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Dramatic Technique

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About This Book

A practical course for aspiring dramatists that treats drama as an independent art and isolates essentials such as unified action and integrated emotion. It surveys stagecraft and technique drawn from historical practice—structure, scene construction, characterization, dialogue, and production realities—and emphasizes how theory must be tested by performance. The author argues that technique can be taught to shorten apprenticeship while insisting on the indispensable roles of steady practice, exacting critique, and time in forming an individual method. Pedagogical limits of lectures are acknowledged and detailed treatment of the one-act form is reserved for separate consideration.

Amazons, The, Act III, 222.

Ambassador, The, 350.

Ancient Classical Drama, The, 18, 154.

Anne, 159.

As a Man Thinks, Act II, 189.

At the New Theatre, 249.

At the Top of the Tenement, 424.

Auteurs Dramatiques, see L’Année Psychologique.

Barbara Frietchie, 61.

Barnwell, The History of George, see The London Merchant.

Becket, arranged by Henry Irving, 25, 197, 290, 362.

Becket, Tennyson, 195, 290, 362.

Big Drum, The, Preface, 258.

Blind, The, 38.

Browning, Introduction, Corson, 390.

Captain, The, Scenario, 459.

Case of Rebellious Susan, The, Act I, 351.

Chains, Act III, 223.

Changeling, The, 85.

Chaste Maid in Cheapside, A, 284.

Choephori, The, 155.

Clod, The, 219.

Colombe’s Birthday, Act IV, Sc. 1, 306.

Come Here, George Riddle’s Readings, 368.

Concerning Humour in Comedy, Congreve, 396.

Coniston, Scenario, 448.

Conquest of Granada, The, 336.

Conscious Lovers, The, 134.

Consultation, The, Scenario, 466.

Coventry Plays, Ludus Coventriæ, 327.

Cradle, The, Act I, Sc. 9, 301.

Crucifixion, The, York Plays, 327.

Cymbeline, Act I, Sc. 1, 23.

Débutante, The, Scenario, 216.

De la Poésie Dramatique, 72, 74.

Development of the Drama, The, 19.

Devonshire Hamlets, The, 241, 318, 344, 358, 398.

Doll’s House, A, 348, 349.

Duchess of Malfi. The, 267, 303, 384.

Early Plays, 16, 373.

Edward II, Introduction, Marlowe, 128.

Electra, Euripides, Act I, 282.

Electra, Hofmannsthal, 380.

Encore, An, Scenario, 457.

Epicoene, 289.

Essay on Comedy, Meredith, 117, 513.

Eternal Triangle, The, Scenario, 425.

Études Critiques, Brunetière, 44.

European Dramatists, 462.

Everyman, 373.

Every Man in His Humour, Induction, 235.

Eyes of the Blind, The, Scenario, 428.

Faustus, Act V, 35.

Fishing of Suzanne, The, Scenario, 455.

Fortune by Land and Sea, 345.

Foundations of a National Drama, 395.

Frau im Fenster, Die, 377.

Fritzschen, 226.

Gabriel Schilling’s Flight, Introduction, 193.

Galloper, The, 164.

George Riddle’s Readings, Come Here, 368.

Good Hope, The, 218.

Good Natured Man, The, Act I, 323.

Great Divide, The, Act I, 379.

Great Galeoto, The, 385.

Hamburg Dramaturgy, 9, 68, 114, 121, 212, 247, 255, 291.

Hazlitt’s Dramatic Essays, 243.

Hegge Plays (Ludus Coventriæ), 327.

Henry V, Act II, 139.

Henry VI, Part I, 97.

Herod, Act II, 222.

Hindle Wakes, Act I, Sc. 1, 324.

Home, 29.

House of Usna, The (Foreword), 65.

Ibsen’s Workshop, 51, 179, 233, 348, 470.

Importance of Being Earnest, The, 403, 410.

Induction, Every Man in His Humour, 235.

