ABSTRACT
The effect of counterpoint is to render the meaning more complex because it derives as much from the juxtaposition of two scenes as from explicit statements contained in one or other. B. States uses the term ‘counterpoint’ to describe a rather more specific and specialised technique whereby two separate dialogues ironically overlap. He uses an example from A. Chekhov’s Three Sisters. Counterpoint can be employed by teachers in order to structure a set of drama activities or by pupils themselves as a way of giving depth and form to their own small-group play making. B. Simner describes an interesting example of using a technique in script writing which could come under the general heading of ‘counterpoint’: combining different monologues. The participants have to think of a situation in which two people meet after a long period of separation, e.g. an adopted child meeting the natural parent or a husband visiting his wife in prison.
