Looking At Plays
The following process* is concerned with students as formal
audience. It
recommends students be encouraged to approach plays
thoughtfully and
discriminatingly by withholding their judgments until they
have enough
information to respond in an informed manner. It enables students
to go beyond
their initial reactions to understanding what it is they've seen
and how it was
done. It provides them with the opportunity to express and
support their
personal responses and encourages discussion through which they
learn that the
same play can well mean different things to different people.
The process is
designed to help teachers guide their students to create more
significance and
derive greater enjoyment out of their experiences as playgoers.
This suggested process for looking at plays is described in seven
steps:
Step One encourages previewing discussion. Steps two
through seven are
undertaken following the performance.
* This process was adapted from the following sources:
Anderson; 1988,
Clark, 1960;
Feldman, 1987 and Mahon Jones, 1986.
Step One
Preparation
As students anticipate the day when they will see a play, you
may choose to
prepare them for the experience.
Depending on the particular play and the level of interest and
experience of
students, some topics for investigation and discussion might
include:
- brief biographical information about the artists involved
- a brief look at the dramatic structure of plays
- some historical and cultural insights into the play and
the times during
which it was written and originally produced
- questions of audience responsibility ranging from basic
points of etiquette
to the more complex issues of the individual's recognition
of his or her
personal biases and cultural perspectives.
The purpose in encouraging some preliminary reflection is to
whet students'
appetites for the play and to provide them with some valuable
"hooks" to take
into the performance. The discussion should not spoil any
surprises that the
play and the performance hold in store for them. Later,
they'll have an
opportunity to pursue these and other related topics in greater
depth.
Step Two
First Impressions
When students have just seen a play, their comments are usually
what you would
call a "First Impression." The teacher should encourage them
to share the
following:
- what moment in the play they liked best
- how a particular character made them feel
- personal associations with characters or situations
- what the funniest (saddest) moment in the play was
- which costumes they liked
- any symbolism they found interesting
- that they didn't understand a thing!
It is important to provide students with some immediate
opportunity to harness
and record their initial reactions. Perhaps students could
write a journal
entry which includes answers to questions like those
suggested above or
brainstorm lists or words which describe how the play made them
feel. The
students might script the most exciting scene in their own words
or send brief
letters to the playwright or artists describing their reactions.
Later in the
process this work will offer them something with which to
compare their more
reflective responses.
Step Three
Description
Being in an audience for a play is different from viewing an
art object or
listening to a piece of recorded music. Whereas the more tangible
art pieces or
piece of music can be looked at or listened to again and again, the
elusive work
of dramatic art exists only in the time and space that it is
performed.
Before expecting students to respond thoughtfully to the play
they have seen,
provide them with the opportunity to recall and recreate the
experience in their
mind's eye.
Invite the students to describe their experience as audience.
Ask them for
facts, not opinions. Ask them to describe simply what they
saw and
what they heard. List their responses on chart paper. Such
a list might
look like this:
- the costumes were all from Victorian days
- the father spoke with an English accent
- the sound effects of the battle were done with some kind of
synthesizer
- the young man walked in an unusual way
- whenever the eerie voice was heard most of the
lights changed their
colour
- the clown said the same rhyme over and over but
sometimes he said it
so
fast that we couldn't understand it
- when the actors were moving and making sounds it gave us
the impression
of
a machine
- some actors acted more than one role but we knew which
part was which
because they used masks
- the audience could see the person, who was an actor
sometimes, operating
the tape system with the music and sounds for the play
- they gave each of us a small instrument to play -- there
must have been
hundreds of them.
When the list is complete point out to the students that, unlike
a work of art
which is the work of one artist, a play is the combined work of
many different
artists and technicians. Ask them to consider the points on their
list in terms
of who has been responsible for them and to look at the reasons
for some of the
technical choices that have been made.
Choose one item from the list to lead the discussion; for
example, "When the
actors were moving and making sounds it gave us the impression of
a machine".
The students may point out the impracticality of using a
"real" machine on
stage. They may marvel that the body movements, gestures and
sounds made by the
actors really were, for them as audience, an acceptable
representation of a
machine. They may remark that when the actors were making the
machine they were
more like dancers than actors.
By the time each item on the list has been considered, the
students will have
made some discoveries about the nature of dramatic art. They will
have:
- heard and used such terms as director, playwright,
designer, script,
lighting technician, set, actor, props, sound board,
make-up artist,
etc.
