NAME : HM

SURNAME : NYAKANE
STUDENT NUMBER : ********
MODULE : THL1502
ASSIGMENT NO : 04
YEAR : 2022
QUESTION 1 B
Plays are written ‘to be performed on a stage in a theatre’ (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.104). And
because they are meant to be performed, the written play must contain what is to be
performed, how, where, by whom, and what is to be said during this performance. Therefore,
the performance orientation of a dramatic text ‘is the relationship between a play and its
performance,’ which means that, the staged performance is only a mere representation of the
fantasy or fictional world described in the dramatic text (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.104). And
so, every element of this fantasy world has a tangible representative on stage during the
performance. This is how a text is converted into a performance; through representation,
where the ‘actors represent fictional characters, décor represents the environment of the
fictional world, props represent objects, costumes represent the clothes of the characters,
lighting and sound techniques represent specific temporal aspects, such as the time of day or
far off sounds’ (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.105).
To understand how a dramatic text is converted into a performance, we use the ‘X represents Y’
theory (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.105). In this way it becomes clear which elements on stage,
represents which aspect of the fantasy world described in the dramatic text. For example, in
Patrick Marber’s ‘Closer’, Scene One of the play is set in a ‘hospital’ where Dan and Alice are
waiting to see a doctor (Marber: 1997, p.5). Therefore, in the performance, the set, all the
props and objects used to bring Scene One to life on stage (X), will represent the environment
described in the dramatic text, which is the Hospital (Y). To further analyze how a dramatic text
is transformed into a performance, we can use the ‘didascalia’, which include the character list,
stage directions and title of the play (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.105). For example by looking at
the stage directions of a play, actors immediately know how they are supposed to perform the
dialogue indicated in the dramatic text. For instance, in Scene One of ‘Closer’, while waiting for
the doctor at the hospital, Dan chats with Alice, and while waiting, the stage directions indicate
that ‘he checks his watch’ (Marber: 1997, p.5). When reading this direction, the actor playing
Dan will immediately know that during the performance, he must ‘check his watch’ as indicated
in the text.
QUESTION 1 D
Theatrical conventions are traditions or practices that have become characteristic of theatrical
performances. We even expect these conventions to be carried out at certain parts of the
performance in order for it to make sense. For example ‘audiences have come to accept that
the end of a play is sometimes signalled with the lowering of the curtain’ (Carusi & Oliphant:
2007, p.112). In ‘Closer’ Marber used ‘blackouts’ to end the scenes and to signal the end of his
play. A ‘blackout’ is another well recognized conventional way to signal the end of a play or
scene in theatre.
Another theatrical convection found in theatre is the ‘Aside’. This is when a character says a
few words to the audience. The other characters on stage pretend as if they do not hear what is
being said, as if these words were spoken in secrete to the audience.
Monologue and Soliloquy are long speeches made by characters, and they are also quite
conventional in theatrical performances. In a monologue, a character will address the audience
or another character/s, but in a soliloquy, the character does not address anyone in particular
An example of a monologue can be found in Act 2 Scene 8 of ‘Closer’, where Larry talks to Anna
and asks her to have sex with him one last time before he signs the divorce papers.
Larry: I’ll sign it on one condition: we skip lunch, we go to my sleek, little surgery and we christen the patients’ bed
with our final fuck. I know you don’t want to, I know you think I’m sick for asking – but that’s what I’m asking – ‘For
Old Times’ Sake’, because I’m obsessed with you, because I can’t get over you unless you…because I think on some
small level you owe me something, for deceiving me so…exquisitely. For all these reasons I’m begging you to give me
your body. Be my whore and in return I will pay you with your liberty. If you do this I swear I will not contact you again
– you know I’m a man of my word,’ (Marber: 1997, p.77).

