THEA 734, Sect. U015--Playscript Analysis

Fall 2008 TuTh, 9:30-10:50 AM; CFA 180

Dr. Ronald Moyer (CFA 184D; 677-5735; <rmoyer@usd.edu>; <http://www.usd.edu/~rmoyer>)

The Department of Theatre seeks to prepare the student for a career in the theatre and to encourage personal and creative
growth. It does this by providing a comprehensive humanistic education, supplemented by intensive craft training in which classroom study and practical experience are of equal and complimentary value. Moreover, the Department dedicates itself to excellence in education, research, and service, and to the exploration of new questions, techniques, and practices in theatre.

Course objectives are to improve:

1) awareness of principles and patterns in playscript construction;

2) knowledge of purposes and methods of playscript analysis and production conceptualization;

3) ability to analyze scripts in detail;

4) ability to formulate a conceptual overview of a script toward the goal of theatrical

production; and

5) ability to communicate the concept clearly.

Date Topic/readings Due (hand in)

Sept 4	Introduction; on script analysis	Subscribe to Usdtheatre
9	Continue
11	Read Backwards and Forwards and Thomas—Preface, Introduction, and Appendices A and B
16	Continue; Read Waxberg, pp.1-30
18	Riders to the Sea (find own copy) and Thomas--Chs 1 & 2
23	Continue Riders; Thomas--Chs 3 & 4
25	Thomas--Chs 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9; discuss analysis/concept paper format; image/ metaphor	Book response #1: The Theatrical Image

30	The Glass Menagerie	Time & place: overall and scene-by scene; also, be able to discuss other aspects of given circumstances
Oct 2	GM
7	GM	Character relationships, protagonist/ antagonist, central idea, language analysis
9	GM	GM Concept paper
14	Discuss
16	Midterm exam: Ball, Waxberg, Thomas, concept paper, and applications using RttS and GM

21	Hedda Gabler
23	HG

28	HG
30	HG

Nov 4	Intro to Shakespearean text	HG concept paper
6	Macbeth	Reading reaction paper on Macb

11	No class—Veterans’ Day
13	Macb	Reading reaction paper on Hamlet

18	TBA	Book response #2
20	Macb	First draft of analysis section

25	Macb	Macb concept paper (may be handed in Dec. 2: be careful of your production schedule)
27	No class—Thanksgiving Recess

Dec 2	Buried Child	Reading reaction paper on Buried Child
4	BC

9	BC
11	BC	Concept paper due Tuesday, 16 December, by 5:00 PM

16	Tuesday, 3:00-5:00 PM --Scheduled Final Exam

Discussion. Participation in class discussion is vital to expand and to demonstrate your awareness of course materials and to develop your ability to participate in reasoned discussion.

Subscribe to and use the department listserve. The Department of Theatre hosts "USDTHEATRE," a listserve (a mailing list that will automatically send e-mail to all subscribers) to provide a forum for discussing theatre, classes, and related subjects. Share opinions on assignments, plays, videos, movies, department activities, interesting web sites, other resources, etc.; ask questions; help focus classroom discussions to serve your needs. Monitor the list regularly, as announcements—and, possibly, assignments—from the instructor may be posted there.

To subscribe: (a) send e-mail—in “Plain Text”—from your account to listserv@usd.edu
(b) leave the subject line blank
(c) include the following message (without the quotation marks): "subscribe Usdtheatre-list  lastname, firstname" (where firstname and lastname are your actual name, e.g.: "subscribe Usdtheatre-list Moyer, Ronald")

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To post messages to the list
a. send e-mail from your account to usdtheatre-list@usd.edu
b. if the message pertains to THEA 734, start the subject line with 734: and
then an accurate subject heading (e.g., 734: Menagerie theme)

NOTE. You must be a subscriber in order to post messages to the group. You must post from the same account (internet ID; does not have to be the same computer) you use when you subscribe. If you change ISPs (for example, from USD to Hotmail or Yahoo) you should unsubscribe before you leave the old ISP and you must resubscribe using the new one. Anyone with an e-mail account can subscribe to this list (whether or not they are enrolled in the course; on or off campus). You are welcome to remain a subscriber to the list after you have completed the course, indeed it is hoped that the entire department will subscribe to the list and use it for discussion and announcements of department activities (in addition, some of us post online job announcements). If you stop reading the list (like, if you graduate, leave campus for holidays or for summer or for a great job) unsubscribe (otherwise it can cause a bunch of trouble).

