Script Analysis
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course concerns the art of carefully reading dramatic texts with the aim of gaining
a comprehensive understanding of the parts that make up the whole of the text. Unlike
literature, which can afford very detailed information regarding internal states,
objectives, and surroundings, dramatic texts are sometimes more subtle and provide
only indications, since the ultimate goal of a dramatic text is to take full shape on the
stage based on the creative vision of a director and his/her production team.
Tennessee Williams wrote: “A play in a book is only the shadow of a play and not even a
clear shadow of it…The printed script is hardly more than an architect’s blueprint of a
house not yet built…The color, the grace and levitation, the structural pattern in motion,
the quick interplay of live beings, suspended like fitful lightening in a cloud, these things
are the play, not the words on paper.” It is paramount, then, that the script, the
blueprint, be read and understood to the utmost degree to ensure a stable final product.
The purpose of script analysis is to identify the separate elements that make up the
whole text and how they work together, as well as individually. There is no single
correct way to interpret any given text, but the validity of an interpretation hangs upon
a balancing of the play’s elements and discovering how they work together.
COURSE METHODOLOGY
The course will revolve around in-class discussion, which will be based on the play
selected for each week and the accompanying readings. Students will apply concepts
from the accompanying materials to explore the dramatic text analytically and critically.
The students will be responsible for facilitating discussion during weeks 2-6 of the
course. Groups of students will identify the major topics from the reading and bring
forth questions/insights to begin a class discussion.
The two major assignments in the course include a midterm paper and a final group
project. For the midterm paper, students will apply the analytical concepts from the
first half of the semester to one of four full-length plays in order to offer a critical
reading of the dramatic text. The final group project will include: an examination of
Woyzeck’s structural characteristics, a reconstruction of the play’s scenes, a rationale
paper that defends and supports the new structure, and a group presentation.
GRADING BREAKDOWN
Discussion Leading
20%
Midterm Paper
40%
Final Project
30%
Class Participation
10%
Total
100%
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Students who successfully complete the course will be able:
 To articulate the basic analytical and critical techniques of script analysis.
 To apply those techniques to the study of a dramatic text through class
discussion and written assignments.
 To analyze a dramatic text and its components in order to gain a comprehensive
understanding of the parts and the whole.
MATERIALS
 Backwards & Forwards by David Ball
 Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers, 4th Ed. by James Thomas
 Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, trans. Ian Johnston
 Phèdre by Racine, trans. Paul Schmidt
 The Zoo Story by Albee
 The Piano Lesson by Wilson
 Trifles by Glaspell
 Arcadia by Stoppard
 True West by Shepard
 Riders to the Sea by Synge
 A Raisin in the Sun by Hansberry
 A Streetcar Named Desire by Williams
 Mother Courage and Her Children by Brecht
 Rhinoceros by Ionesco
 Hamletmachine by Müller
 Cloud 9 by Churchill
 M. Butterfly by Hwang
 Ubu and the Truth Commission by Taylor
 Woyzeck by Büchner
 Additional materials will be provided by the instructor
WEEKLY TOPIC/READING BREAKDOWN
Part I: REALISTIC THEATRE
Week 1: What is Script Analysis? Origins and “The World of the Play”
Reading:
 Ball “Intro”
 Thomas “Given Circumstances”
 The Poetics by Aristotle
 Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, trans. Ian Johnston
Week 2: Why Here and Now? Shattering the Status Quo
Reading:
 Ball “Ch. 4 Stasis & Intrusion”
 Ball “Ch. 5 Obstacle, Conflict”
 Ball “Ch. 8 Exposition”


Thomas “Background Story”
Phèdre by Racine, trans. Paul Schmidt
Week 3: What Happens in the Play? Triggers, Heaps, and Forwards
Reading:
 Ball “Ch. 1 What Happens That Makes Something Else Happen?”
 Ball “Ch. 2 And What Happens Next?”
 Ball “Ch. 3 “But Do It Backwards”
 Ball “Ch. 6 Ignorance Is Bliss”
 Ball “Ch. 9 Forwards: Hungry for Next”
 The Zoo Story by Albee
Week 4: Who are these People? Understanding Character
Reading:
 Ball “Ch. 10 Missing Persons (Character):
 Ball “Ch. 15 Families”
 Thomas “Character”
 The Piano Lesson by Wilson
Week 5:How does the Play Move? Landscapes & Concept Mapping
Reading:
 Thomas “Progressions & Structure”
 Thomas “Tempo, Rhythm, and Mood”
 Trifles by Glaspell
Week 6: What is the Play About? Imagery, Themes, and Ideas
Reading:
 Ball “Ch. 11 Image”
 Ball “Ch. 12 Theme”
 Thomas “Idea”
 Arcadia by Stoppard
Week 7: Q&A for Mid-Term Analysis
 True West by Shepard
 Riders to the Sea by Synge
 A Raisin in the Sun by Hansberry
 A Streetcar Named Desire by Williams
Week 8: Mid-Semester Break, NO CLASS
Part IIa: NON-REALISTIC THEATRE
Week 9: Manifestos! A Break from Aristotelian Drama
Reading:
 Brecht “The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre”


Artaud “The Theatre of Cruelty”
Mother Courage and Her Children by Brecht
Week 10: Theatre of the Absurd
Reading:
 Thomas “Non-Realistic Plays” PDF
 Rhinoceros by Ionesco
Week 11: Postmodernism
Reading:
 “Language, Character and History in Postmodern Drama: Towards Formulating a
Poetics” by Mufti Mudasir
 Hamletmachine by Müller
Part IIb: OTHER STRUCTURES & MODES OF COLLABORATION
Week 12: Feminism & Collaboration
Reading:
 “American Drama, Feminist Discourse, and Dramatic Form: In Defense of Critical
Pluralism” by Patricia R. Schroeder
 Cloud 9 by Churchill, plus Introduction
Week 13: Adaptation & the Memory Play
Reading:
 “Adapting Material for the Stage” by Nagle Jackson
 M. Butterfly by Hwang
Week 14: Politics & Multimedia
Reading:
 “A Different Kind of Justice: Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa” by Peter
Storey
 Ubu and the Truth Commission by Taylor, plus Introduction
Week 15: Do-It-Yourself Theatre
Reading:
 Woyzeck by Büchner
Week 16: Final Project Presentations
Week 17: Finals Week
 Papers Due