An Actors and Acting Introduction to Script Analysis

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Photo Credit: Oscar Cortez via cc
It is exciting to open a fresh new script and begin the journey of building your character – but a good script shouldn’t stay all neat and tidy for long, the best scripts are full of notes, scribblings, symbols and doodles!
Once you have read the script then the next important part of any actor’s job is to begin script analysis. Good script analysis will give you a foundation upon which you can build your character. By exploring the text in some depth then you will approach rehearsals with confidence, you be familiar with both your character and the text. I have directed theatre and nothing bugs me more than an actor who comes to the first day of rehearsal without some knowledge of the play and some early ideas and decisions on character. Do your homework – it’s part of your job!
Grab a pencil (and a sharpener and an eraser too!) and let’s get your script messy!
Always use a pencil because that way your script analysis work, ideas and thoughts will never be set in stone. Rehearsals are a time of discovery so be ready to change your mind, rethink your analysis and rub out and change anything as you approach performance.
* Click on the image below to see some early script analysis which I have done on a monologue from the tv show ‘Breaking Bad’ which I have used in auditions and classes.
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