ABSTRACT
A useful way to start work is to use the five ‘Wh’ questions to collect the information we need from the text and also to research and imagine any gaps that there might be in the web of the Given Circumstances. (An actor I worked with recently called this being a ‘text detective’.)
What happens in the play? What is the story? What does each character want and what does s/he do to get it? (What does s/he do, not what does s/he ‘feel’ or ‘think’? ‘Character is action,’ said Aristotle.)
Where is the play taking place? Where is each scene happening? A scene played outdoors has a very different feel to one indoors; being at home is different to being in a strange house: each place we are in dictates our behaviour to some degree. We often need to do some research to find the geographical world of the play.