- achieved some deeper understanding of how plays are made
- taken a step toward knowing that theatre is a synthesis of
the arts
- recognized their own willingness to suspend disbelief
- accepted their responsibilities as audience.
Step Four
Analysis
As you approach analysis of the play with students, it will be
beneficial to
refer to the list from Step Three. They had begun to organize
their thinking
about the play by recognizing that many different artists, each
with unique
concerns, were instrumental in the making of the performance. They
reached some
understanding that only by the artists working together and
developing
relationships among their various areas of responsibility could
there be a play for our enjoyment.
Each artist involved in the making of a play understands and uses
the following
elements:
Focus
Knowing what the play is about and how to transmit
this meaning most effectively to the audience.
Tension
The "pressure for response"; this can take the form of a conflict,
a challenge,
a surprise, a time restraint or the suspense of not knowing.
Tension is what
works in a play to ensure the audience's desire to know what will
happen.
Contrasts
Dynamic use of movement/stillness, sound/silence, light/darkness,
etc.
Symbol
Something that stands for or represents something else. Broadly
defined, plays
are symbolic or metaphoric representations of human experience.
Within works of
dramatic art, links can be made between the concrete
experiences of those
involved and abstract ideas and themes. An idea or object can
hold several
layers of both individual and collective meaning. For example,
a black cat
might simply be symbolic of bad luck or superstition; it may
signify that the
play is constructed around a mystery or that suspicion pervades the
relationship
between the two main characters; it may personify the darker
side of the
antagonist's character or abstractly represent a sub-plot or the
overall theme
of the play.
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Students should consider:
- how these elements were organized in the play
- how these elements functioned to connect each of the parts
- how the artistic purpose of each artist was served by
the use of the
elements.
Step Five
Interpretation
Provide the students with the opportunity to express what the play
means to each
of them. They must understand that they are being asked to
express an
interpretation beyond that of their first reaction; one
which weighs the
description and analysis of the two
preceding steps. Ask them to consider such questions as:
- What was the focus of the play?
- Did tension work effectively in this performance to
engage our desire
to
know what would happen next? How?
- How did the director use contrasts in the play? The
light designer? The
sound technician? The actors?
- What was the basic motivation of particular characters in
the play?
- What other choices could particular characters in the play
have made?
- Why do you think this play was written?
- Why do you think this group of dramatic artists chose to
produce this play
now?
- What does the play tell us about the playwright's view of
the world?
- What does the play mean to you?
- How does this differ from your initial reaction?
Early in the discussion it will become clear that the play
means different
things to different people. Each student approaches the play with
a unique set
of experiences and perceptions by which he or she views the
world. Each also
has varying degrees of experience with the theatre.
While a guided discussion may initially provide students with a
forum in which
to approach the above questions, there are other means that may
allow them to
express their various interpretations more effectively. Since
they are seeking
to clarify and share their understanding of a piece of theatre,
it makes good
sense to use drama strategies to aid them in exploring,
expressing and sharing
their different ideas. The use of tableau is one such effective
strategy.
Ask a small group of students to discuss and reach a consensus as
to the focus
of the play. Ask them to choose a moment in the play that they
feel clearly
communicated the focus. Ask them to re-create that moment in a
tableau. Have
them present the tableau to their classmates. Repeat with a
different group of
students.
Through careful analysis of this tableau and related ones, the
students will
have opportunities to:
- explore the various interpretations of the play
- recognize some of the reasons for the range of responses
to both the play
and the tableaux
- clarify aspects of their own interpretation and deepen
their understanding
of the play
- broaden their frames of reference about their world as
well as about the
play in question and the workings of the theatre
- recognize the complex processes involved in mounting a
play.
This strategy offers added bonuses, particularly for secondary
students who are
learning about play production. It affords them
opportunities to examine:
- how dramatic stage pictures are composed
- how emotion, relationships and tension can be
communicated through body
shape, gesture, facial expression and the actors' use of space
- how minute changes in body shape, gesture, facial
expression and use
of
space can significantly alter meaning
- an effective dramatic technique by which they may
clearly express ideas
that they may not otherwise be skilled enough to
communicate.
Step Six
Gathering Background Information
Throughout this process you have been attempting to persuade
students to
withhold their opinions about the play until they have
accumulated enough
information to render their response a thoughtfully considered
one. As they
approach the last step in the process -- informed judgment -- there
is one other
body of information to which they should be directed.
