Backwards and Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays PDF
Preview Backwards and Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays
BACKWARDS FORWARDS A Technical Manual for Reading Plays David Ball Foreword by Michael Langham Backwards and Forwards A Technical Manual for Reading Plays David Ball Southern Illinois University Press Carbondale and Edwardsville for Arthur Ballet and Michael Langham Copyright © 1983 by the Board of Trustees, Southern Illinois University All Rights Reserved Edited by Curtis L. Clark Designed by Kathleen Giencke Production supervised by John DeBacher Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Ball, David, 1942- Backwards and Forwards. 1. Drama—Technique. 2. Reading comprehension. I. Title. PN1661.B34 1983 808.2 82-19333 ISBN 0-8093-1110-0 Contents Foreword vii Introduction 3 Part One: Shape 7 1. What Happens That Makes Something Else Happen? 9 2. And What Happens Next? 12 3. But Do It Backwards 15 4. Stasis and Intrusion 19 5. Obstacle, Conflict 25 6. Ignorance Is Bliss 32 7. Things Theatrical 35 Part Two: Methods 37 8. Exposition 39 9. Forwards: Hungry for Next 45 10. Missing Persons (Character) 60 11. Image 68 12. Theme 76 Part Three: Tricks of the Trade 79 13. Background Information 81 14. Trusting the Playwright 83 15. Families 85 16. Generalities: Mood, Atmosphere 86 17. The Unique Factor 87 18. Changing Eras 89 19. Climax 92 20. Beginnings/Endings 93 21. Rereading 94 22. What Next? 95 Foreword Most of us who read playscripts try to imagine them being enacted on a stage. But not all of us, as I discovered when I had the privilege of working for Sir Barry Jackson at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in England. He was perhaps the last of the great patrons of the British theatre, besides being a man of some eccentricity. Well, when he saw a play on the stage he would try to imagine it back in the book. Recently I had the opportunity of putting this somewhat bizarre approach to the test. I had been asked to advise about a production of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit which was already on a stage and playing to audiences. I did not read the script, but sat through three performances trying hard to perceive those intentions of the author which had been lost or smudged by the production; i.e., I tried to get back to the original script. I was amazed to discover that Sir Barry’s method of comprehending a playwright’s mean- ing is far more immediately effective than the normal method to which David Ball addresses himself in this very helpful book. But Sir Barry's method requires a play on stage. The usefulness of Backwards and Forwards lies in the fact that it reveals a script not only as literature, but as raw material for theatrical performance■—sometimes with structural characteristics that make it comparable to a musical score. There is all the difference in the world be- tween literature and drama. A play's sound, music, move- ment, looks, dynamics—and much more—are to be discov- ered deep in the script, yet cannot be detected through strictly literary methods of reading and analysis. Looking through this little book is like looking through the play- wright’s toolbox to discover the special instruments of his craft. For the beginning play-reader Backwards and For- wards offers methods that will stretch to incorporate al- most everything useful about reading plays. For the reader of more experience—even a lot of experience—there is gui- dance and illumination about the nature of scripts that can make future expeditions of this kind both richer and more personal. Michael Langham The Juilliard School New York City 1982 Then the King's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against the other. And the King spake, and said, "Whosoever shall read this writing and show me the in- terpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold around his neck.” Dan. 5:7 Polonius: What do you read, my lord? Hamlet: Words. Words. Words. Polonius: What is the matter, my lord? Hamlet: Between who? Polonius: I mean the matter that you read, my lord. Hamlet:■ Slanders, sir . . . for you yourself, sir, shall grow old as I am if like a crab you could go backward. Polonius (aside):Though this be mad- ness, yet there is method in't. Introduction This book is for people who put plays on the stage: actors, directors, designers, technicians, and playwrights. (It is also for people who read plays just for the sake of reading them—if they agree that the purpose of a script is for it to be staged—but it is addressed directly to those putting plays on the stage. The rest of you may eavesdrop.) A script is not a prose narrative in mere dialogue form. It is writing heavily dependent on special methods and techniques for the stage. The techniques in this book will help you read analyt- ically to discern how the play works. What the play means should not be the first consideration. For the theater artist or technician it is friore important to know what makes the clock tick than what time it is. And you can't begin to find a play's meaning until you comprehend its works. To do your part in staging a script, begin by understand- ing its mechanics and values. If they are not clear to you, you can’t make them clear to an audience so all your best efforts will be wasted. Theater is a combination of artists and technicians, and a script. You can't effectively combine with something you don’t understand. But students of the theater have stopped reading plays. They continue to look at them, sometimes even look at them on the page, but few have the smallest idea why. So
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