entrances and exits
action (drama) is not mere life
action (drama) is not story
action (drama) is not mere business
action (drama) is not primarily a matter of words
indirection is the dramatic method,
the opposite of story telling.
the unexpected
the necessary and the unnecessary
dialogue, monologues and asides
entrances and exits
By means of this Indirection we get Detail.
—
excerpts from table of contents,
W. T. Price (1846-1920). The Analysis of Play Construction and Dramatic Principle (1908) : iii-iv
scan of same copy (opens to TOC) at archive.org
italicized sentence elsewhere in same volume
on Price —
Stephen Weeks, “William Thompson Price, the Uses of Science, and the Rhetoric of Early Modern American Dramaturgy” in The Journal of American Drama and Theatre 20:3 (Fall 2008) : 75-101
tags:
action; asides; entrances and exits; indirection
W. T. Price