Background Story (Exposition) We must adjust the way we read a play. The notion that what has already happened is dull and unexciting must be set aside. After all, for the characters themselves, it is just the opposite. To them, the past is not dull and unexciting, but rather their own lives – everything good and bad that has happened to them. James Thomas To Reveal the Past! Playwrights employ a unique kind of narration to reveal the past while the stage action continues to advance. Exposition (Most Common Term) Antecedent Previous Action Background Story Understanding the past is an integral part of the play not a clumsy encumbrance. It helps create: Mood / Atmosphere Generates conflicts Strongly influences environment and Given Circumstances Clarifies relationships and the Environmental Analysis (Potentially)Propels action forward in explosive surges (Potentially)Increases the sense of urgency for the play/scene Technique Background stories tend to appear in three ways: In extended passages near the beginning of the play - HISTORICAL In fragments distributed throughout the action - MODERN Or buried beneath the onstage action - MINIMILIST (VEILED) Historical Technique In classic plays, those written before the rise of realism, the background story tend to appear in extended passages near the beginning of the play and at the end of scenes to reveal more about the previous action. Advantages: Collects essential facts and focuses attention on key elements at the beginning of the play Allows playwright to spend more time on developing the action through the play Establishes clear storytelling elements for the audience early on Disadvantages: - Long speeches at the beginning can be a drag for the audience at the beginning of plays Modern Technique - In the early part of the nineteenth century a man named Eugene Scribe, a scientist by trade, developed the playwritings style of the well made play. Scribe Began to employ the then novel principle of cause and effect into his plays with the intention to make the accidental seem necessary. Time, place and action were to operate according to scientific rules. The well made play has influenced modern playwrights since Ibsen, Shaw, Chekhov, Strindberg, Miller, Williams, O’Neill. Well made plays employ some background story at the beginning of the play as in classic plays, but now, much of it is evenly distributed throughout the play with more characters revealing differing parts of the background story and is always used for maximum effect to the action This cause and effect way of working is called the RETROSPECTIVE METHOD: The onstage action moves forward in time as the past moves backward in time FROM OUR PLAY ALL MY SONS…. LET US LOOK AT THE ANN AND CHRIS SCENE WHERE THEY REVEAL THEIR FEELING FOR ONE ANOTHER. What do we learn about Chris and Ann with respect to their own past that helps push th ...

1. Background Story
(Exposition)
We must adjust the way we read a play. The notion that what
has already happened is dull and unexciting must be set aside.
After all,
for the characters themselves, it is just the opposite. To them,
the past is not dull and unexciting, but rather their own lives –
everything good and bad that has happened to them.
James Thomas

2. To Reveal the Past!
Playwrights employ a unique kind of narration to reveal the past
while the stage action continues to advance.
Exposition (Most Common Term)
Antecedent
Previous Action
Background Story
Understanding the past is an integral part of the play not a
clumsy encumbrance. It helps create:
Mood / Atmosphere
Generates conflicts
Strongly influences environment and Given Circumstances
Clarifies relationships and the Environmental Analysis
(Potentially)Propels action forward in explosive surges
(Potentially)Increases the sense of urgency for the play/scene
Technique
Background stories tend to appear in three ways:
In extended passages near the beginning of the play

3. - HISTORICAL
In fragments distributed throughout the action
- MODERN
Or buried beneath the onstage action
- MINIMILIST (VEILED)
Historical Technique
In classic plays, those written before the rise of realism,
the background story tend to appear in extended passages near
the beginning of the play and at the end of scenes to reveal
more about the previous action.
Advantages:
Collects essential facts and focuses attention on key elements at
the beginning of the play
Allows playwright to spend more time on developing the action
through the play
Establishes clear storytelling elements for the audience early on
Disadvantages:
- Long speeches at the beginning can be a drag for the audience
at the beginning of plays

4. Modern Technique
- In the early part of the nineteenth century a man named
Eugene Scribe, a scientist by trade, developed the playwritings
style of the well made play. Scribe Began to employ the then
novel principle of cause and effect into his plays with the
intention to make the accidental seem necessary. Time, place
and action were to operate according to scientific rules. The
well made play has influenced modern playwrights since Ibsen,
Shaw, Chekhov, Strindberg, Miller, Williams, O’Neill.
Well made plays employ some background story at the
beginning of the play as in classic plays, but now, much of it is
evenly distributed throughout the play with more characters
revealing differing parts of the background story and is always
used for maximum effect to the action
This cause and effect way of working is called the
RETROSPECTIVE METHOD:
The onstage action moves forward in time as the past
moves backward in time
FROM OUR PLAY ALL MY SONS….
LET US LOOK AT THE ANN AND CHRIS SCENE WHERE
THEY REVEAL THEIR FEELING FOR ONE ANOTHER.

5. What do we learn about Chris and Ann with respect to their own
past that helps push their relationship forward in the action of
the play?
Minimalist Technique (Veiled)
Over the past decades, plays and playwrights have made it
more difficult to see the background story within the play. In
these plays, the background story, is so altered, reduced, or
concealed that it is almost impossible without very close
reading, and a feeling of uncertainness and elusiveness often
goes along with it.
Common questions:
Did it happen? - Do the characters only imagine it? - Are they
lying?
Often these delicate and hard to answers questions can be found
in the text but they may take a great deal of reading to find
them because they are suggested but seldom spoken about.
Analysis for this technique requires an attention to
Pattern Awareness, Tempo, Rhythm, Mood, Language
Peculiarities, Interplay of vocal pauses, Character mood,
Special Given Circumstances

