Name:____________________________________ Title of Play: _______________________________________

Directors Craft Play Analysis Worksheet

Answer the following questions in as much detail as possible. A. First Reading 1. First Reactions: What does the play make me think and feel?

2. Playwrights Message: What is the playwright saying to me?

3. Plot Summary: What happens?

4. Character Summary: Who does it happen to?

5. Setting Summary: When and where does it happen?

B. Given Circumstances 1. Environmental facts. Discuss under the following headings: Geographical location and climate

Date: year, season, time of day

Economic environment

Political environment

Name:____________________________________ Title of Play: _______________________________________

Social environment

Religious environment

2. Previous Action (what happens before the play opens?)

3. Polar attitudes of the principal characters, both in the beginning and at the ending.

C. Dialogue What does the following say about the piece? 1. Choice of words

2. Choice of phrases and sentence structures

3. Choice of images

4. Choice of peculiar characteristics, e.g., dialect

5. The sound of the dialogue

6. Structure of lines and speeches

D. Ideas 1. What is the meaning of the title?

Name:____________________________________ Title of Play: _______________________________________

2. Philosophical statements in the play: Cite actual quotations

3. What are the themes?

4. What are the metaphors used?

5. What is the tone of the piece?

6. What is the mood? Does it change?

E. Relationships 1. What are the relationships in the play? Identify relationships between principal characters. Identify the journey of the relationships.

2. What are the relationships between people and places or objects that are significant in the play?

3. Detail examples of dramatic conflict in the piece.