Script analysis for theatrical production should be practical.  Yet for many actors, it’s an intellectual exercise that distances them from their characters rather than bringing them closer.  (Without realizing this is happening, usually.)

Others can’t see the forest for the trees.  Each clue, each moment, seems to exist separately, and the connections between them are hard to find.  I regularly hear, “I would never have thought to look at that.”  It’s clear to them once I point it out, but my students simply aren’t used to thinking in these terms.

For a third group, they make it too complicated.  They’ve moved out of the second group and are now looking for secret motivations everywhere.  Before you know it, they’re bogged down and completely confused.

Spotting the clues that matter and then linking them together in a meaningful way is an art, not a science.  Because of that, this hands-on workshop includes little theory, but lots of practice.  (Because it’s an art, the theory is hidden in the practice, and you’ll discover your own way to it with sufficient repetition.)

Script analysis isn’t about asking a lot of questions about your character; it’s about asking the right questions.  How do you find the right questions?  By identifying the clues given to you by the playwright and connecting them to make a coherent and cohesive characterization.

We look at monologues and short scenes that demonstrate the types of clues you’ll encounter in a play and talk about how to spot and interpret them.  But it isn’t all table work.  We’ll put the scenes on their feet, too, because it’s sometime easier to see the clues that way.

How long does it take?  Well, the quick and dirty version can be done in two hours, but you’ll retain more if you spend four hours at it.  Longer than that, and you’ll go into information overload!

For more information or to arrange a Connecting the Dots workshop for your group, email me at scenestudystx@gmail.com.