6. Identification
Background Story takes on several forms:
Events
Identify all the major past events spoken about by the characters
that cause present conflict
What do these events say about the character in the play?
Character Descriptions
How are the characters described when spoken about in
past terms or past events? Be specific from the text with quotes.
Feelings
How do the characters feel about those previous events? What is
their present POV? How does that affect their desire or need
presently?
How do these conclusions inform the world of the play and mis-
en-scene? Write out a short summary. 5-6 sentences.
Play Structure Terms
What is a play?
A play is based on plot, or events. It usually has a central
conflict that powers the story. It is arranged in conversations
called dialogue. Groups of dialogues or episodes are called a

7. scene. Scenes are used to show when time or place change.
Large shifts in time or place are marked by acts, which are
usually composed of several scenes.
Inciting Event - the event that triggers the other events of the
play (This may not be the first thing in a play as many plays
contain exposition, the information on key past events that the
audience does not see.)
Stasis - The common equilibrium that everything existed in. The
calm before the storm…
Intrusion – The event or person that breaks the stasis moving
the protagonist /story into action
Major Complication- An event in the RA that creates further
crisis for the protagonist but also often clarifies purpose and
direction for protagonist.
Rising Dramatic Action – The specific events of the plot that
take place moving the story forward. These are the events that
heighten the conflict between the protagonist force and
antagonist force.
Crisis/ Turning Point - The most dramatic scene where either
the protagonist or antagonist gains advantage.
Climax - The peak of the play, resolves the conflict between the
protagonist and antagonist forces, as one of them "wins".
Falling Action - series of events in the plot after the turning
point but before the climax. The results of the rising action
Conclusion/Resolution - plot is completed and the loose ends
are tied up.
New Stasis: The world is re-set for the protagonist moving
forward.
Dramatic Conflict – The Major Obstacle or Obstacles that look
to prevent the Progression of the dramatic action.
Theme: Theme is the main idea that the plot develops. It gives
the purpose to the action. It is the job of the actors to reveal the
theme to the audience. Plays with strong themes have the most
long-lasting impact on the audience.
Spine – The over general Objective that all characters share in a
play.

8. Freytag Analysis:
As theatre has developed throughout the decades, the way
these elements are structured has radically altered. Greeks
focused on talking a lot about what happened before and after
the action, so the structure has large falling and rising action.
The Elizabethan theatre, which Shakespeare wrote for was
afternoon entertainment. Some companies staged as many as 15
plays a month, so similar structure in all plays was important.
Directors emphasized action, the comedy of the low characters
and the struggles of the hero.
Modern plays have a wide variety of plot devices and types of
events, but they still rely on a basic structure. The focus on the
building of action to the turning point provides drive for the
play. As a director, building and maintaining focus, tension and
theme are important. Some contemporary playwrights, such as
Beckett, deliberately break from this structure (use no
discernible plot structure or climax) to challenge convention.

9. The Given Circumstances
The beginning of all plays is the unique combination of present
and past that Stanislavsky called the Given Circumstances.
Others use different terms – social context, foundations of the
plot, playwrights setting, texture, local detail, or literary
landscape. They all mean the same thing. Given circumstances
are the specific conditions in which the action of the play
occurs.
James Thomas
Time:
Time of composition by the playwright:
- Its Implications on the world of the play
- WHO was the play written for or WHO was
intended to view it?

10. Time of the action:
- WHEN is the play taking place?
- WHAT are the significant external historical areas
that might influence the world of the play?
- WHAT Internal historical references influence the
play?
Dramatic time:
- Does the play’s time run exactly with the 24 hour
clock or is it dramatized over hours, days, weeks,
months, years?
Place:
General Local
country State
region area
- What would the implication be for the setting of the play
to the play’s action?
Specific Local
- The specific location that the stage action takes place
- What would the implication be for the setting of the play to
the play’s action?
Climate / Season
- Hot, humid, wet , cold, snow, fog, mild, stormy,
- Does the climate influence the action and the characters
relationships? What would be the climate’s implication
to the action?

11. Environments
Society
Families
- Who is your Protagonist related to in the play and how
do these family relationships influence the action?
Love and Friendship
- Who does the protagonist love?
- Who would they protect?
- Who do they consider their friend?
- Who do they not? Why?
Occupation
- What does the Protagonist and main players do for work
or industry?
- what is the implication of their job/career to the play’s
action and relationships
Environments Continued:
Social / Class Rank
- How do the main players see themselves on the social ladder
in the context of the play’s Given Circumstances.

12. Are they successful, powerful, working class, working class,
middle class, rich, do they have influence, what is the circle of
friend that your character(s) associate with?
How would the other characters peers view the main players
social rank?
Would they be in agreement?
What are the implications to these questions for the action and
relationships of your play?
Social Standards (Decorum)
How does the character carry themselves in the context of the
play’s given circumstances?
How would they Dress?
How does your character prefer to be seen in public?
What are the implications to these questions for the action and
relationships of your play?
Environments Continued:
Economics:
External: General economic overview for the world of the play
within the context of its Given circumstances
Personal: Specific economics overview for the persons of the
play within the context of its Given circumstances
What are the implications to these questions for the action
and relationships of your play?
Politics:
External General political overview for the world of the play

13. within the context of its Given circumstances
Personal Family/Work/ Friends - political overview for the
persons of the play within the context of its Given
circumstances Literally..who has the power or working to
control the power?
What are the implications to these questions for the action
and relationships of your play?
Environments Continued:
Religion/Spirituality
External: General Religious/Spiritual overview for the world of
the play within the context of its Given circumstances
Personal: Specific Religious/Spiritual overview for the persons
of the play within the context of its Given circumstances
What are the implications to these questions for the action
and relationships of your play?
Culture/Education and the Arts
The level of Education for the masses, For the specific
characters?
Example of creative activity nationally, individually
What are the cultural standards of the play?
Are the Arts Embraced?