ABSTRACT
A play does not simply begin at the beginning. There is always a preceding Event or Circumstance that propels the play into the Action we witness: the untimely death of Hamlet’s father incites the five acts we see onstage. The “ancient grudge” of Verona breaking to “new mutiny” in Romeo and Juliet has recommenced violence and hatred. These Initial Given Circumstances pervade a play, loom through it to the end of the Action – when the Initial Given Circumstance is either vanquished or remains dominant. The Initial Given Circumstance, which can be a specific prior Event or an atmosphere caused by a prior Event, is the fundament of the play that affects everyone at the outset. But at some point a challenging Event occurs – Romeo and Juliet meet at the masked ball – and the central conflict of the play begins: in Verona, hatred and violence versus innocent young love. Each act of a play will have its own Initial Given Circumstance, related to the primary Initial Given Circumstance.