Influence of Local Theatrical Conditions upon the Drama of the Greeks, 125, 141.

Introduction to Browning, Corson, 390.

Iris, 291, 378.

Jim, The Penman, 374.

Journey of Papa Perrichon, The, Act I, 173.

Julius Cæsar, Act III, Sc. 3, 332.

Justice, Act III, 375.

King Argimenes, 49.

King John, 268.

Kismet, Scenario, 474.

L’Année Psychologique.

F. de Curel, 76, 78, 339.

Dumas fils, 49.

Pailleron, 47.

Lady of Andros, The, Act I, 170. Act III, 171.

Lady Windermere’s Fan, 187, 230, 231, 388, 389, 402, 404.

La Princesse Georges, 34.

La Princesse Georges, Au Public, 74, 94, 259.

Legacy, The, Scenario, 464.

Le Supplice d’une Femme, Preface, 100.

Les 36 Situations Dramatiques, 63.

Les Oberlé, 83.

Les Petits Oiseaux, 131.

Letters of Bulwer-Lytton to Macready, 77, 90, 125, 136, 211, 227, 339, 344.

Letters of Henrik Ibsen, 151, 183, 259, 419, 421.

Lettres sur les Anglais, Voltaire, 113.

Life of Man, 328.

Little Stories of New Plays, 422.

London Merchant, The, or The History of George Barnwell, Act IV, 131.

Act I, Sc. 1, 335.

Act III, Sc. 7, 337.

Lonely Lives, Act IV, 164.

Macaire, Act I, Sc. 1, 27.

Macbeth, Act I, Sc. 5, 166. Introduction, 127.

Mme. Sans-Gêne, 163.

Madras House, The, 278.

Magda (Heimat), Act IV, 229.

Magistrate, The, 106, 107.

Maid’s Tragedy, The, Act III, Sc. 2, 281.

Masqueraders, The, 265.

Measure for Measure, 406.

Miss Julia, Introduction, 118.

Mistress Beatrice Cope, 352. Scenario, 453.

Money Spinner, The, 383.

Monsieur Poirier’s Son-in-Law, Act I, 221.

Mrs. Dane’s Defence, Act III, 279.

My Best Play, Edgar Selwyn, 81.

Nathan Hale, Act IV, Sc. 2, 198.

New Rehearsal, A, or Bays the Younger, 249.

Nigger, The, Act I, 341.

Note on Act Division as practiced in the Early Elizabethan Drama, 151.

Orchids, 156.

Othello, Act III, Sc. 3, 185.

Act III, Sc. 3, 369.

Act II, Sc. 1, 385.

Act III, Sc. 3, 385.

Phædra, Act I, 169.

Pierre Patelin, 406.

Playboy of the Western World, The, 417.

Play-Making, 45, 50, 55, 61, 78, 151, 214, 237, 510.

Princess and the Butterfly, The, Act II, 292.

Profligate, The, 255.

Provoked Wife, The, Act IV, 297. Act III, 395.

Quem Quaeritis, trope, 16.

Rehearsal, The, 170, 408.

Revesby Sword Play, 372.

Richard II, 101, 409.

Richard III, Act I, Sc. 1, 143.

Riddle’s (George) Readings, 368.

Ring and the Book, The, 391.

Rising of the Moon, The, 162.

Robert Louis Stevenson: The Dramatist, 6, 15, 382.

Romancers, The, Act I, Sc. 1, 36, 225.

Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Sc. 1, 31.

Rosmersholm, Ibsen’s Prose Dramas, 181.

Rosmersholm, Ibsen’s Workshop, 179.

Sardou and the Sardou Plays, 48, 71.

Selected Dramas of John Dryden, 261.

Servant in the House, The, 122.

Sire de Maletroit’s Door, The, Scenario, 450, 451, 452.

Some Platitudes Concerning Drama, 66, 183, 244.

Soul’s Tragedy, A, 399.

Spanish Friar, The, Act III, Sc. 1, 123.