Explore the web. There is an ever-growing body of material on the web. Some of it is trash, but much of it is interesting and helpful. Explore, seek useful sites: information on theatre, plays, authors; dictionaries and pronunciation guides; information on subjects included in the plays; visual resources; and you can have fun, too.

Additional assignments. Supplementary readings and additional minor analytical reports may be assigned.

Extra credit project. Concept paper, full-length script to be determined in consultation with instructor; to include an action analysis of one act or of a substantial scene. May be used to replace any of the completed assignments for an earlier play.

Book responses. Brief (approx. two-four pages), typed review/response reflecting awareness of the book’s general contents and approach and responding personally to useful/enlightening aspects (do not waste space complaining about what you don’t like). Some of the books devote only limited space for discussion of script analysis. (#1) on Clay & Krempel's The Theatrical Image and (#2) on another of the "Recommended references" below (recommend, especially, Hornby, Ingham, Longman, Payne, Waxberg, and Grote; may not use W. Ball, Hodge, or Jones).

Textbooks:
David Ball, Backwards and Forwards
James Thomas, Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designer, 3rd ed.
J. M. Synge, Riders to the Sea (any edition)
Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie (DPS ed.)
Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler (in Four Major Plays, Signet; tr. Fjeld)
William Shakespeare, Macbeth (Cambridge; ed. Braunmuller )
Sam Shepard, Buried Child (Revised; DPS ed.)

Recommended references:

Clay, James H., and Daniel Krempel. The Theatrical Image

Ball, William. A Sense of Direction

Barry, Jackson G. Dramatic Structure

Benedetti, Robert. The Director at Work

Catron, Louis E. The Director’s Vision

Gross, Roger. Understanding Playscripts

Grote, David. Script Analysis

Hodge, Francis. Play Directing

Hornby, Richard. Script into Performance

Ingham, Rosemary. From Page to Stage

Jones, Robert Edmond. The Dramatic Imagination

Kahn, David, and Donna Breed. Scriptwork

Longman, Stanley Vincent. Page and Stage

O’Neill, R. H. The Director as Artist

Payne, Darwin Reid. The Scenographic Imagination
Pritner, Cal, and Scott E. Walters. Introduction to Play Analysis

Sweet, Jeffrey. The Dramatist’s Toolkit

Waxberg, Charles S. The Actor’s Script

Absence policy. Each unexcused absence beyond three will lower the semester grade by one-third of a letter (i.e., A- to B+, etc.).

Tardiness. While there is no specific policy, frequent tardiness will be interpreted as rudeness toward classmates and lack of interest in the course. If you have some consistent difficulty in arriving at class on time, please discuss this with the instructor.

Students with Special Needs. Any student who feels s/he may need academic accommodations or access accommodations based on the impact of a documented disability should contact and register with Disability Services during the first week of class.  Disability Services is the official office to assist students through the process of disability verification and coordination of  appropriate and reasonable accommodations.  Students currently registered with Disability Services must obtain a new accommodation memo each semester.  For information contact:
            Ernetta L. Fox, Director
            Disability Services
            Room 119 Service Center
            605-677-6389
http://www.usd.edu/ds ; dservices@usd.edu

Academic honesty. No credit can be given for a dishonest assignment. At the discretion of the instructor, a student caught engaging in any form of academic dishonesty may be:
a. Given a zero for that assignment.
b. Allowed to rewrite and resubmit the assignment for credit.
c. Assigned a reduced grade for the course.
d. Dropped from the course.
e. Failed in the course.

Freedom in learning. Students are responsible for learning the content of any course of study in which they are enrolled. Under Board of Regents and University policy, student academic performance shall be evaluated solely on an academic basis and students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study. Students who believe that an academic evaluation is unrelated to academic standards but is related instead to judgment of their personal opinion or conduct should contact the dean of the college which offers the class to initiate a review of the evaluation.

Grading. GM, HG (10% each); Macb, BC, and midterm exam (20% each); discussion (in-class and online;10%), attitude, book responses, and other (10%). Late submission of an assignment will lower the grade for that assignment by one letter. Failure to submit an assignment will lower the semester grade by one letter (i.e., A to B, B+ to C+, etc.).