Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgements Introduction 1 The World of the Play Given circumstances Previous action Dramaturgy The writing of the play and order of scenes Character Environment 2 Structure and Action Point of attack Number of scenes Number of locations Number of characters Number of plots Type of causality Actions and objectives 3 Process Core action Avant-garde 4 Blueprints Given circumstances blueprint Character blueprint Relationship blueprint Structure blueprint Environment blueprint Appendices A. Action Verbs B. Sample Scores Select Bibliography Index Biographical

Promotional Information

Drawing on the author's lifetime of experience, this core text offers a practical, clear guide to analyzing play scripts so that theatre students and emerging theatre artists are equipped to collaborate on successful stage productions.

About the Author

Robert Knopf teaches script analysis, directing, and improvisation at University at Buffalo/SUNY, USA where he is Director of Theatre Studies and Professor of Theatre. A theater director, scholar, and writer, Robert Knopf is the author of two books, The Theater and Cinema of Buster Keaton and The Director as Collaborator. He edited Theater and Film and co-edited the seminal two-volume critical anthology,Theater of the Avant-Garde. He has directed plays at Circle-in-the-Square Downtown, Cherry Lane Studio, Paradise Factory, Circle Rep Lab, and New York's historic Town Hall, as well as for National Public Radio.

Reviews

Script Analysis for Theatre provides excellent techniques developed over a lifetime of work with actors, directors, designers, in the classroom and on stage. The book is seasoned, smart and practical, equipping students with an essential toolbox for engaging with scripts.
*Jim Volz, Professor of Theatre History at California State University at Fullerton, USA*

I am deeply impressed by the precise way in which it fuses a broad theoretical understanding of drama with the practical analysis of texts, and have little but praise for it. I am very familiar with the range of existing script analysis texts, and this is one of the few I would consider assigning in full to an undergraduate script analysis class.
*Art Borreca, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Department of Theatre Arts, University of Iowa, USA*