PLOT: External and
Internal Action
What is plot?
What happened?
What is happening?
What is going to happen?
It is what sustains our interest and makes
us want to learn how everything does or
doesn’t come together.
Four Principles of Plot
1.
2.
3.
4.
External Action
Internal Action
Progression
Structure
EXTERNAL ACTION
What the characters are seen doing on
stage (Stanislavski called it the first plan)
Beware of the stage directions in the
script; use the dialogue
Entrances and Exits
Starts and stops the action
Most basic part of the plot. Why?
– Answers who is (was or will be) on stage
Exit, curtain, blackout (same thing)
Blocking
Movement and location of characters on
the stage – spatial relationship
– Clarify the story
– Express emotion
Again, should be driven by the dialogue
Use of Properties
Use of stage or hand properties
Physical reality on stage – opportunities
for stage business
Props used to two ends:
– Logic to explain the story
– Drama to express feelings
Props are most significant when they are
described in the dialogue
Special Activities
Uncommon activities:
– Stage combat
– Playing musical instruments
– Dancing
– Acrobatics
– Movements requiring special skills
INTERNAL ACTIONS
Concerns the mental , spiritual and/or
emotional lives of the characters
Appears in three forms:
– Assertion
– Plans
– Commands
Attitude!
Assertions
Plain statement of fact
Plainly identify people, places, things, or
events
But remember… characters are deceitful
and lie
Assertions become accusations when the
offense is serious
Assertions
Assertions are composed of…
– Announcements
– Identifications
– Accusations
– Rhetorical questions
Plans
A detailed method, formulated
beforehand, for doing something
Are a practical and economical method for
advancing the plot
Commands
A statement with a builtbuilt-in feeling of
necessity
Feeling that the characters must strive to
carry out
Why do we care?
Actors and directors want to point these
moments to help tell the story
Designers transform these moments to
help arrange the most expressive scenic
space
PLOT: Progressions and
Structure
Progressive Growth
Why? To achieve maximum effect
Progression
Sometimes chronological sometimes
psychological
Forward motion is essential
Progression
Arranged according to size
BEAT
UNIT
SCENE
ACT
Beats
A group of related lines
Introduce, develop, and conclude a single
small topic
Single, complete topic
Typically six lines
They are not always easy to identify
These are textual beats not acting beats
Units
Group of related beats
More influential than a beat because it is
larger
Approximately one page
Scenes
Group of related units
Progression of related units, shaped like a
small play
Introduce, develop, and conclude a single,
large dramatic event
Change of locale or entrance/exit of major
character
Emotional strength of ending gives scenes
a characteristic identity
Acts
Group of related scenes
Largest progression within a play
Dramatic quality of ending
Interior acts end with expectation for the
next act
Final act ends to create a decisive closing
impression
STRUCTURE
The arrangement of the parts of the plot
and their relationship to each other and to
the whole play
Gustav Freytag described in his pyramid in
1863
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/freytag.html
Elements of Structure
Point of Attack
Inciting Action
Obstacles
Climaxes
Recognition, Reversal, and Catastrophe
Simple and Complex Plots
Resolution
Point of Attack
The moment when the play begins in
relation to the background story at one
end and the climax at the other
Expressed as an early point of attack or a
late point of attack
Based mostly on the playwrights style or
the writing style of the day
Inciting Action
Single event that sparks the main action
of the entire play
Near the beginning of the play
Short or long
In the form of an incident, idea, wish or
plan in the mind of the leading character
Obstacles
Counter movements in the plot created by
conflicting motives and events
Must be a shared disagreement
Creates increasing levels of tension
Plot thickens and becomes more complex
Internal tensions begin to surface
Climaxes
Prominent peak of emotional intensity
Obstacle appears strongest and most
decisive
Best to seek out three major climaxes
(beginning, middle, and end)
Minor climaxes – significant adjustment in
the course of events
Recognition, Reversal and
Catastrophe
Recognition – change from ignorance to
knowledge
Reversal – Radical change in fortune
Reversal of good fortune to bad are
accompanied by a catastrophe (event)
Simple and Complex Plots
Simple – no recognition and reversal
Complex – recognition and reversal
Brecht, Beckett, and Chekhov make
effective use of simple plot
Resolution
Events following the third major climax
Also called the denouement
Consists of the quieting of tension and a
return to the equilibrium or adjustment