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Drama: a Visual Medium

Objective for this Page: To identify important visual aspects and their effects when reading or watching a play.

"The play's the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

(HAMLET, Act II, Scene 2)

If you've ever read HAMLET or seen it performed, you may remember the scene in which Hamlet rewrites an old play to include a murder scene. When the play is performed at court, the murder scene causes Hamlet's uncle, the king, to leap to his feet and cry, "Give over the play!" He then staggers from the hall, pale and frightened, proving (to Hamlet, at least) that he is guilty of murdering the previous king, Hamlet's father.

From this brief episode, we can draw three immediate conclusions about drama and the way it is meant to function.

First, drama is performed in such a manner as to create an illusion of reality, the feeling that what you see happening on stage is REALLY happening. You may remember Hamlet explaining to the actors just how they should deliver their lines.

Second, plays are constructed so as to get the attention of the audience immediately and hold it until the curtain comes down.

Third, good plays have an emotional and intellectual impact on the audience. You may not react as visibly as Hamlet's uncle does, but if the play works, you should FEEL something, and you should go home THINKING about what you have just experienced.

Think about those three points. What do they tell you about how you should read a play? What should you look for? What kinds of things should you pay close attention to as you read?

Open a word processor to type your response. Try to think of at least three specific things you should watch for as you read the text of a play in order to get a sense of what you would experience as a member of an audience watching a performance, rather than as a reader.

For your convenience, all the writing questions from this module have been placed into word processing files. Click on the link that matches the word processor you have to put the file onto your computer so you can save your answers and re-open the file on later pages of this module. (Confused? See the Word Processing Hint, then click your browser's back button to return here.) For now, just answer the question above.

Word 7 (.doc) Rich Text Format (.rtf) Generic Word Processor (.txt)

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The URL for this page is http://vccslitonline.cc.va.us/drama/visual1.htm

Drama: a Visual Medium

From this brief episode, we can draw three immediate conclusions about drama and the way it is meant to function.

Think about those three points. What do they tell you about how you should read a play? What should you look for? What kinds of things should you pay close attention to as you read?

**Think about those three points. What do they tell you about how you should read a play? What should you look for? What kinds of things should you pay close attention to as you read?**