Interpreting Your Scene
You will soon begin cutting your script, assigning parts, and blocking this scene. But before you do that, you need to decide on your interpretation. Answer these questions thoroughly and in complete sentences with your group. Show your teacher when you’re done before moving on to the back.
What plot points happen in this scene that impact the rest of the play?
In other words, what events are really important for the audience to understand in this scene?
How does this scene echo other scenes that comes before or after it? What specific lines from another scene should the audience think of when they watch yours?
For instance, consider if one character says a line similar to a different character in another situation or if a character says a line opposite to what that same character says earlier or later in the play.
What emotions do you want your audience members to feel when they watch this scene? Why?
For instance, do you want them to feel bad for Romeo and Juliet? Or is it your goal to get them to think that Romeo and Juliet are just dumb kids? Is Friar Lawrence in your scene the only truly good character in the whole play or is he a misguided old man? You are the directors, so you get to interpret the scene however you want, so long as it makes sense based on the words in the text.
If your audience walks away from this scene with one thought in their heads, what do you want that thought to be?
Get your interpretation approved.
1. Cut down your scene to between 100 and 120 lines. All directors today cut Shakespeare plays to suit the needs of a modern audience in terms of time and understanding. As you cut, consider…
- which lines best communicate your interpretation
- which parts of the scene are most important
- preserving iambic pentameter, if that’s important to you
- cutting lines that include dated or obscure references
- how to get across the same actions without as many lines
Cross out lines you’re not using.
2. Assign lines. Each group member needs to have about the same number of lines. That means you could…
- double cast a role
- change actors at a key moment (happy Capulet replaced by angry Capulet?)
- have multiple people play one character at the same time, assigning different parts of one line to different people
- combine multiple characters into one
- make any other decisions about casting so long as you have a reason that supports your interpretation
3. Highlight your lines and do a read-through of your script.