Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers

by James Thomas

Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers, Sixth Edition teaches the skills of script analysis using a formalist approach that examines the written part of a play to evaluate its potentials for performance and production.

This new edition offers a more streamlined experience for the reader and features new and revised content, such as a fully updated chapter on postmodern drama, new sections on Associative Thinking and Ambiguous Terms in the Introduction, and revised appendices featuring The Score of a Role and expanded treatments of Functional Analysis for Designers and Further Questions for Script Analysis. Explorations of both classic and unconventional plays are combined with clear examples, end-of-chapter summaries, and stimulating questions that will allow actors, directors, and designers to immediately incorporate the concepts and processes into their theatre production work.

An excellent resource for students of Acting, Script Analysis, Directing, and Playwriting courses, this book provides the tools to effectively bring a script to life on stage.

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction, Reference, Academic, Textbooks, Writing

338 pages, Paperback

First published May 18, 1992

About the author

James Thomas is a Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University, Detroit.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Day]

Very good and relatively straightforward look at script analysis. It was really enjoyable and had many examples and exerpts from multiple plays. I learned a lot. The biggest problem was that after spending a lot of time outlining elements of script analysis for realistic plays, it went back and did the same thing for nonrealistic plays. That got pretty lengthy and repetitive; sometimes was needed and sometimes was not. Overall would recommend.
(R rating)

[Mohamadjavad Taghipour]

اگر می‌خواهید نمایشنامه را به مثابه یک موجود کالبدشکافی کنید، این کتاب را پیشنهاد می‌شود.
چراکه در خوانش، فهم و نقد با کیفیتتر مسائل ابزار خوبی در اختیار می‌گذارد.
14.بهمن ماه.1399

[I O]

Helpful! Some parts were technical, but I gleaned a lot of useful handles and possible strategies I could employ in my writing. It was good too that it was easy to read. Most ideas were easy to understand. :)

[Bee]

2.5 stars. Woo. I read this for my Script Analysis class. It certainly is very wordy and in some places overly complex. It was tiring to read at times, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't read anything of value. I'll remember a lot of the good advice for actors from this book, but boy, the last chapter on postmodernism, in the edition I read, left a sour taste in my mouth. Maybe it was just a personal preference but postmodernism is not the most uplifting thing to read about after you've spent a semester trying to find meaning in every play you read. Anyway, I like a lot of the other parts of the book. The plays it references it explains well enough so you don't need to go looking for further context which is nice. I might go read a few of them though, because they sounded intriguing. Overall, okay book, if you gotta read it.

[Dirk Hennebel]

Well-structured and compete guide to understanding the study of the written part of a play that constitutes the basis of a well-developed and inspired production. The book covers action analysis, given circumstances, background story, external and internal action, progressions and structure, character, 'adaptations', idea, dialogue, tempo-rhythm-mood and style. Keen theatre goers (not only drama students) "will be able to incorporate the concepts and processes and benefit from clear examples". The in-depth analysis of Non-Realistic plays is particularly interesting.

[Christine]

This was the textbook I used for Play Analysis this semester, on a recommendation. Definitely actor-heavy and grounded in formalist practice and Stanislavski (and his followers) technique, but I found it quite useful for breaking down texts (especially with acting and directing students). I would use it again.

[Stephanie Jean]

I read this in class along with another method of script analysis. I recommend this style every time.

[Bethany Baldwin]

Very detailed and full of possibilities for future analysis of plays.

[Dana]

Lengthy. It's not a miserable or even a bad read, very explanatory and informative, but a bit long and boring in some of the descriptions. The explanations and examples are worth it, however.

[An Awkward Human]

Although, it's contains examples for plays, it's been incredibly useful for my short film.

[Mina Hagh]

کاربردی و خوب.

[Sergio]

El libro está muy bien y contiene una grandísima cantidad de información muy útil, pero se hace algo pesado de leer.

[Robert]

Good guide to criticism and script analysis. Helps both creative and analytic sides of the coin.