Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers

James Thomas is Professor and Director in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University, Detroit. His publications include The Seagull: An Insiders’ Account of the Ground-breaking Moscow Production, A Director’s Guide to Stanislavsky’s Active Analysis, The Art of the Actor Manager: Wilson Barrett and the Victorian Theatre, and translations of The Joy of Rehearsal, The Craft of Rehearsal, and Beyond Rehearsal by Russian director Anatoly Efros. He was a contributor to Russian Theatre in Practice and his research has been published in Theatre Journal, Theatre Topics, Contemporary Theatre Review, and Scene. He is also founding director of Wayne State University’s Summer Study Abroad Intensive with the Moscow Art Theatre School.

1. Action Analysis 2. Foundations of the Plot: Given Circumstances 3. Foundations of the Plot: Background Story 4. Plot: External and Internal Action in the Dialogue 5. Plot: Progressions and Structure 6. Character 7. Idea 8. Dialogue 9. Tempo, Rhythm, and Mood 10. Style 11. A Case Study of Postmodern Drama: Heiner Müller’s Hamletmachine Appendix A. The Score of a Role Appendix B. Functional Analysis for Designers Appendix C. Further Questions for Script Analysis