Spanish Tragedy, The, 370.

Squire of Alsatia, The, 276.

Stage in America, The, 58, 243.

Still Waters Run Deep, 220.

Storm, The, 86.

Strife, 191.

Tartuffe, Act I, 280.

Theatrical World for 1893, The, 260.

Trail of the Torch, The, 192.

Treasure, The, 330.

Troilus and Cressida, 142.

Trope, Quem Quaeritis, 16.

Troublesome Raigne of King Iohn. The, Part I, 215.

Truth, The, 283.

Twelfth Night, Act I, Sc. 5, 409.

Two Gentlemen of Verona, The, 253.

Two Hearts, 316.

Two Loves and a Life, Act II, Sc. 2, 393.

United States of Playwrights, The, iii, 69.

Vittoria Corombona, Act III, Sc. 2, 285.

Way of the World, The, 413.

Winning of General Jane, The, Scenario, 468.

You Never Can Tell, Act IV, 299.


INDEX OF SUBJECTS

Act, length of each, 148-153.

Acts, number and length, 117-120.

Action, 16-46.

defined, 27-42.

by physical action, 27-33.

by revealing mental states, 36-41.

Alternative endings, 255-259.

Artistic unity, 111-112.

Aside, in dialogue, 393-396.

Barbara Frietchie—

story of, 57-58.

plot of, 59-61.

Business, stage, definition of, 372-373.

Central idea—

importance in play, 73-77.

shifting it, 77.

Central purpose, value of in selecting material, 87-89.

Changing tastes in public, 513.

Character drawing and psychology distinguished, 237.

Characters—

prompt identification of, 154-161.

devices for showing relations among, 166-183.

unnecessary, 294-296.

test for number of, 296.

Characterization—

by type, 234-237.

by intimate knowledge of characters, 239-247.

in historical plays, 246.

good but not needed, 247.

by motivation, 248-276.

bad methods, 276-278.

in programs, 276-277.

in stage directions, 277.

by soliloquy, 279-280.

by description, 280-283.

by illustrative action, 283-286.

good methods, 286-287.

by exits and entrances, 287-294.

three illustrations of good, 297-308.

Climax—

definition of, 215.

anticlimax, illustrated, 215-233.

and movement, 215-233.

and surprise, 219-220.

by quiet endings, 221-222, 224-225.

by irony, 222-225.

anticipating, 227.

selection for, 228.

postponing, for, 229.

essentials of, 229.

Contrast, for emphasis, 201-204.

Critical and creative faculties, relation of, 519.

Delayed exposition and movement, 211.

Detail, contrasted in novel and play, 352-357.

Dialect, use of, 339-343.

Dialogue—

essentials of clearness, 309.

selection in, 309-315.

clearness without characterization not sufficient, 314-322.

in character, 316-328, 334-336.

emotion in, 322-328.

well characterized, 324-327.

secret of good, (Emerson), 328.

unassigned and assigned, 328-334.

author speaking through persons, 334.

style, 336-351, 409-419.

style and emotion, 339, 344-350.

sympathetic, 344-350.

fitted for stage, 350.

actors aided by voice, gesture in etc., 351-357, 367-372.

unnecessary detail, 357-367.

facial expression and gesture, 367-372.

dialogue and “stage business,” 372-382.

pantomime, 373-382.

soliloquy, 382-390.

aside, 393-396.

incomplete, 397-398.

block dialogue, 398-405.

difficult to speak, 405-407.

essentials of, 407-408.

Differences, fundamental between novel and play, 4-14.

Disregarding public, danger of, 517.

Dramatic—

definition of, 43-45.

distinguished from theatric, 45.

Dramatic technique, usual growth of, 518.

Dramatist—

writing to himself, 511.

and motivation, 512.

correct attitude toward public, 513.

Dramatization of a novel, suggestions for, Edward Knobloch, 13-14.

Emotion—

essential in drama, 42-46.

emotion and style, 339, 344-350.

