Studying Modern Drama

Reading a play as literature

In this unit you study a modern play, not to perform it, but to read it and write about it as literature. A dramatist tells a story and builds meaning through methods you can point to: the dialogue that characters speak, the stage directions that shape the action, the way the play is built into acts and scenes, and devices such as conflict and dramatic irony. Studying a play means asking what the writer does and why, then backing every point with a short quotation. This module teaches those transferable skills, so you can apply them to whatever modern play your centre has chosen.

Modern drama words

Learn these before you study any modern play. They name the writer and the tools a writer uses to make meaning on the stage.

Match the method to what it does

Dialogue against stage directions

A play makes meaning in two ways at once: through what the characters say, and through the instructions written around their speech. Strong answers use both.

Name the technique

In a play, the audience has seen a character hide a letter, but another character on stage keeps searching for it, with no idea it is hidden. What is this technique called?

• Dramatic irony
• A soliloquy
• A stage direction
• The climax

Make every point earn its quotation

A strong answer never just retells the plot. It makes a point about what the dramatist does, supports it with a short quotation, and then explains the effect on the audience. For example, do not write that a character is angry. Write that the dramatist gives the character short, broken lines, quote one of them, and explain that the broken rhythm shows the anger boiling over. Point, evidence, effect: that chain turns a summary into analysis.

Pick the dramatic methods

Select every item below that is a method a dramatist uses to make meaning in a play.

• Stage directions
• Dialogue between characters
• The structure of acts and scenes
• The price of a theatre ticket
• The name of the printer of the script

Order how to build an answer

Put the steps of writing one analysis paragraph in order.

• Read the question and find its key word
• Make a clear point that answers it
• Choose a short quotation as evidence
• Name the method the dramatist uses
• Explain the effect on the audience
• Link back to the question

Complete the drama facts

The writer of a play is the _____. The words the characters speak are the _____. When the audience knows something a character does not, it is _____. An idea the play explores, such as power, is a _____.

One line, three layers

Suppose a scene shows one character asking another a simple question. The script reads that the second character pauses for a long moment, then gives a short, cold reply. A weak answer would just say the character replied. A strong reader finds three layers. The dialogue is the cold reply, which can be quoted. The stage direction is the long pause, which the words alone do not carry. The effect is that the pause shows reluctance and the coldness shows the relationship between them has broken down. Reading dialogue, stage direction and effect together is what analysis means.

Spot the analysis

Tap the TWO sentences that ANALYSE the drama, rather than simply retelling what happens.

• The dramatist uses a long silence to show the tension between them
• The broken, short lines make the audience feel the character start to panic
• Then the character leaves the room and shuts the door
• After that, the second character sits down alone

Answer the exam question

You are answering an open-book question on a modern play. Make the best choice at each step.

• The question asks how the dramatist presents conflict. Where do you start?
• You have made a point. What comes next?
• You have a point and a quotation. What finishes the paragraph?

Build an analysis point

Choose the word for each gap to complete one strong analysis point.

Quick-fire drama check

Answer each question. You have three lives, and losing them all restarts the run.

Explain how to study a modern play

A friend has to study a modern play for the first time and does not know where to begin. Explain how to study a play as literature and how to write about it well in the exam.

• Explain what dramatic methods to look for
• Explain the job of dialogue and of stage directions
• Explain how to use a short quotation as evidence
• Explain the point, evidence and effect structure of a paragraph
• Explain why analysing the writing beats retelling the plot