER: Wait, I forgot my comb.
RED STAR SISTER: I forgot my comb too.
WHITE STAR SISTER: Please climb back up and get our combs.
WOLVERINE: The forest is thick here. Hoooow will I find yoooou when
I come back down?
WHITE STAR SISTER: We will whistle to you.
WOLVERINE: Wait here for me. Don’t forget toooo whistle when I get
back.
RED STAR SISTER: He’s gone. Now let’s run away. This is the path
to our village.
WHITE STAR SISTER: Wait. I have to ask the trees for help. (Takes
the kinnikinnick from her pouch.) I am placing this kinnikinnick (kihNEE-kin-nik) here on the ground for you as a gift. Help us. When
Wolverine come down, whistle to him.
TREES: We will help you, little ones.
WHITE STAR SISTER: Now let’s run away!
WOLVERINE: I am back noooow. I could not find your coooombs.
Sisters, where are yoooou? Whistle toooo me. (A Tree whistles.)
There yoooou are. (Another Tree whistles.) Or are yoooou there?
(Trees whistle all around him.) Oh noooo, they have tricked me.
Now I have noooo one to cooook for me.
NARRATOR: So White Star Sister and Red Star Sister tricked Wolverine
and came home safely. And from then on, they never again slept out
at night under the stars or forgot how much they loved their homes
and families.
Theme Diagram
Helps you figure out the
theme and state it in your
own words.
What is the topic,
or “big idea,” of the
work?
What do the
characters say or
do that relates to
the topic?
What do these
things tell you that
is important to
learn about life?
• Home or Family
• Sisters are taken from home and family to marry stars.
• They are homesick and want to go home.
• Red Star says they should be with their families.
• The sisters trick wolverine so they can go home.
• Home is not in the sky or in nature, but where your
family is.
Plays are Organized Into Sections:
• Sections of plays are called acts. They are
usually divided into 1 to 5 acts.
• Each act is broken down into one or two smaller
scenes that establish different times or places in
the story.
Act III
from: Toad of Toad Hall
Scene 2
THE DUNGEON
Scene: A Dungeon. On a heap of straw in the
corner TOAD sleeps uneasily. The door is
unlocked and PHOEBE, the jailer’s daughter
comes in with breakfast on a tray. TOAD sits up
and takes the straw from his hair.
PHOEBE: Good morning, Toad.
TOAD (gloomily): Good morning, woman.
Cast of Characters
• A list of all the play’s characters.
• Sometimes a short description appears after the
character names, telling something about them.
• You can often learn about the play just by
skimming through the cast of characters.
From: Pecos Bill by John Tichanor
Characters:
Narrator
Ma
Pa
Pecos Bill
Chuckwagon Chuck
Sourdough Sal
Hardtack Hank
Flap Jack
Sluefoot Sue
(Coyote & Cattle)
Setting
• The place and time of the scene or
play.
• Setting is usually given in the stage
directions for an act or scene.
• Most plays have 1 general setting, but
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each scene may take place in its own
special place and special time.
Setting often influences the mood and
reveals what the characters are like.
Setting changes help show how the
time has changed in a play.
Setting
From: Star Sisters by Joseph Bruchae
Scene I
Red Star Sister and White Star Sister lie on
blankets outdoors in the forest.
NARRATOR: One night, two sisters went outside
to sleep under the stars.
RED STAR SISTER: Look up into the sky.
WHITE STAR SISTER: It is beautiful up there.
Narrator
• Explains or moves along the action
of the play with comments.
• Has an inactive role in the play
because he is not one of the actual
characters in the play.
From: Star Sisters by Joseph Bruchae
Scene I
Red Star Sister and White Star Sister lie on
blankets outdoors in the forest.
NARRATOR: One night, two sisters went outside
to sleep under the stars.
RED STAR SISTER: Look up into the sky.
WHITE STAR SISTER: It is beautiful up there.
Monologue
• Speech by one character
who is alone on stage.
from: “What’s Your Problem?”
Jillian walks onto the stage alone. A spotlight shines
only on her.
JILLIAN (staring into the audience thoughtfully):
What am I going to do? Marcus asked me to the
dance, but mom won’t have enough money for a
dress. Do I make up an excuse Marcus will believe or
do I accept his invitation and try to come up with the
money? I don’t want mom to feel bad for not having
enough money. I’ll just go to class. Something will
come to me. (Jillian walks out of the light and into the
classroom.)
Prologue
• A speech or poem spoken
to the audience at the
beginning of the play to
introduce information.
NARRATOR: It is two weeks before the Senior
Prom at Kennedy Smith High School. Students are
organizing decorations for the dance and asking
each other for dates in the hallways. Almost
everyone is excited. Some students wonder if they
will be asked to the dance while others tell their
friends they want to go alone. Teachers are telling
students to get to class.
Props
• Objects used in plays to
create the setting.
• Below are some props you
might see in “Star Sisters”
Scenery
• The background screens
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or hangings used to
create places or settings
in plays.
You might see this
background in “Star
Sisters”
Lighting
• Focus lights to draw attention
to a single character, a group
of actors, or the color mixture
of the lights create night and
day.
Sound Effects
• Sounds created offstage
that are like the normal
sounds of the play’s
setting.
Sounds of a Storm
Sounds of a Telephone
Read the Play Carefully
• Pay attention to key details
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about characters, setting,
and plot events.
Take notes to keep track of
information.
Try different organizers
depending on whether your
focus is on plot, characters,
setting, or theme.
Read the Play Carefully
• Pay attention to key details
•
•
about characters, setting,
and plot events.
Take notes to keep track of
information.
Try different organizers
depending on whether your
focus is on plot, characters,
setting, or theme.
Use an Organizer : Summary Notes
Gives you a complete record of
the important plot events and
gives characters’ feelings.
For Example:
Title:
Star Sisters
Scene I
Star sisters are sleeping in forest at night.
They say they’d like to marry stars, then fall asleep. Red
Star and White Star take them to Sky Land.
Scene II
Star Sisters wake up in Sky Land. Red Star and White Star
take them to Sky Land.
Scene III
Star Sisters are lonely and miss home. The Star People
lower them to the world below.
Scene IV
Star Sisters are stuck in an eagle’s nest in the forest. Bear
and Lynx won’t help them down. They trick wolverine into
helping them and then go home.
Use an Organizer: Web
Lets you organize ideas
around key events, characters,
or ideas.
Think sky is
beautiful and
dream of
marrying star
Trick
wolverine
and get home
safely
Star
Sisters
Want help to
get out of
eagle’s nest
Leave family
and friends
and feel
homesick and
bored in Sky
Land