Emphasis—

in plot, 183-207.

defined, 183-194.

lack of, 184-186.

good, 185-193.

importance of in beginnings and endings, 194-201.

by contrast, 201-204.

to determine dramatic form, 204-206.

on what, 206-207.

Epilogue, 145-148.

Essentials—

chief, in drama, 16-27.

of motivation, 267.

in good scenario, 426-462.

Exits and entrances, for characterization, 287-294.

Exposition—

preliminary, 141-148, 166-183.

devices in, 167-173.

distinction between preliminary and later, 176-182.

emphasis in, 183.

Facial expression, importance of, 367-372.

Fact vs. fiction in drama, 67-68.

Falsification of life by drama, 14-15.

Gesture, importance of, 367-372.

Holding a situation, 93-110.

Identifying promptly persons of play, 154-161.

Illustrative action, 82-88, 109.

relation of, to dramatic selection, 86-87.

Importance of facial expression, gesture and voice, 367-372.

Inaction, utter, possibly dramatic, 41.

Knowledge of theatre necessary, 68-70.

Melodrama and tragedy, 268-276.

Monologue, 391-393.

Motivation, 248-276.

and literary convention, 261-262.

and public taste, 262-264.

essentials of, 267.

obtrusive, 267.

Movement—

and suspense, 207-212.

in plot, 207-233.

qualities of, 207.

where needed, 207.

in interwoven plots, 210.

and transitional scenes, 210-211.

and delayed exposition, 211.

and explanatory last act, 211.

and climax, 215-233

Novelist, technique of vs. dramatic technique, 5-14.

Novelty of subject, 62-67.

Number of characters, test for, 296.

Number of possible dramatic subjects, 63-67.

Obtrusive motivation, 267.

Order and suspense, 208-210.

Pantomime, 373-382, 388-390.

Physical action, 27-33.

Place, unity of, 120-130.

Plausibility, 264-267.

Plot contrasted with story, 57-61.

Program characterization, 276-277.

Prologue, use of, 142-148.

Psychology and character drawing distinguished, 237.

Public, changing tastes in, 513.

Scene, definition of, 130-132.

Scenario—

importance of, 79-80.

value of, 420-421.

summary vs. scenario, 421-426.

real character of, 426-473.

essentials of good, 426-462.

dramatis personæ in, 427-431.

settings in, 432-445.

preliminary exposition in, 446-447.

talky, 448-449.

entrances and exits in, 449-450.

cardinal principle of, 449.

emphasis in, 455-461.

flexibility in, 461-463.

proper length, 461.

no one form, 463-164.

using dialogue in, 464-470.

Settings, 122-130.

value of in placing a play, 161-166.

in scenario, 432-445.

Situation, holding a, 93-110.

Soliloquy, 382-390.

Stage direction—

bad, 276-278.

good, 279.

Stage waits, 208-209.

Starting a play, 47-54.

Story—

as starting point, 52-54.

essential in play, 55-57.

misuse of word, 56-57.

contrasted with plot, 57-61.

unity of action in, 111.

amount required, 112-116.

Style, in dialogue, 409-419.

Summary vs. scenario, 421-426.

Surprise, 212-214.

and suspense, distinction, 214.

Suspense—

and order, 208-210.

vs. surprise, 212.

and surprise, distinction, 214.

and sympathy, 214-215.

in climax, 215-232.

Technique in Drama—

definition of, 1.

three kinds of, 2-4.

Technique of novelist and dramatist compared, 5-14.

Theatric, distinguished from dramatic, 45.

Time—

unity of, 120-130.

treatment of on stage, 130-137.

off stage, 137.

antecedent to play, 141-148.

by chorus, 142.

by soliloquy, 143.

by prologue, 144-148.

Transitional Scenes, 109-110.

Truckling to an audience, definition, 509.

Unassigned speeches, 328-332.

Unity of action, 110-111.

Unity, artistic, 111-112.

Unnecessary characters, 294-296.