Chapter Four
Experiencing and Analyzing Plays
James Estrin/The New York Times/Redux Pictures
Tools for Analysis
Three Unities
Unity of Time
 Unity of Place
 Unity of Action

 Plays
can follow all of the unities, some or
none
 Useful as a starting point for analysing the
play’s structure, use of time and place and
any subplots.
Aristotle’s Poetics
The Six Elements of Drama
1. Plot – what is the story about?
2. Character – Who is doing the action?
3. Thought – What do the actions in the play
mean?
4. Diction – How is the dialogue used to reveal
character and set the environment?
5. Song – How do the musical elements of the play
move the plot to its conclusion?
6. Spectacle – How do each of the visual and
auditory elements of the play contribute to the
performance?
Protagonist and Antagonist
A protagonist is the central character in a
literary work.
 An antagonist is a character (or element)
who is opposite to or challenges the
protagonist."



(http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/on-line/lit-terms.html)
The protagonist doesn’t need to be “good”
Macbeth does many evil deeds but he is
the protagonist of the play, Macbeth.
Goethe
Three Essential Questions Dramatic
Criticism Should Address
1. What is the artist trying to do?
2. How well has the artist done it?
3. Is it worth doing?

http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/multimed
ia/videos/111
Levels of Participation
Presentational Theatre
Representational Theatre
is self-consciously
theatrical and will often
acknowledge the
audience and may even
invite them to participate
is based on the idea of
the “fourth wall,” in which
the actors never
acknowledge the
presence of the audience
Example –
Example –
The Rocky Horror Picture
Show
A Doll’s House
Three Factors by which Theatre
Artists Manipulate their Audiences
1. Group Dynamics – how
people function when
members of a group


Emotion overcomes
the intellect
Laughter becomes
infectious
2. Willing Suspension of
Disbelief – we accept the
world of the play over
that of our everyday
reality
Kevin Berne/Courtesy American Conservatory Theater
Three Factors by which Theatre
Artists Manipulate their Audiences
Sygma/Corbis
3. Aesthetic Distance –
the audience’s ability
to remove
themselves so that
they can contemplate
and evaluate the
performance and the
play
Do not come late and
don’t leave until
intermission or the
end.
Do not talk.
Turn off cell phones and
don’t text or tweet.
Do not take photos or
use recording
devices.
Richard Feldman
Etiquette in the Theatre
Going to the Theatre
Check your local paper, TV, or websites
for play listings.
 Reserve your nonrefundable tickets.
 To save money, attend preview
performances or check for student rates.
 Observe the dress code for that theatre.
 Read the program to be better informed.
 Analyze and discuss the performance after
the show.

Everyone is a Critic
RICHARD PERRY/The New York Times/Redux Pictures
Reviews
are often short
evaluations of a
production
presented in the
print or electronic
media that offer
the opinion of
whether the play’s
worth attending.
Everyone is a Critic
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Dramatic Criticism
offers the reader a
discriminating,
often scholarly
interpretation and
analysis of a play,
an artist’s body of
work, or a period
of theatre history.