An example of a Soliloquy are the famous words ‘To be or not to be’, spoken by ‘Prince Hamlet’
in Act 3 Scene 1 of ‘Hamlet’ by ‘William Shakespeare’ (Wikipedia.org).
Other convections found in theatre are Direct Address, the Exchanging of Roles, and the Play
within a Play. Direct address is when a character speaks directly to the audience, drawing them
into the performance as if they were another character in the play. In other productions, the
character would even walk off stage into the audience to interact with them. The exchanging of
roles takes place when an actor plays several roles in the same production. This usually
happens when there’s a limited budget. A play within a pay is a convention in theatre where
the actors in the play enact a play of their own and some of the other characters become the
audience.
QUESTION 2 A
In Act 1, Scene 6 of Marber’s ‘Closer’, Dan and Anna have been seeing each other for a year,
and decide to breakup with their partners, Alice and Larry, on the same evening. The stage
directions at the beginning of scene 6, indicate this event as follows:
Scene 6
Domestic Interiors.
Midnight. June (a year later) (Marber: 1997, p.47).
This event takes place during the development phase of the dramatic structure. During this
stage of the structure, events take place according to time shifts that take the performance
from one stage to the next. These time shifts can also be indicated through dialogue between
characters. In ‘Closer’, this particular event is also indicated by Dan while breaking up with his
girlfriend Alice:
Dan: This will hurt.
I’ve been with Anna.
I’m in love with her. We have been seeing each other for a year. (Marber: 1997, p.48).
This fact is also revealed by Anna while she is breaking up with Larry:
Anna: Since my opening, last year. I’m disgusting. (Marber: 1997, p.56).
In the written play, this event is described as taking place simultaneously and side by side. The
audience is presented with both couples, and is able to view the interactions of all four
characters, in their respective locations, at the same time. Each couple takes turns to exchange
dialogue and a few lines in, the other couple continues from where they left off. The audiences’
attention is ripped from one couple to the other, from left to right as they try to keep up with
the pace of events on the stage. This frenzied pace of events alters the temporal structure of
the play. It is affected in the sense that the chopped scenes between the two couples ‘speeds
up the plays tempo and creates tension in the reader or the audience,’ (Carusi & Oliphant:
2007, p.134).
QUESTION 2 B
When analyzing a play, there are certain events that indicate the commencement, the
development, and the conclusion of the play’s temporal structure. Firstly the way in which a
play commences, affects the rest of its structure. There are two points of commencement that
a writer can choose to start the play. It can either start with an ‘Early point of attack’, or a ‘Late
point of attack’ (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.130). In ‘Closer’, Marber chose a ‘late point of
attack’, where the play ‘starts near the end of the events portrayed in the play’ (Carusi &
Oliphant: 2007, p.130). For example, at the commencement of ‘Closer’, Dan and Alice are in the
hospital waiting to see a doctor. But the events described in the written text indicate that Alice
got hit by a cab prior to this, and the driver dropped her and Dan at the hospital. This fact is
revealed in Dan and Alice’s dialogue:
Alice: I never look where I’m going.
Dan: We stood at the lights, I looked into your eyes and then you…stepped into the road.
Alice: Then what:
Dan: You were laying on the ground, you focused on me, you said, ‘Hallo, stranger.’
Alice: What a slut.
Dan: I noticed your leg was cut.
Alice: Did you notice my legs?
Dan: Quite possibly.
Alice: Then what?
Dan: The cabbie got out. He crossed himself. He said, ‘Thank fuck, I thought I’d killed her.’ I said, ‘Let’s get her to
a hospital.’ He hesitated…(I think he thought there’d be paperwork and he’d be held ‘responsible’), so I said,
with a slight sneer, ‘Please, just drop us at the hospital.’ (Marber: 1997, p.7-8).
The play is said to commence with a late point of attack because it begins close to the end of
another event. Also, the temporal structure of a play with a late point of attack is made up of
‘the most important events relevant to the story’ (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.130). As shown in
the example above, Marber only highlighted the scene at the hospital because it is most
important, the audience does not see Alice get hit by the cab, this information is merely
mentioned in the dialogue, but not included in the performance.

Once a writer figures out how the play will commence, she must ‘decide on the sequence and
tempo with which to portray the rest of the events’ (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007, p.131). As in, how
does the play develop and move from point A to B, and how does it end? The development of a
play makes use of ‘time shifts’, and ‘these should be clearly indicated’ (Carusi & Oliphant: 2007,
p.131). For example, the stage directions at the beginning of ‘Closer’ give the reader a
breakdown of all the scenes in the play, and it is specified in what time period these scenes
occur.
Scene One: January
Scene Two: June (the following year)
Scene Three: January (the following year)
Scene Four: January (the next day)
Scene Five: June (five months later)
Scene Six: June (a year later)
Scene Seven: September (three months later)
Scene Eight: October (a month later)
Scene Nine: November (a month later)
Scene Ten: December (a month later)
Scene Eleven: January (a month later)
Scene Twelve: July (six months later) (Marber: 1997, p.4)
Time shifts may also be indicated through dialogue between characters. For example, when
Dan breaks up with Alice, he mentions that he and Anna had been seeing one another for a
year. The audience is notified that a year has gone by since the previous scene.
The conclusion of the temporal structure of a play needs to be carefully considered because, it
will determine the satisfaction of expectations of the reader or spectator. There are certain
events at the commencement of the play that hint at how it will conclude. For instance, it is
clear that in ‘Closer’, Patrick Marber explores the theme of death and from the beginning of the
play, the audience anticipates that someone might die at the end of the play. For example,
Alice, gets hit by a cab, she doesn’t die, she meets Dan, who writes obituaries. During their
conversation we learn that his mother died. All this talk about death and the morbid setting of
the Hospital in the first scene really creates the expectation of death. When the play concludes,
Alice dies, which satisfies the expectation of death anticipated throughout the play.
BIBLIOGRAPGY

1. Carusi, A. and Oliphant, A. W. 2007. Introduction to theory of literature: study guide1 for
THL1501/ THL801U. Pretoria: University of South Africa.

2. Marber, Patrick. 1997. Closer. London: Methuen.

3. 3. https:/en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be_or_not_to_be