ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters studied the issue of form, that is, the separate parts of a play and how they work. This chapter studies the issue of style. In production, style is the personality of the actors, directors, or designers imprinted on their work. Also related to production is historical style, which is based on the period in which a play originated and aims to recreate an illusion of historical authenticity. In the play script itself, on the other hand, style is a special way of expressing plot, character, idea, dialogue, and tempo –rhythm – mood that is characteristic of a particular play, playwright, or group of playwrights. It is what makes plays, playwrights, and groups of playwrights different from each other. This is what is meant here by the term style, and to understand it this chapter will return to the basic parts of a play to reconsider them. Except this time we will study how they are shaped and how they relate to each other and to the entire play, instead of what they are and how they work singly. Separating script analysis into form and style phases involves some repetition, but we hope to show that it has its benefi ts.