No one will disagree that throughout the ages, theatre has
reflected the social,
political, and cultural climate of the times. To fully realize
the worth of a
piece of theatre, a knowledge of the following would be useful:
- an historical glimpse into the social, political and
cultural climate
of
the times in which the play was written and performed
- biographical information about the playwright
- a reading of this and other plays by the playwright
- a reading of other plays written at the same time
- a look at the expectations and moods of audiences during
the years of the
play's existence
- a reading of critics' reviews of the play
- biographical information about the artists involved in
the performance
they've just seen
- a comparison between the social and political climate of
the current time
in which the play was produced (that is, now) and those of
the times in
which the play was first written and produced.
This step allows the students to distance themselves a bit from
the production
they have just seen. The material they gather will provide them
with exciting
links to their deliberations on the play. It will serve to
compound their
understanding and pleasure of this theatre experience and
others, past and
future.
Step Seven
Informed Judgment
Reflection upon the theatre experience will often temper that
usually honest
initial reaction.
In the latter part of the eighteenth century, the following
three principles
were put forth by German philosopher, playwright and critic J. W.
von Goethe as
a basis for dramatic criticism. They have provided the model for
much dramatic
criticism since.
What is each artist trying to do?
How well has she or he done it?
Was it worth the doing?
If students have been guided successfully through the six preceding
steps of the
process for looking at plays, they will be able to
ponder these three principles and respond with confidence to the
questions they
pose. And as they become more experienced as audience, the
process will ensure
them fuller, richer and more gratifying theatre experiences.
Summary of Looking at Plays
1. Preparation
teacher provides students with contexts
for viewing the
particular play
2. First Impressions
students share their initial responses; there
are no wrong
answers
3. Description
students objectively describe what they saw and
heard
4. Analysis
students continue to organize their thinking
about how plays are
made
students consider how several different
dramatic artists work
together to produce a play and how the elements
functioned within
the work
teacher encourages the use of the language of
dramatic art
5. Interpretation
students attempt to express what the play means
to each of them
incorporating what they gleaned from the two
preceding steps
students recognize that responses will be
influenced by their own
experiences and perceptions of the world
6. Gathering Background Information
students learn as much as they can about
the play and the
dramatic artists involved with it
7. Informed Judgment
students, finally, reflect upon the three
principles of dramatic
criticism: What is each artist trying to do?
How well has he
or she done it? Was it worth the doing?
The evaluation section of this document includes a sample
checklist for
evaluating students' responses to arts expressions. This
checklist will help teachers monitor students' development in
forming and
supporting opinions about plays they view as audience.
Adapting the "Looking
at Plays" Process for Reflection
on Student
Work
As students become more experienced working within dramatic
contexts and
developing collective creations out of that work, they will
have increased
opportunity to view as audience the work of their classmates and
their own work,
both live and on videotape.
Such instances will most often occur as group reflections on
small group
tableaux, prepared improvisations, mime and story theatre episodes
and prepared
monologues that are structured into the dramatic context in which
the class has
been working.
Middle years students will understand that dramatic art form is
concerned with
the expression of ideas and they will be prepared to uncover
meaning in the
drama work they view. If, through a critical viewing process
adapted from
"Looking at Plays", students discover that their intended meaning
is not the one
received by their audience, they will have the opportunity to
analyse and re-
work the piece together. Thus, they will develop their
ability to reflect
meaningfully on drama work and become increasingly competent in
manipulating the
processes, strategies and elements of theatre form to ensure
achievement of
their artistic intentions in future work.
Following are some ideas for adapting the "Looking at Plays"
process for the
assessment of student's drama work and their ability to reflect
purposefully on
it.
- After viewing the prepared improvisation of a small
group of students,
for example, ask the others to describe simply what they
saw and what
they heard, using the language and vocabulary of drama.
The teacher
should always remind students to stress the positive in
each piece of
work.
- Use questions and strategies like those suggested in
Steps Four and
Five of "Looking at Plays" to provide students with
opportunities to
express what the improvisation meant to them within the
context of the
dramatic situation or collective creation in which they
are working.
Encourage the co-operative re-working of a piece to
ensure that the
intention of the group who created it is ultimately
realized.
- Discussions that are undertaken as part of the
reflection on students'
work should be a learning and growing experience and need
not include
any form of judgment. It is important that
students base their
opinions and interpretations of one another's work on
evidence they
see and hear in the work itself. Teachers should always
remember that
students will have their own interpretations and
opinions and these
must be assessed on the student's ability to express
these ideas and
to justify the reasons for them and not on the
student's ability to
conform to the norm or to the opinions of the teacher.