Introduction to Play Analysis, Second Edition

In this indispensable companion to any theatre class in which scripts are read and interpreted, Pritner and Walters offer five sequential levels of reading designed to lead to a deep understanding of the text. Level one imagines the play as performed in front of an audience; level two examines the deep structure of the conflict; level three examines given circumstances and the type of relationship the play creates between the audience and the production; level four looks closely at characters' behavior and reactions to their given circumstances, surveys conflict in each scene, and encourages supplemental research about the play; finally, level five synthesizes the information acquired from the preceding levels.

Each chapter introduces a concept that is then explored by studying its application to The Glass Menagerie, chosen for both its accessibility and its complexity. Other plays discussed include works by Molière, Shakespeare, Sophocles, and August Wilson. End-of-chapter questions are applicable to any play.

Cal Pritner began teaching in Kansas City public schools; after serving in the military, he earned MA and PhD degrees at the University of Illinois, Urbana. As a theatre professor he has taught at: Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville; Illinois State University (where he was the founding chair of the theatre department and the founding artistic director of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival); the University of Missouri-Kansas City (department chair), he has taught at the California Institute of the Arts and since 1994 he has taught in the California State Summer School for the Arts.<br /><br />Scott Walters was Assistant to the Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University, where he also taught in the Theatre Department. He was Chair of the Drama Dept. at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and currently is the Program Director of the Arts and Ideas Program there, where he also teaches in the Drama Department.